My husband and I are planning to acquire a property in Eastbourne and are in fact using a Eastbourne conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Alliance & Leicester have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Eastbourne solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Eastbourne solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We were just about to sign contracts for a ground floor flat in Eastbourne. We have hit a problem. The loan offer with Alliance & Leicester expires on 28/9/2026 but the owners are putting forward a completion date of 30/9/2026. Can one prolong the loan expiry date?
The person best placed to deal with your question is your solicitors who will calculate if they corresponding with the lender, vendor’s lawyers, selling agents or conceivably all three taking into account what has happend in your conveyancing as of today.
Are all Eastbourne Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Aldermore conveyancing panel?
It is true that some banks and building societies now utilise CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of firms.
Can you point me to a directory of Barclays panel solicitors in Eastbourne on the Building Society Association’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such facility on the CML or Building Society Association websites. A small selection of mortgage companies make their panel listings open the public online. Where you are looking for a Eastbourne property lawyer on the Barclays please make the most of our facility.
I have instructed a Eastbourne conveyancing practitioner having made sure that they are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Eastbourne surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Eastbourne is where the house is located. Is there any advice you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Eastbourne are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Eastbourne you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Eastbourne may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
We're FTB’s - had an offer accepted, yet the property agent advised that the vendor will only go ahead if we use the agent's preferred conveyancers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a high street solicitor used to conveyancing in Eastbourne
It is highly unlikely the vendors are behind this. Should the seller require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a genuine buyer is going to damage their objectives. Contact the vendors directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to appoint your own,trusted Eastbourne conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing figures pre-set by head office.
When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Eastbourne what are the most common lease defects?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Eastbourne. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:
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A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party. Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.
I purchased a ground floor flat in Eastbourne, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2000. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Eastbourne with an extended lease are worth £191,000. The ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2080
You have 54 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.