My partner and I are purchasing a new build duplex in East Sussex and my conveyancer is telling me that she has to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange and I would rather not prolong the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Is it the case that all East Sussex solicitor firms on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Yorkshire BS approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the SRA. Some lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such practice would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
Can I be sure that the East Sussex conveyancing solicitor on the HSBC panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in East Sussex seeking recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always advise that you speak with the lawyer carrying out your transaction.
The mortgage over my property is with RBS for my property in East Sussex. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform RBS?
Your original mortgage agreement with RBS will provide that you need their approval prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of RBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact RBS directly. You need not do this via a RBS conveyancing panel solicitor.
My wife and I own a 4 bedroom Georgian property in East Sussex. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in East Sussex and other areas of 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 mortgage companies. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in East Sussex before appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in East Sussex. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in East Sussex to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
I am looking into buying my first house which is in East Sussex and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about East Sussex. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the East Sussex area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at East Sussex. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found