My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse in Shoreditch with Santander. We have a son 19 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. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Santander conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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.
I just acquired a house at auction in Shoreditch. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?
Given that you are now exchanged you should appoint a conveyancing lawyer quickly as you are faced with a pending deadline in which to complete the transaction. An auction property should have a corresponding legal set of papers. This should include most,if not all of the documents that your conveyancer requires. If you have purchased leasehold premises the conveyancing pack may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to a leasehold property. You must hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
When it comes to lenders such as Virgin Money, do Shoreditch lawyers face a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any bank fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Shoreditch. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A few days later, the conveyancer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Will commercial conveyancing searches reveal impending roadworks that could affect a commercial premises in Shoreditch?
Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Shoreditch will perform a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers expend in researching accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Shoreditch. The search result provides definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Shoreditch.
For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Shoreditch it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately may cause delays to Shoreditch commercial conveyancing transactions as well as present a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not carried out for domestic conveyancing in Shoreditch.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Shoreditch?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Shoreditch. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Shoreditch is where the house is located. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in Shoreditch are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Shoreditch you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Shoreditch may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
My step-father has recommend that I instruct his conveyancers in Shoreditch. Do I take his advice?
There are no two ways about it the best way to find a conveyancing practitioner is to seek feedback from friends or relatives who have actually experience in using the firm that you are contemplating using.