My wife and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Chobham with UBS. 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 lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the UBS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights 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 UBS. This is solely used to protect UBS 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 UBS 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.
I have been told that property searches are the main reason for hinderance in Chobham conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Chobham.
Me and my brother own a 4 bedroom Victorian house in Chobham. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking Bank of Scotland to clarify?
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Chobham and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my uncle I am selling a property in Neath but live in Chobham. My conveyancer (approximately 235 miles awayrequires that I sign a stat dec prior to the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Chobham who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you should not be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are located in Chobham
What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Chobham conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?
If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Chobham conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggest that you talk with two or three firms including non Chobham conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions might be helpful:
-
How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
I purchased a studio flat in Chobham, conveyancing formalities finalised 7 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Chobham with an extended lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2091
With only 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £13,300 and £15,400 as well as legals.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.
What are the distinct advantages to using a local property lawyer in Chobham
Plenty of house movers in Chobham choose a nearby high street conveyancing practitioner so that they can pop into the lawyer’s offices just in case they have questions, and to sign documents without using the Royal Mail.
There is a distinct advantage when selecting a conveyancer nearby to the house you are hoping to purchase, due to the in-depth knowledge of the region and potential local issues - but this is debatable. Many conveyancers undertaking their communications over the internet and could be based anywhere.