My wife and I swapping mortgage lender for our maisonette in Hanley with Skipton. We have a son 19 who lives at home. 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, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Skipton conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 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 Skipton. This is solely used to protect Skipton 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 Skipton 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 do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Hanley?
If you are buying a property in Hanley your solicitor will ask you to provide them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Generally this is requested to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. If any down payment is payable against the sale price then this will be needed shortly prior to contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer shortly before completion.
I have a terraced Georgian property in Hanley. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Birmingham Midshires. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Hanley and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.
I am purchasing my first flat in Hanley benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not to tell my lawyer about the deal as it could adversely affect my mortgage with Yorkshire Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Hanley is where the house is located. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in Hanley are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Hanley you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Hanley 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 residence.
My cousin has encouraged me to appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Hanley. Should I use them?
No doubt the ideal way to find a conveyancing practitioner is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually experience in using the solicitor you're contemplating using.