I am obtaining a mortgage with Lloyds. I hope to retain the legal services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Knebworth. Does the Lloyds Solicitor panel exclude conveyancers regulated by the CLC?
The Lloyds conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, associated to the CML or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.
My wife and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Knebworth with Lloyds. 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, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Lloyds 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 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.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Knebworth. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Yorkshire BS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As your lender is Yorkshire BS your lawyer must comply with the formal requirements set out in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Yorkshire BS. The CML Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Yorkshire BS where a lease does not comply with these provisions. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not isolated to Knebworth.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Knebworth conveyancer on the UBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your UBS 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 UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, 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 UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The mortgage over my property is with Virgin Money for my property in Knebworth. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. Should I wish 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 Virgin Money?
Virgin Money must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Virgin Money will allow you to rent 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 Virgin Money directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel firm.
How simple is it to use the search app to get a quote from a conveyancing practitioner in Knebworth on the authorised to act for my mortgage?
First choose a lender such as HSBC Bank, Virgin Money or Britannia then choose your location for example Knebworth. Conveyancing organisations in Knebworth and across England and Wales will then be identified.
Is it best to use a Knebworth conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can deal with the legal work but her office is over three hundred miles drive away.
The primary upside of using a local Knebworth conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute documents, deliver your ID and pester them if necessary. Having local Knebworth know how is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and in the main were happy that should outweigh using an unknown Knebworth conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.
My partner and I may need to let out our Knebworth ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Knebworth conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?
Some leases for properties in Knebworth do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.
Knebworth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing
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If a Knebworth lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Knebworthlease extensions you will need to own the property for two years before you are eligible to extend the lease. Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the building? How is the lease structured?