My fiance and I are refinancing our apartment in St Mary Cray with Principality. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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 forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Principality conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Principality 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 Principality. This is solely used to protect Principality 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 Principality 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 had intended to instruct a property lawyer in St Mary Cray for our home move. Our broker informed us that our mortgage lenders Chelsea Building Society won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?
Pre- 2008 most lenders had an appetite for risk which was higher than today. Almost all St Mary Cray conveyancing firms would have been on most bank panels. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 carried out a thematic review into mortgage fraud which come to the conclusion: know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, lenders are increasingly seeing more information from law firms about their operations and the individuals who work for them as well as establishing certain criteria such a completing on a minimum volume of conveyancing. Many St Mary Cray conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have a 100% healthy track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. St Mary Cray is amongst the hundreds of locations where the lawyers we list are are approved Chelsea Building Society.
Me and my brother purchased a semi-detached Edwardian property in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Nottingham Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in St Mary Cray and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.
How does conveyancing in St Mary Cray differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in St Mary Cray come to us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in St Mary Cray usually buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in St Mary Cray or who has acted in the same development.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. St Mary Cray is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in St Mary Cray are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside St Mary Cray you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St Mary Cray may ascertain 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 property.
My a decade ago. He has since got married, widowed and is now remarried. He will be selling the apartment in a couple of months. I believe he will just be asked to provide a copy of his marriage certificates to the conveyancing practitioner however he is concerned it could delay the home sale. Is it worth updating the Land Registry details for the property?
The is no need to bring up to date the register on the basis that you have the evidence required to show how the name change has come about.
The purchaser’s solicitor will check the title entries and require evidence to establish the name change for example marriage documentation.