I plan on buying an apartment in Dulwich. My Solicitor is not on the bank approved list. Am I still permitted to continue with my Dulwich conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
You have a number of alternatives open to you here
- Complete the deal with your chosen Dulwich conveyancing practitioner but your bank will no doubt use a solicitor on their approved panel. The net result is additional fees and likely frustration.
- Appoint a new conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the bank conveyancing panel.
- Convince your conveyancing practitioner to attempt to join the bank panel
My husband and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Dulwich with Nationwide. 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 repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Nationwide conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Nationwide 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 Nationwide. This is solely used to protect Nationwide 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 Nationwide 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.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Dulwich costs more?
Dulwich leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
Do I have to visit the offices of the solicitor to execute the mortgage deed? If so, I will appoint a lawyer who conducts conveyancing in Dulwich so that I can attend their offices if required.
Whereas this was necessary 15 years ago, the vast majority lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the mortgagors signature. It will still be necessary for you to hand over identification documents and there are still manifest benefits to instructing a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Dulwich.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Dulwich is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can give?
Flying freeholds in Dulwich are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Dulwich you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Dulwich 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 property.
My wife and I may need to sub-let our Dulwich basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Dulwich conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
Your lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Dulwich do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Dulwich. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the price.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Dulwich flat is 60 Taymount Grange Taymount Rise in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the premium at £13,346 for a lease extension of a further 90 years This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 64 years.