My partner and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Torrington with Santander. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific 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 extinguish his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Santander 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 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 am the registered owner of a freehold property in Torrington but nevertheless pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in Torrington and has limited impact for conveyancing in Torrington but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the creation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence post 2037 is to be extinguished.
I have been told that property searches are the number one cause of stalling in Torrington house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in Torrington.
My wife and I have a terraced Edwardian house in Torrington. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Coventry Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to 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 Torrington 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 purchasers. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who completed the work.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Torrington with a mortgage from Yorkshire Building Society. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The house builders rep advised me not inform my lawyer about the deal as it will adversely affect my mortgage with Yorkshire Building Society. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Torrington ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Torrington conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
Even though your last Torrington conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.
I acquired a 1st floor flat in Torrington, conveyancing formalities finalised 9 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent properties in Torrington with a long lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2091
With 66 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £12,400 and £14,200 as well as professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.