My wife and I intend to remortgage our flat in South Kensington with Lloyds. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 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 apartment is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the Lloyds 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?
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.
Having sold my house in South Kensington last May but the buyer keeps telephoning me to moan that their solicitor needs to hear from mine. What should have happened following completion?
Following your sale your solicitor should deliver the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. If applicable, your lawyer should also confirm that the mortgage has been paid off to the purchasers lawyers. There are no post completion steps specific conveyancing in South Kensington.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in South Kensington?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in South Kensington. 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…’
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in South Kensington I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in South Kensington suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I am using a search engine for the term conveyancing in South Kensington it brings up numerous conveyancersin the vicinity. With so much choice what is the best way to find the right conveyancing solicitor for the sale of my house?
The best method of finding the right conveyancer is via personal testimonial, so ask friends and relatives who have bought a property in South Kensington or the local estate agent or financial adviser. Fees for conveyancing in South Kensington differ, so it's a good idea to request a minimum of four costs illustrations from different law firms. Be sure to secure confirmation that the fees are fixed.
Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in South Kensington. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in South Kensington who acted for me is not around. What should I do?
First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a South Kensington conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
Following months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in South Kensington. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to make a decision on the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a South Kensington flat is Flat 16 21/22 Stanhope Gardens in November 2010. the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal concluded that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, was £106,975 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 51.93 years.