My wife and I are refinancing our apartment in Walworth with Lloyds. 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. 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 questions (1) Is this form unique to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish 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.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Walworth. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Walworth
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Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a property in Walworth ahead of instructing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some lenders will not issue a mortgage on such a house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Halifax. If you e-mail us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Walworth. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Walworth to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
How can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my commercial offices in Walworth and how can you help?
The 1954 Act gives security of tenure to commercial tenants, giving them the legal entitlement to make a request to court for a continuation of occupancy when the lease reaches an end. There are limited grounds where a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are complex. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing firms who use the act to your advantage and assist with commercial conveyancing in Walworth
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Walworth from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Walworth can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors. Many landlords or managing agents in Walworth charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Walworth. If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved. If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Walworth home move. Where a duplicate share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.
I am the registered owner of a first floor flat in Walworth. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?
Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Walworth residence is 28 Valmar Road in June 2013. this was a case with an absentee freeholder. As a result the leaseholders applied to the Lambeth County Court for an order dispensing with the giving of a notice of claim. On 25 April 2013 District Judge Zimmels made a vesting order and directed that the matter should be transferred to this tribunal to determine the premium. The tribunal concluded on a figure of £1,125 This case affected 3 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 968 years.
My a dozen years ago. He has since got wed, widowed and has recently married again. He will be selling the flat in a couple of months. I think he will just be requested to provide a copy of the marriage certificates to the property lawyer however he is anxious it could frustrate the home sale. Should he appoint a conveyancer to update the land title documents for the property?
It is not absolutely necessary to bring up to date the title for the property as long as you have the proof needed to show how the name change resulted.
The purchaser’s lawyer will examine the land registry entries and require evidence to prove the change of name for example marriage documentation.