My fiance and I are refinancing our flat in Wembley with Kent Reliance. 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 apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance. This is solely used to protect Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance 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.
This question may be naive but I am unexperienced as a first time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Wembley. Do I receive the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Wembley?
On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in Wembley. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the completion advance to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be able to collect the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
I am buying a property in Wembley. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Kent Reliance be concerned?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Kent Reliance your lawyer must follow the conveyancing instructions set out in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Kent Reliance. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Kent Reliance where a lease fails to comply with these provisions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Wembley.
It is not clear whether my bank requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Wembley bank branch on various occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My Wembley conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their specific requirements. Who do I believe?
The conveyancer has to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook Part 2 provisions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
A friend recommended that where I am buying in Wembley I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Wembley conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Wembley around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Wembley.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Wembley in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will not issue a loan on this type of house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Wembley. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Wembley to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I would like to rent out my leasehold flat in Wembley. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?
Notwithstanding that your previous Wembley conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
I am the registered owner of a ground floor flat in Wembley. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for a lease extension?
Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Wembley conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Wembley property is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 74 years.
Is it true that a Wembley conveyancing practice taken to court by clients for failing to conduct comprehensive conveyancing investigations?
We are not aware of such a Wembley conveyancing claim but it has been reported that, clients acquiring a house in Cumbria successfully sued their lawyer due to development permission to construct a wind farm not being identified in conveyancing searches.
If you are buying in Wembley It is important that your conveyancer purchase all Wembley conveyancing searches needed making sure that you have accurate and current information before purchasing a home in Wembley.