My fiance and I changing mortgage lender for our flat in Eastbourne with RBS. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the RBS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to RBS. This is solely used to protect RBS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of RBS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Are the Eastbourne conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Skipton conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Skipton?
Eastbourne conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Skipton directly.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am new to the house moving as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Eastbourne. Do I collect the keys to the property on the completion date from my solicitor? If so, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Eastbourne?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Eastbourne. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to collect the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
I'm the single recipient of my late grandmother’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Eastbourne. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in November. I want to move. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in November. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?
The CML handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be caught by that. Most banks would take a practical view as this provision is primarily there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.
I am buying a property in Eastbourne. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Aldermore be concerned?
As your lender is Aldermore your lawyer must check the conveyancing requirements outlined in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Aldermore. The CML Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Aldermore where a lease does not meet these requirements. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not restricted to Eastbourne.
How does conveyancing in Eastbourne differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Eastbourne approach us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because developers in Eastbourne typically purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Eastbourne or who has acted in the same development.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Eastbourne which have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There are plenty of short leases in Eastbourne. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the value of the lease deteriorates and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field.
I bought a garden flat in Eastbourne, conveyancing was carried out April 1997. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Eastbourne with an extended lease are worth £186,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2077
With 52 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
What do I do if I am unhappy with the conveyancer who undertook our conveyancing in Eastbourne?
We live in an imperfect world, and is is a fact of life that every so often matters do not go as planned. However there is recourse if you were unhappy with your conveyancing in Eastbourne. This varies from trying to resolve matters directly with them, through to reporting a conveyancer to their regulator. If things still aren’t sorted out you may consider enlisting the help of the Legal Ombudsman.