My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse in Clent with Barclays. We have a son 19 who lives at home. 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 apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Barclays conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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 Barclays. This is solely used to protect Barclays 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 Barclays 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.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Clent costs more?
In short, leasehold conveyancing in Clent and Worcestershire usually warrants more due diligence compared to freehold transactions. This includes checking the lease terms, corresponding with the landlord about the service of required notices, securing current service charge and management information, securing the landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – regardless of the fact the lease has passed through many different property solicitors hands since it was first granted.
A relative pointed out to me me that in purchasing a property in Clent there could be various restrictions prohibiting external changes to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in Clent which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Clent should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
We are getting the release of further funds on our home loan from Co-operative as we wish to carry out renovations to our house in Clent. Do we need to appoint a local Clent solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Co-operative would not normally require a member of their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Co-operative list.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Clent solicitor on the UBS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your UBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
My wife and I are intent on selling our house in Clent and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A high street Clent lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used an internet conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Clent. We have lived in Clent for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to seek clarification that there is no issue.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)
I have recently realised that I have Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Clent. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Clent.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Clent - Sample of Queries before Purchasing
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It is important to be aware whether redecorating or some other major work is pending to be shared between the leasehold owners and will materially increase the the service costs or result in a one off invoice. Plenty Clent leasehold flats will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building set by the freeholder. If you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this amount, usually periodically during the year. This could be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant figure, say around £25-£75 but you need to enquire as on occasion it could be surprisingly expensive.
I see that you have a post code search directory listing solicitors on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. Do Clent conveyancing firms pay you a commission if I appoint them for my conveyancing?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the bank conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Clent.