I am expecting a offer of a home loan from Halifax. My intention is to instruct a Licensed Conveyancer in Carterton. Does the Halifax Solicitor panel exclude conveyancers regulated by the CLC?

The Halifax approved solicitor list is, like many other lenders, associated to the Council or Mortgage Lenders or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

My fiance and I are refinancing our penthouse in Carterton with Lloyds. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults 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 two questions (1) Is this document specific to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up 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 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.

Can I use your services to locate a Conveyancing solicitor in Carterton even where I’m not buying or selling a house, for example if I intend to acquire an office in Carterton with a loan from The Royal Bank of Scotland?

The service is mainly used to help choose residential conveyancing solicitors in Carterton but we have set out at the end of this page a selection of Carterton commercial conveyancing firms. You should make contact with the company directly to establish if they can also act for The Royal Bank of Scotland

How does conveyancing in Carterton differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Carterton approach us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is finished. This is because house builders in Carterton usually acquire the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Carterton or who has acted in the same development.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Carterton from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Carterton can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ lawyers.
If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing. Some Carterton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Carterton state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.

I own a split level flat in Carterton, conveyancing was carried out January 2011. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding flats in Carterton with an extended lease are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2074

With only 50 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.