My fiance and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Colchester with Coventry BS. 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. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Coventry BS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 Coventry BS. This is solely used to protect Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS 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.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my property are lost. The solicitors who conducted the conveyancing in Colchester 5 years ago no longer exist. What do I do?
As long as the title is registered the details of your ownership will be evidenced by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is easy to conduct a search at the Land Registry, identify your property and get up to date copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for a small fee.
About to purchase a new build flat in Colchester. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Colchester
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Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. 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.
Given that I am about to spend 450k on 3 bedroom house in Colchester I would like to have a conversation with the solicitor regarding thehome move in advance of appointing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
This is something that we encourage - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the solicitor due to be carrying out your conveyancing in Colchester.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is unique person, not a matter number. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are quoted for residential conveyancing in Colchester should be the amount on the final invoice that you end up paying.
I only have 72 years left on my lease in Colchester. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?
If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Colchester.
I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Colchester, conveyancing having been completed 9 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Colchester with an extended lease are worth £179,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2082
With 57 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £26,600 and £30,800 plus legals.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.
The conveyancing solicitors undertaking our conveyancing in Colchester has forwarded documents to review that state the property is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all property in Colchester should be registered?
Whilst the vast majorities of properties in Colchester are now registered with the Land Registry there are still a few that are unregistered. Any property in Colchester that has been purchased since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HMLR under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Colchester property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Plenty of Colchester conveyancing solicitors will be able to handle such matters but if any uncertainty prevails the conventional advice presently seems to be for the current owners to undertake the registration formalities first and thereafter deal with the disposal - this undoubtedly cause a significant delay.