My husband and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Woburn Sands with Yorkshire BS. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose 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, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights 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.
Can you help - my lawyer says that lack of right of way insurance is required on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Woburn Sands conveyancing?
The right level of lack of right of way indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Accord Mortgages Ltd and Chelsea Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
It is unclear whether my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my Woburn Sands bank branch on a couple of occasions and was informed it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My Woburn Sands conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their published requirements. I have no idea who is right.
As long as the lawyer is on the mortgage company panel, they must comply with the CML Handbook specifications 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 bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
At last I have had an offer on a flat in Woburn Sands agreed to, the vendors do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on a property, however it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Woburn Sands. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with Kent Reliance going?
It is normal to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Woburn Sands conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must check that your conveyancer is on the Kent Reliance approved list. Regarding the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the specifics of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market many home buyers will apply for a home loan with Kent Reliance and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in Woburn Sands.
A friend advised me that where I am buying in Woburn Sands I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Woburn Sands conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Woburn Sands around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Woburn Sands Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Woburn Sands.
Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Woburn Sands ground floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Woburn Sands conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
Notwithstanding that your previous Woburn Sands conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
I own a split level flat in Woburn Sands, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2010. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable properties in Woburn Sands with a long lease are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2105
With just 80 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as costs.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.
Finally our conveyancing in Woburn Sands is set to complete next Friday, however the sellers I am buying from wishes to move out the next day at noon. Can I agree to such a plan?
Where you require a bank loan then your lawyer will insist that the premises arevacant on Friday - the mortgage company will demand it.