My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our flat in Dover with Santander. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Santander conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 4 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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.
My Conveyancer in Dover is not on the Alliance & Leicester Conveyancing Panel. Is it possible for me to retain my prefered solicitor even though they are excluded from the Alliance & Leicester panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Dover lawyers but Alliance & Leicester will need to use a solicitor on their list of acceptable firms. This will result in additional total legal fees as well as cause frustration.
- Choose an alternative practitioner to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are Alliance & Leicester approved.
- Persuade your Alliance & Leicester solicitor to attempt to join the Alliance & Leicester panel
There is lots of here concerning conveyancing in Dover but can you isolate your top tip for finding the right conveyancer in Dover
Do not opt for the lowest Dover conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay 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 know exactly what you’ll have to pay in advance.
A relative pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Dover there could be a number of restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external changes to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in Dover which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Dover should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Dover conveyancer having made sure that they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
HSBC will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually HSBC will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Dover postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Dover.
I'm converting the mortgage on my primary house to a buy to let mortgage with Chelsea Building Society and intend to use the remaining equity as a deposit on further house. The neighborhood we are interested in is Dover. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two mortgage companies and link together the transactions?
Do use our comparison tool on this site to check that the lawyers are on the relevant lender panels. Having checked that they are your lawyer will be able to connect the two transactions but you should have a chat with you solicitor and specify your desired outcome and needs.
My husband and I are first time buyers - agreed a price, yet the agent informed us that the seller will only go ahead if we instruct their preferred solicitors as they want an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local solicitor who is accustomed to conveyancing in Dover
It is unlikely the owners are driving this. If they desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Speak to the vendors direct and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to instruct your own,trusted Dover conveyancing firm - not the ones that will earn the estate agent a commission or meet his conveyancing figures set by corporate headquarters.
I am looking at a couple of flats in Dover which have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena.
I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Dover, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Dover with over 90 years remaining are worth £180,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2083
You have 58 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £21,900 and £25,200 as well as costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.