My fiance and I are refinancing our penthouse in Kenton with Barclays. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. 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 concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 5 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 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.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is expelled from the HSBC Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Kenton?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
If you had a top tip for selecting a conveyancing solicitor in Kenton what would it be?
We would encourage you not to base your choice on the cheapest Kenton conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in advance.
We are purchasing a terrace house in Kenton. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the house.Will the conveyancing process involve enquiries to determine if these works are allowed?
Your conveyancer will review the registered title as conveyancing in Kenton will occasionally identify restrictions in the title deeds which restrict certain changes or require the consent of a 3rd party. Some extensions call for local authority planning permissions and approval in accordance building regulations. Certain locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. It would be wise to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
Can you help - my lawyer advises that missing deeds insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Kenton?
The appropriate level of missing deeds indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Accord Mortgages Ltd and Virgin Money. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.
I am close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our property in Kenton and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. A local conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used an online conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Kenton. Having lived in Kenton for six years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to get clarification that there is no issue.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)
My wife and I have a terraced Victorian property in Kenton. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Nottingham Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. Is it worth asking Nottingham Building Society to clarify?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Kenton and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
How easy is it to swap solicitor as I need to appoint one who is on the Lloyds TSB Bank conveyancing panel. I had appointed a family conveyancing solicitor in Kenton five minutes from me but she is not approved by Lloyds TSB Bank
It would be our pleasure to assist you select a conveyancing solicitor in Kenton on the Lloyds TSB Bank panel. Please note that the solicitors that we work with do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are under regulation of the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Kenton. In utilising the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this site, you can scrutinise costs for conveyancing solicitors in Kenton and throughout England and Wales.