My son is buying a newly built flat in Brighton with a home loan from RBS. His lawyer has said that there is a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the RBS conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the RBS conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Brighton what would it be?
We would encourage you not to base your choice on the lowest Brighton conveyancing fees. 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 go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
I have paid off my mortgage with Santander. I assume I don't need a Brighton conveyancer on the Santander panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Santander mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Santander mortgage from the register. Santander, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Santander has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Santander has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in November 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Principality are being a right pain. The Brighton solicitor who is on the Principality conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Principality are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Principality have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Principality have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Principality may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
The deeds to my house can not be found. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Brighton 10 years ago are no longer around. What are my next steps?
As long as you have a registered title the information relating to your ownership will be retained by HMLR under a Title Number. It is possible to conduct a search at the Land Registry, find your property and order current copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually hold a certified duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for a small fee.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Brighton. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Here are examples of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Brighton
-
If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please supply a car parking plan. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.
My step-father has suggested that I use his conveyancers in Brighton. Should I find my own solicitor?
No doubt it’s preferable to select a conveyancing practitioner is to seek guidance from friends or family who have previously instructed the firm you're considering.
I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Brighton. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice as you normally would because all rents and service charges will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I own a 1 bedroom flat in Brighton, conveyancing formalities finalised 4 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Brighton with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090
You have 64 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £14,300 and £16,400 plus legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.