My wife and I are refinancing our maisonette in Hornsey with Barclays. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Barclays 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 Barclays. This is solely used to protect Barclays 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 Barclays 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.
We see that you have a search directory listing law firms on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our own conveyancing in Hornsey?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Hornsey.
When scouring moneysavingexpert.com for an online solicitor in Hornsey, most comment that I should use a CQS assured solicitor. Can you explain what CQS is?
The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised quality mark for legal experts in home ownership transfers, trusted by some of the UK's biggest banks. In 2011-12 the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Legal Ombudsman. CQS is not a scheme offered by the Council of Licensed Conveyancing. Hornsey is one of the numerous areas of the UK where there are Accredited lawyers.
Will our solicitor be raising questions concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Hornsey.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Hornsey. There are those who purchase a house in Hornsey, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their lawyers which should give them a better understanding of the risks in Hornsey. The standard information given to a buyer’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard inquiry of the vendor to discover whether the premises has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not revealed by the seller, then a purchaser may issue a claim for damages resulting from an incorrect answer. A buyer’s conveyancers may also carry out an environmental search. This will higlight if there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations will need to be carried out.
I have recentlybeen informed that Stirling Law have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Hornsey for a purchase of a leasehold flat 18 months ago. How can I establish that the property is in my name in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest method to check if the property is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Hornsey conveyancing specialists.
Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Hornsey conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?
If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Hornsey conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Hornsey conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions might be of use:
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How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation? If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
Following months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hornsey. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the price payable.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Hornsey flat is 7 Aubrey Road in December 2010. By an order of the county court on 15/12/2009 the freehold interest inthe Property known as 7 Aubrey Road London N8 9HH (the Property) and registered at HM Land Registry under title number MX439124 was vested in the applicants. The Tribunal calculated that the total enfranchisement premium, assessed in accordance with Schedule 6 to the Act, was £54,633. This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired term was 73.27 years.