My financial adviser says he needs my Hertfordshire solicitor’s panel member for the Santander conveyancing panel. What is the best way to find this out. I have contacted my local Hertfordshire office but they have not got back to me yet.
Have you tried speaking to your Hertfordshire lawyer about this?. They maintain a central record lender panel numbers.
My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in Hertfordshire with Coventry BS. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Coventry BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS. This is solely used to protect Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS 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 help - my lawyer advises that defective lease insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Hertfordshire?
The appropriate level of defective lease indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Halifax and Leeds Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.
How can we know in advance if a Hertfordshire conveyancing solicitor on the Yorkshire BS panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Hertfordshire obtaining recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always recommend that you speak with the solicitor handling your transaction.
I currently have a mortgage with Yorkshire BS for my property in Hertfordshire. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Yorkshire BS?
Yorkshire BS must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Yorkshire BS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Yorkshire BS will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Yorkshire BS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel lawyer.
I completed on my house on 2 October and my personal details is not yet on the land registry website. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Hertfordshire expressed confidence that it will be dealt with inside ten days. Are properties in Hertfordshire uniquely lengthy to register?
As far as conveyancing in Hertfordshire registration is no quicker or slower than anywhere else in England and Wales. Rather than based on location, timeframes can adjust subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry communicate with any other persons or bodies. Currently roughly three quarters of such applications are completed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Registration takes place once the buyer is living at the premises so an expedited registration is not typically primary concern but if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your conveyancer could speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I am buying my first flat in Hertfordshire with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not disclose to my conveyancer about the deal as it could impact my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the UK Finance website. UK Finance 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.
I am employed by a long established estate agency in Hertfordshire where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Hertfordshire conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
I inherited a split level flat in Hertfordshire, conveyancing formalities finalised February 1998. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Hertfordshire with an extended lease are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2103
With just 77 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £7,600 and £8,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.