My fiance and I swapping mortgage lender for our maisonette in Richmond with TSB. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose 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, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the TSB conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 TSB. This is solely used to protect TSB 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 TSB 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 on selling our home in Richmond and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers are using a nationwide conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Richmond. We have lived in Richmond for 5 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to get clarification need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)
I am buying a new build house in Richmond benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not inform my lawyer about this side-deal as it will impact my loan with Clydesdale. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £245,000 and found one close by in Richmond I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Richmond for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
I have been pointed in your direction by a few selling agents in Richmond to find a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to offer your site rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?
We refuse to make any referral fee for sending work our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
We own a leasehold flat in Richmond. Conveyancing was finalised in 2010. I have read on a number of consumer forums that I should not allow the the remaining lease term to get too low. Is this correct?
Richmond residential long term leases are for a set term - normally ninety nine years when they started. However a significant flats in Richmond were built or converted 25 or more years ago and so such leases now have fewer than 80 years left to run. This may sound like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage institutions generally need leases to have at least 75 years left to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are getting close to seventy five years. To optimize your property value you should be considering whether or not to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Furthermore advantages to taking action before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease falls below 80 years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.