My fiance and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in St Paul's Cray with Yorkshire BS. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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 property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise 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 Yorkshire BS. This is solely used to protect Yorkshire BS 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 Yorkshire BS 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 am buying a property in St Paul's Cray. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Aldermore be concerned?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Aldermore your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions contained in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Aldermore. The CML Handbook sets out minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Aldermore where a lease fails to comply with these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not isolated to St Paul's Cray.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in St Paul's Cray. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
I can not fathom if my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my St Paul's Cray bank branch on numerous occasions and was told it does not impact the mortgage offer and they would lend. My St Paul's Cray conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I have no idea who is right.
Provided that the solicitor is on the mortgage company approved list, she or he must adhere to the CML Handbook requirements for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank 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 lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
How does conveyancing in St Paul's Cray differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in St Paul's Cray come to us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is completed. This is because new home sellers in St Paul's Cray usually purchase the site, 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 St Paul's Cray or who has acted in the same development.
I’m about to sell my garden flat in St Paul's Cray. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, but I have recently had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?
It best that you discharge the maintenance contribution as normal because all ground rent and maintenance payments will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
After months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St Paul's Cray. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a St Paul's Cray property is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 50.57 years.
Do I have to attend the offices of the mortgage company conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in St Paul's Cray so that I can attend their offices if required.
As opposed to twenty years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in St Paul's Cray.