I am nearing exchange of contracts for my home in Eastbourne and the EA has just called to say that the purchasers are changing their conveyancer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Eastbourne ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
My uncle passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Eastbourne. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £8000. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to HSBC, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
If you plan to re-mortgage then HSBC will insist on your using a conveyancer on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the HSBC mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Eastbourne. Now, I need the documents but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Eastbourne of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Eastbourne benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The estate agent advised me not reveal to my solicitor about this deal as it will adversely affect my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I decided to have a survey done on a property in Eastbourne prior to appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some lenders may not give a loan on such a home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Eastbourne. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Eastbourne to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
My mother and father are experiencing difficulties in finding their Eastbourne land registry title on the website. They recall that fifty years ago when they acquired the property there were complications concerning the post code not being recognised in some systems.
Nearly all residences in Eastbourne should be revealed. Have you limited your search with simply the postcode. Usually it should reveal all the houses and flats inside the postcode. Where registered it will show up with a title number. Where they bought back in the 70’s it's conceivable it may be not yet registered. The property may still be revealed but with the title number identified as 'na'. In this scenario you will need to track down the original title documentation which could be with your parent’s bank.