My wife and I intend to remortgage our flat in Middlesbrough with Bank of Ireland. 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, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights 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 Bank of Ireland. This is solely used to protect Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland 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.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my house in Middlesbrough. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been instructed on the sale but I can't find the title documents. Will this cause complications?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly there is a possibility that the deeds will be with your lender or they may still be with the lawyers who handled the purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Middlesbrough relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your home is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Middlesbrough. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. TSB 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 TSB your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions set out in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for TSB. The CML Handbook contains minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to TSB where a lease does not comply with these conditions. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Middlesbrough.
My partner and I are in the process of viewing houses in Middlesbrough and I am about to put in an offer. Is it wise to have my conveyancing practitioner on ‘stand by’? I will be getting a mortgage with Principality.
You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the EA. As you are taking out a mortgage with Principality, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with HSBC. I assume I don't need a Middlesbrough property lawyer on the HSBC panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your HSBC 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 HSBC mortgage from the register. HSBC, 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 HSBC has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- HSBC has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am purchasing a property and the lawyer has raised the issue of Chancel Repair for which the property could be obligated to pay given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. He has suggested insurance. Is this strictly appropriate for conveyancing in Middlesbrough
Unless a previous purchase of the property completed post 12 October 2013 you can take it that conveyancing practitioners carrying out conveyancing in Middlesbrough to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Middlesbrough. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Middlesbrough who previously acted has long since retired. Any advice?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Middlesbrough conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Middlesbrough Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing
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The answer will be useful as a) areas may result in problems in the building as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to know about it How much is the ground rent and service charge? The majority of Middlesbrough leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building levied by the landlord. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this liability, normally quarterly accross the year. This can vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a large amount, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check as occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive.
I have recently placed an offer on a leasehold flat in Middlesbrough and the estate agent that we are dealing with suggested his conveyancer. They quoted £1000 including VAT and 3rd party costs. Does this sound reasonable?
You should not rely on a single quote. You should seek like-for-like quotes for your conveyancing in Middlesbrough. Then choose one that you trust and crucially, is on the approved list of the lender that you are sourcing your mortgage from.