My husband and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Wisbech with Principality. 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. 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 Principality conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 5 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 Principality 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 Principality. This is solely used to protect Principality 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 Principality 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.
Should my lawyer be making enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Wisbech.
Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Wisbech. Some people will buy a house in Wisbech, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that may be initiated by the buyer or by their lawyers which can figure out the risks in Wisbech. The standard property information forms sent to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual inquiry of the seller to find out whether the premises has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the owner, then a buyer may bring a legal claim for losses as a result of such an misleading reply. The buyer’s conveyancers should also commission an environmental report. This will reveal whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be made.
About to purchase a new build flat in Wisbech. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Wisbech
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Please supply a car parking plan. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. 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. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore.
In my capacity as executor for the estate of my aunt I am disposing of a house in Newport but I am based in Wisbech. My conveyancer (approximately 260 kilometers from meneeds me to sign a stat dec prior to completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in Wisbech who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you should not be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in Wisbech
Last March I purchased a leasehold house in Wisbech. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I own a ground floor flat in Wisbech, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar properties in Wisbech with a long lease are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2095
With 69 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.
Why is it not possible to complete our conveyancing in Wisbech on May bank holiday?
Because on completion the money will pass between the banks of the buyer and seller's conveyancing practitioner and currently this can only take place on a working day. So you can't complete on a saturday or sunday either.