My husband and I are refinancing our apartment in Knightsbridge with Lloyds. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. 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 forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his entitlement 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 are planning to acquire a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in Knightsbridge who is on the Barclays approved panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Barclays . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Knightsbridge.
My husband and I are purchasing a 3 bedroom flat in Knightsbridge with a loan from The Royal Bank of Scotland.We have a Knightsbridge conveyancing lawyer but The Royal Bank of Scotland says her practice is not on their "panel". We have to appoint a The Royal Bank of Scotland panel firm or keep our local solicitor and fork out for a The Royal Bank of Scotland panel lawyer to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan issued to you is subject to its terms and conditions, a common one being that solicitors will be on the The Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. Until recently, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for The Royal Bank of Scotland
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Barclays, do Knightsbridge solicitors face an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any bank fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
Is it the case that all Knightsbridge solicitor practices on the Nottingham conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Nottingham approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the SRA. Some lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be regulated by the CLC.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Knightsbridge. I have a mortgage agreed with Yorkshire BS. Conveyancing is new to me. 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 Yorkshire BS, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.
Should my solicitor be asking questions regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Knightsbridge.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Knightsbridge. There are those who purchase a property in Knightsbridge, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that may be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Knightsbridge. The standard property information forms supplied to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a usual question of the seller to discover if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not notified by the vendor, then a buyer could issue a claim for damages stemming from an incorrect response. The purchaser’s solicitors should also conduct an environmental search. This should indicate if there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be conducted.
Am I best advised to go with a Knightsbridge conveyancing solicitor based in the location that I am buying? We have a good friend who can carry out the conveyancing but they are based 300kilometers drive away.
The benefit of a local Knightsbridge conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local insight which is a benefit. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have used your friend and the majority were impressed that must trump using an unknown Knightsbridge conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Knightsbridge based.