My wife and I intend to remortgage our flat in Stevenage with Lloyds. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults 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 a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 4 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 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.
It is a dozen years since I bought my home in Stevenage. Conveyancing solicitors have now been instructed on the sale but I am unable to find my title deeds. Will this cause complications?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by your mortgage company or they could stored with the lawyers who oversaw your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Stevenage relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
When it comes to lenders such as Aldermore, do Stevenage lawyers face an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any lender fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I'm spending time viewing houses in Stevenage and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a lawyer appointed at this stage? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Skipton.
It would be sensible to commence your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the selling agent. As you are seeking a mortgage with Skipton, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I have paid off my mortgage with Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a Stevenage property lawyer on the Coventry BS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Coventry BS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry BS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am purchasing a new build house in Stevenage with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep advised me not inform my solicitor about this deal as it could impact my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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 decided to have a survey done on a property in Stevenage in advance of retaining solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some lenders will not grant a loan on such a home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can investigate further via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Stevenage. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Stevenage to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Stevenage. I need to find out if they are listed on the lender's conveyancing panel. Can you or the lender confirm if they are on the panel?
You should phone your lawyer to check if they are on the bank's panel. Alternatively please get in touch with us and we can make some checks for you. Should the firm not be on the conveyancing panel we we can help find a reputable conveyancing solicitor in Stevenage on the approved list for your lender.