My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in Broxbourne with Skipton. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Skipton conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise 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 Skipton. This is solely used to protect Skipton 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 Skipton 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.
Do I need to visit the offices of the solicitor to execute the mortgage deed? If so, I will appoint a lawyer who conducts conveyancing in Broxbourne so that I can attend their offices if required.
As opposed to 15 years ago, most lenders no longer need their conveyancing panel lawyer to witness the mortgagors signature. It will still be necessary for you to supply identification documents and there are still manifest benefits to choosing a locally based solicitor, in your situation a conveyancing solicitor in Broxbourne.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Broxbourne. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Broxbourne
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Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Broxbourne I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Broxbourne suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
If you require a mortgage that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I have been advised by a few property agents in Broxbourne to select a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to promote your lawyers over another?
We refuse to offer any referral fee for directing people our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Our conveyancer in Broxbourne has uncovered a a problem with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Broxbourne. The other side have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our solicitor says that as he is on the bank conveyancing panel he must be satisfied that the lender is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. A precondition to being on the mortgage company approved panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.