My wife and I are hoping to acquire a 2 bedroom flat in Seascale with a mortgage. We have a Seascale conveyancer, however the lender says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Seascale lawyer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. We consider that this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose 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. A further alternative is for your Seascale conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My fiance and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Seascale with RBS. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the RBS conveyancing panel as he did not need 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 RBS. This is solely used to protect RBS 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 RBS 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.
Completed the sale of my flat in Seascale last November but my buyer keeps texting daily to say his lawyer is waiting to hear from mysolicitor. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?
Following your disposal your conveyancer is committed to deliver the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. If applicable, your lawyer must also evidence that the mortgage has been paid off to the buyers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion requirements peculiar conveyancing in Seascale.
Do I need to be wary by third parties that I am dealing with are recommending a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Seascale conveyancing practice?
As is the case with many professional services, often input from relatives can be very helpful. But there are lots of players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and banks might all recommend conveyancers to appoint. On occasion the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but occasionally there is an underlying financial incentive behind the endorsement. You have the right to select your preferred conveyancer. You need to be aware that many mortgage providers operate an approved list of solicitors you must use for the lender related work in your conveyancing.
I would like to rent out my leasehold apartment in Seascale. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?
A small minority of properties in Seascale do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates 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.
I acquired a split level flat in Seascale, conveyancing formalities finalised 6 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Seascale with over 90 years remaining are worth £179,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2083
You have 57 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £26,600 and £30,800 plus legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.
Our mortgage broker has suggested using their solicitor for the conveyancing in Seascale - Surely it’s better to just use them?
You need to establish if the selling agent is recommending a conveyancer or introducing to a solicitor. There are plenty of Seascale estate agents who recommend two or three Seascale conveyancing firms purely based on those lawyers offering a great service.