My husband and I swapping mortgage lender for our penthouse in Brackla with Leeds Building Society. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Leeds Building Society. This is solely used to protect Leeds Building Society if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Leeds Building Society had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
is it true that all Brackla solicitor firms on the HSBC conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. The majority of mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the practice would be overseen by the CLC.
I'm spending time looking at flats in Brackla and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it best to have my solicitor on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with UBS.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the estate agent. Given that you are seeking a mortgage with UBS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel.
Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Brackla solicitor - who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Brackla surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house can not be found. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Brackla 10 years ago have long since closed. Will I be able to sell the house?
Gone are the days when you need to hold title official documentation to evidence that you are the owner of your registered land or property, as the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
How does conveyancing in Brackla differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Brackla come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because developers in Brackla typically purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Brackla or who has acted in the same development.
My wife and I may need to sub-let our Brackla 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Brackla conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?
The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Brackla do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.
I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Brackla, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Brackla with a long lease are worth £190,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2087
With only 62 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £17,100 and £19,800 plus costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
Why can I not complete our conveyancing in Brackla on Easter Monday?
Because on completion the purchase price needs to pass between the banks of the buyer and owner’s property lawyer and at present this can only take place on a business day. It is not possible to complete on a saturday or sunday either.