My fiance and I are refinancing our apartment in Tottenham with Santander. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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 flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Santander conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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 lawyers ask for money up-front for conveyancing in Tottenham?
If you are buying a property in Tottenham your solicitor will request that you put them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. If any down payment is payable against the total price then this should be required shortly ahead of contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is due will be payable a few days prior to the day of completion.
The deeds to our home are lost. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Tottenham 5 years ago have long since closed. What are my next steps?
Assuming the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be recorded by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is easy to conduct a search at the Land Registry, find your house and get current copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for £20 inclusive of VAT.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £195,000 and found one close by in Tottenham I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Tottenham in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
My husband and I are FTB’s - had an offer accepted, but the property agent informed us that the owners will only move forward if we appoint their recommended solicitors as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a high street solicitor accustomed to conveyancing in Tottenham
It is unlikely the owners are driving this. Should the vendor desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Bypass the agents and go straight to the owners and make sure they understand (a)you are serious buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to use your preferred Tottenham conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide the estate agent a referral fee or achieve conveyancing thresholds pre-set by head office.