We are a couple about to exchange contracts for a ground floor flat in Lewes. We encountered a stumbling block. The loan offer with Bank of Scotland runs out on 18/5/2026 but the vendors are insisting on a completion date of 20/5/2026. Is it possible to prolong the mortgage offer?
The best person to address this concern is your solicitors who will hopefully assess if he or she is corresponding with the mortgage broker, seller’s lawyers, property agents or possibly all three based on what has happend in your house move to date.
It is a dozen years since I acquired my home in Lewes. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I can't track down the deeds. Is this a problem?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be with your mortgage company or they may be archived with the conveyancers who acted in your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Lewes relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
My wife and I have recently appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Lewes. I I would like to check whether they are on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd approved list of lawyers. Can you help?
You should phone your solicitor and ask them if they can act for the lender. Otherwise you should get in touch with Godiva Mortgages Ltd who may be able to assist.
I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Skipton. Lewes conveyancing solicitors are selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Skipton?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Skipton completed the survey? Have you advised Skipton as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Skipton conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Lewes. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Clydesdale have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is Clydesdale your lawyer must check the formal instructions set out in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Clydesdale. The CML Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to Clydesdale where a lease fails to satisfy these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to Lewes.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Lewes solicitor - who is on the Principality conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Principality will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Principality 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 Lewes 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.
I am buying my first flat in Lewes with a loan from Nottingham Building Society. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about the extras as it may put at risk my mortgage with Nottingham Building Society. 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 am an executor of my recently deceased aunt’s Will, with a house in Lewes which is to be marketed. The house has never been registered at HMLR and I'm told that many buyers solicitors will insist that it is done before they'll move forward. What's the mechanism for this?
In the circumstances you refer to it seems prudent to seek to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. HMLR’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.