My husband and I are refinancing our penthouse in Westbourne with TSB. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the TSB conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 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 TSB 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 TSB. This is solely used to protect TSB 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 TSB 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 have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nationwide. I assume I don't need a Westbourne lawyer on the Nationwide panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Nationwide 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 Nationwide mortgage from the register. Nationwide, 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 Nationwide has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nationwide has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Westbourne solicitor - who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Westbourne postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Westbourne.
TSB have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a house in Westbourne has been agreed to, now what?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (be sure the solicitors are on the lender’s approved list). Contact TSB or your broker and complete any appropriate paperwork. TSB will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or seller to schedule a time for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight to get a mortgage offer. TSB will send the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Westbourne.
Should my conveyancer be making enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Westbourne.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers specialising in conveyancing in Westbourne. Plenty of people will purchase a house in Westbourne, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a various searches that may be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should figure out the risks in Westbourne. The conventional set of information given to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard question of the owner to find out whether the property has historically flooded. If the premises has been flooded in past and is not notified by the seller, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim as a result of such an incorrect response. A purchaser’s lawyers should also commission an environmental report. This should indicate whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations will need to be initiated.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Westbourne is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Westbourne are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Westbourne you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Westbourne may decide 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 premises.
Are there any apps to assist me to identify a Westbourne solicitor on the Coventry Building Society conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am prepared to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the solicitor.
You can use the search on this page. Please pick a bank and your location and you will see a number of Westbourne conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have listed some Westbourne conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can call them to verify whether they are on the Coventry Building Society panel
My wife and I have recently appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Westbourne. I I would like to check if they are listed on the lender's approved list of lawyers. Could you assist?
You should phone the solicitor to enquire if they are on the bank's approved list. Alternatively please call us and we can investigate and revert. Should the firm not be on the conveyancing panel we we can help find a specialist conveyancing solicitor in Westbourne on the panel for your mortgage company.