Heidi Start

Heidi specialises in equity release lifetime mortgage transactions. This type of funding arrangement is not only extremely complex but continues to become increasingly popular with clients.

Being a member of the Equity Release Council means Heidi receives regular updates regarding equity release to ensure her knowledge is always up to date.

Heidi regularly advises clients and their representatives about the terms of deferred payment agreements. These are agreements with the Local Authority to secure care home fees that are owed against a property asset belonging to the person in care.

Often, she acts on behalf of the executors or beneficiaries of an estate in relation to the assets of a property, which is when the deceased person’s property asset is transferred.

Notable Residential Property cases

• Leasehold - Sale & Purchase
  

  Handling the purchase of a leasehold property which on investigation of the title did not include all the land that was being offered for sale. A lot of negotiations were carried out by Heidi to ensure that her client obtained the title to all the land they required which involved a deed of variation to the lease and the transfer of the freehold title.

• Equity Release Purchase
  

  Acting for a client who used a lifetime mortgage to purchase a new property.

• Freehold - Sale & Purchase
  

  Handling the purchase of a car parking space which was part of a larger leasehold title. Heidi negotiated with the seller and the freehold owner to release the parking space from the head lease and create a new lease for the parking space alone.

• Leasehold - Sale & Purchase
  

  Acting for a client who was purchasing a retirement property where the terms of the lease were not acceptable to a mortgage lender. Heidi rectified the ground rent provisions within the lease to ensure that her client would not encounter issues on any resale of the property.

• Freehold - Sale & Purchase
  

  Acting for a client who wished to sell their property but had previously sold off part of the original title as a plot. Upon initial review, Heidi was informed that the previous buyers (our client’s current neighbours) had built the boundary wall in the wrong location, and the Land Registry map did not reflect the position on the ground. It was necessary for Heidi to enter into various transfers of part between the two titles to ensure that the title plan held at the Land Registry accurately represented the land being sold. This enabled the client’s sale to progress without delay.

• Voluntary First Registration
  

  Acting for the family of the deceased to reconstitute the deeds for a property where they had been lost over time. To convince the Land Registry to register the property, Heidi had to get various members of the family to sign Statements of Truth proving the ownership, use, and occupation of the property over the years. This included getting photographs, and other documentation to act as evidence. The property had been in the family for eighty years, so the family was extremely pleased with how Heidi handled the case and relieved to have a registered property at the end of the process.