My husband and I intend to remortgage our flat in Kingsbury with Lloyds. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults 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 repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement 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 Lloyds. This is solely used to protect Lloyds 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 Lloyds 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.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Kingsbury what would it be?
It would be unwise to be tempted by the cheapest Kingsbury conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
I have paid off my mortgage with Bank of Ireland. I assume I don't need a Kingsbury conveyancer on the Bank of Ireland panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Bank of Ireland mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Bank of Ireland mortgage from the register. Bank of Ireland, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Bank of Ireland has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Bank of Ireland has instructed the Land Registry to do so
It is unclear whether my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Kingsbury bank branch on various occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My Kingsbury conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called to say that they will not lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
Provided that the conveyancer is on the lender approved list, she or he must follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
My relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Kingsbury I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Kingsbury conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Kingsbury around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Kingsbury Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Kingsbury.
I used Wolstenholmes several years ago for my conveyancing in Kingsbury. Now, I need my documents however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Kingsbury of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
How does conveyancing in Kingsbury differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Kingsbury come to us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is completed. This is because builders in Kingsbury typically buy the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Kingsbury or who has acted in the same development.
I am looking at a couple of flats in Kingsbury which have in the region of 50 years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?
A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area.
Notwithstanding our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in seeking a lease extension in Kingsbury. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the price.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Kingsbury property is 27B Hillside in February 2010. the resulting premium, all other aspects of the valuation having been agreed between the parties was set at £8,250 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 70.25 years.