My partner and I are refinancing our maisonette in Barnet with Barclays. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults 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 a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish 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 Barclays. This is solely used to protect Barclays 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 Barclays 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.
When will exchange of contracts take place for residential conveyancing in Barnet and am I required to be at the solicitors branch?
Where you are in close proximity to our conveyancing solicitors in Barnet you are invited in to sign the paperwork. However, the lender approved solicitors we recommend offer a national conveyancing service and provide just as diligent and professional a job for you when communicating with you electronically. The executing of the contract is not the important part. A signed contract is just a prerequisite for the solicitor to exchange contracts when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The procedure is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Barnet)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
we are a couple who are purchasing a newbuild flat in Barnet with a loan from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society.We would like to retain our Barnet conveyancing practitioner but Norwich and Peterborough Building Society informed us she’s not on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel lawyer or retain our local solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Norwich and Peterborough Building Society use our lawyer?
No, not really. The home loan offered to you is subject to its various provisions, one of which will be that lawyers will be on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society conveyancing panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Norwich and Peterborough Building Society
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as a first time buyer of a two bedroom flat in Barnet. Do I receive the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If so, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Barnet?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the completion advance to the vendor’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be able to collect the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
Does a directory service exist listing Leeds Building Society panel conveyancers in Barnet on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
No. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few banks make their panel listings available over the internet. If you are looking for a Barnet lawyer on the Leeds Building Society please use our facility.
Nationwide have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a apartment in Barnet has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
The estate agent will need to be advised as to your conveyancer's details (be sure the lawyers are on the bank’s approved list). Contact Nationwide or your broker and finalise any appropriate forms. Nationwide will sellect a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or owners to arrange a time for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a fortnight to receive the mortgage offer. Nationwide will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Barnet.
Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Barnet basement flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a Barnet conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
A lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Barnet do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.
Following years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Barnet. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Barnet conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Barnet flat is Flat 2 2 Netherfield Road in April 2010. The Tribunale held that premium payable for a 90 year extension to the existing Lease should be £7,705. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 76 years.