Power of attorney for joint house purchase.

Troy_af

Hello all.

I am in the process of buying and selling. The property I’m selling is owned by myself only and the onward purchase will be a joint purchase with joint mortgage between me and my partner.

I could potentially be working away in the near future and I will not be contactable. This could unfortunately be quite bad timing as it may be when we are expecting to exchange/complete. Hopefully all paperwork will be complete and signed by myself before then (contracts, transfer, mortgage deed), but this may not be the case. Given my job circumstances I have a general power of attorney in place, so that my partner can act on my behalf if I am away. This does cover selling and buying property on my behalf and was discussed when I took out the power of attorney.

However, my concern here is whether or not my partner can act on my behalf in this situation considering the onward purchase will be jointly owned. I didn’t think this would be a problem, but after doing a little research I have seen a couple of online articles saying that there must be two separate signatures on a transfer document.

In other words, I’m not sure if a power of attorney can be appointed to someone who is also going to be a joint owner. Most of the advice online only seems to be regarding selling a home under joint ownership, not a purchase. Now this has me panicking big style as this could potentially jeopardise the whole purchase,

I am just looking for some advice here or maybe hear from anybody who has been in a similar situation?

Thanks for any help.

 

propertyrental

You can appoint anyone you want (and trust) as your POA. You can restrict their powers however you want eg in connection oly with this sale/purchase.
Probably best to get your conveyancing solicitor (don't use an online conveyancing warehouse) to set up the POA.

Troy_af said:

The property I’m selling is owned by myself only and the onward purchase will be a joint purchase with joint mortgage between me and my partner.

......Given my job circumstances I have a general power of attorney in place, so that my partner can act on my behalf if I am away. This does cover selling and buying property on my behalf and was discussed when I took out the power of attorney.

..... after doing a little research I have seen a couple of online articles saying that there must be two separate signatures on a transfer document

Read this where? TR1s need to be signed by the registered owner(s).

The sale is of a sole-ownership property, so requires the sole signature of the owner, or their POA.
The purchase is joint, so will require joint signatures (or POA).

But this can all be easily resolved by a conversation with a (proper!) conveyancing solicitor.

Nearlyold

When I purchased my first property with my then Fiancé some 40 years ago, I was working away so we arranged for the Solicitor (who was dealing with the purchase for us) to have temporary Ordinary Power of Attorney (I think it was called) to sign the contract on my behalf. Don't know if this still applies.

DullGreyGuy

There will be two signatures... one of them in their own capacity and one as your attorney. The fact its the same person is irrelevant as long as your PoA covers this.

Troy_af

propertyrental said:

You can appoint anyone you want (and trust) as your POA. You can restrict their powers however you want eg in connection oly with this sale/purchase.
Probably best to get your conveyancing solicitor (don't use an online conveyancing warehouse) to set up the POA.

Troy_af said:

The property I’m selling is owned by myself only and the onward purchase will be a joint purchase with joint mortgage between me and my partner.

......Given my job circumstances I have a general power of attorney in place, so that my partner can act on my behalf if I am away. This does cover selling and buying property on my behalf and was discussed when I took out the power of attorney.

..... after doing a little research I have seen a couple of online articles saying that there must be two separate signatures on a transfer document

Read this where? TR1s need to be signed by the registered owner(s).

The sale is of a sole-ownership property, so requires the sole signature of the owner, or their POA.
The purchase is joint, so will require joint signatures (or POA).

But this can all be easily resolved by a conversation with a (proper!) conveyancing solicitor.

I have done a little research on joint ownership power of attorneys and it appears that there can be some complications. Here is what one article states:

Can Power of Attorney sell jointly owned property?

A single attorney can't sign a property transfer on behalf of both owners; the attorney will need to appoint a second person to join in the sale.

Again, this is relating to a sale, I am just trying to find some clarification regarding a purchase, but I don’t see why the rules would be any different. I have already unfortunately discovered that my partner will not be able to sign for a mortgage deed in my name, since the mortgage will be a joint mortgage. My lenders requirements states:

5.17.3 In the case of joint borrowers, neither borrower may appoint the other as their attorney.

 This is certainly quite confusing and annoying, because I did specifically discuss and explain my situation with the solicitor at the time. I explained that the purpose of the power of attorney was to sell my current home and proceed with a joint onward purchase, which as a result, would also mean my partner setting up the mortgage on my behalf. They recommended and set up a “section 10 general power of attorney”.

As to using a "proper" solicitor. I have unfortunately had quite a bad experience with my solicitor so far. Bad communication, constant confusion and complications. But I think it is too late to change them now, I don’t have time for that.