My wife and I swapping mortgage lender for our flat in Lydney with HSBC. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 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 HSBC 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 HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC 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 HSBC 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.
We are expecting a mortgage offer soon. The lender mentioned the mortgage came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to use their panel solicitor as I would much rather appoint a high street conveyancing solicitor in Lydney?
You should check but the the likelihood is that allocate you one of their panel conveyancers should you want the "fee-free" offer. Contact the mortgage company and see if they make available a cash alternative. In the past a few mortgage companies offered a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case that money can go towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor in Lydney.
three months have elapsed following my purchase conveyancing in Lydney took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
How does conveyancing in Lydney differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Lydney approach us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is finished. This is because builders in Lydney tend to purchase the land, 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 used to new build conveyancing in Lydney or who has acted in the same development.
My father-in-law has encouraged me to instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Lydney. Do I follow his guidance?
There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to find a conveyancing practitioner is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually experience in using the solicitor that you are contemplating using.