My partner and I are refinancing our apartment in Waltham with Coventry BS. 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 lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Coventry BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish 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 Coventry BS. This is solely used to protect Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS 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.
We're in Waltham, FTBs purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Kent Reliance , and our lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no solicitor should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
I have been told that property searches are a common reason for obstruction in Waltham house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Waltham.
I used Wolstenholmes several years ago for my conveyancing in Waltham. I now require my papers but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Waltham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on last month in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Waltham is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Waltham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Waltham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Waltham 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.
Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Waltham garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Waltham conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
A small minority of properties in Waltham do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.
I inherited a 2 bed flat in Waltham, conveyancing formalities finalised in 1996. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Waltham with an extended lease are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2103
You have 77 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £7,600 and £8,800 as well as costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.