What is the first thing I need to know about purchase conveyancing in Lewes?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Lewes and elsewhere in East Sussex is an adversarial process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for friction between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the seller, property agent and on occasion a bank. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Lewes is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY party in the legal process whose interest is to act in your best interests and to protect you.
Sometimes a third party with a vested interest will try and sway you that it is in your interests to do things their way. For example, the selling agent may claim to be assisting by claiming that your conveyancer is slow. Or your financial adviser may advise you to do take action that is contrary to your conveyancers advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
My uncle passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Lewes. The house had a small mortgage remaining of approximately £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Virgin Money, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
If you plan to refinance then Virgin Money will require that you use a conveyancer on the Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Do I choose a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Lewes?
There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Lewes and Solicitor firms in Lewes offering conveyancing We would stress that both are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal work in transferring property. The two can handle associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as a first time buyer of a garden flat in Lewes. Do I pick up the keys to the property on the completion date from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Lewes?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Lewes. Your solicitors will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be invited to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. Usually this happens between 1 and 3pm.
I'm at the point of looking at houses in Lewes and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a conveyancing practitioner in place at this point? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Nottingham.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nottingham, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel.
I need some expedited conveyancing in Lewes as I have pressure to exchange contracts in less than 3 weeks. A home loan is not required. Can I escape the need for conveyancing searches to save money and time?
As you are not getting a home loan you have the choice not to have searches conducted although no lawyer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Lewes the following are instances of issues that can appear and therefore impact future mortgageability: Enforcement Actions, Overdue Fees, Outstanding Grants, Railway Schemes,...
I am buying a new build flat in Lewes. Conveyancing is necessary evil 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.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Lewes
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Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.
Last August I purchased a leasehold flat in Lewes. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the registered owner of a studio flat in Lewes, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Lewes with an extended lease are worth £185,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2085
With just 60 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information 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. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.