My husband and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Ditchling with Barclays. We have a son 18 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 apartment is repossessed. 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 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 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.
I had intended to instruct a property lawyer in Ditchling for our house move. Our broker has since notified us that our mortgage company The Royal Bank of Scotland won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?
Pre- 2008 most lenders had a different appetite for risk. Almost all Ditchling conveyancing firms would have been on most lender panels. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 completed a thematic review into mortgage fraud which come to the conclusion: know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, lenders are increasingly seeing more data from law firms relating to their operations and the individuals who work for them and establishing certain criteria such a completing on a minimum amount of transactions. Many Ditchling conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have a 100% healthy track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Ditchling is one of the hundreds of locations where the lawyers we list are are authorised to act for The Royal Bank of Scotland.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Ditchling what would it be?
It would be unwise to be seduced by the lowest Ditchling conveyancing quote. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Kent Reliance, do Ditchling property lawyers face an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Principality as we want to carry out improvements to our property in Ditchling. Are we obliged to choose a bricks and mortar Ditchling solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Principality do not ordinarily instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Principality panel.
My colleague advised me that if I am buying in Ditchling I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Ditchling conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Ditchling around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Ditchling Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Ditchling Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Ditchling.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Ditchling is where the house is located. Can you offer any assistance?
Flying freeholds in Ditchling are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Ditchling you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Ditchling may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
Should I instruct a Ditchling conveyancing practitioner based in the vicinity that I am purchasing? An old friend can handle the legal formalities but they are based 300kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a local Ditchling conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute documents, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local knowledge which is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were impressed that should trump using an unknown Ditchling conveyancing solicitor just because they are Ditchling based.