My fiance and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Hendon with Skipton. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. 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 two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Skipton 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?
First, rest assured that your Skipton 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 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.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Clydesdale Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Hendon?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
I am helping my step-mother sell her flat in Hendon. Does the solicitor arrange an energy performance certificate or do I organise this?
After the abolition of HIPs, EPC’s was kept a required component of moving property. An EPC should be commissioned before the property is advertised. This is not as aspect of the sale process that solicitors ordinarily arrange. Where you are using a Hendon conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange energy assessments given their relationships with reputable Hendon providers
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Hendon. I have a mortgage offer with Lloyds. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Lloyds conveyancing panel.
About to purchase flat in Hendon. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Hendon conveyancing practitioner is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel.
My relative recommended that if I am buying in Hendon I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Hendon conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Hendon around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Hendon Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Hendon.
Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Skipton Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Hendon and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
Am I right to be suspicious about 3rd parties that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm rather than a local Hendon conveyancing firm?
As is the case with lots of service providers, often referrals from family and friends can be extremely useful or valuable. Yet there are lots of people with a vested interest in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and mortgage companies may put forward lawyers to appoint. On occasion these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there is an underlying commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to appoint your preferred lawyer. However, bear in mind that many mortgage providers operate an approved list of law firms you are obliged to use for the mortgage related work in your house move.