It is a dozen years since I purchased my house in East Sussex. Conveyancing lawyers have just been instructed on the sale but I can't locate my title documents. Will this cause complications?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be kept by your mortgage company or they may stored with the conveyancers who acted in the purchase. Secondly the chances are that the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in East Sussex involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
We are selling our flat in East Sussex. Will my solicitor have to be required to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Skipton conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently currently.
I completed on my flat on 14 June and the transaction details is not yet registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in East Sussex expressed confidence that it should be registered inside ten days. Are transfers in East Sussex particularly slow to register?
As far as conveyancing in East Sussex registration is no faster or slower than anywhere else in the country. Rather than based on location, timeframes can vary according to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry must send notices to any interested parties. Currently roughly 80% of submission are fully addressed within two weeks but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Historically registration occurs after the new owner is living at the premises therefore an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue yet if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer must contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.
How does conveyancing in East Sussex differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in East Sussex come to us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is finished. This is because new home sellers in East Sussex tend to acquire the land, 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 property lawyers 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 used to new build conveyancing in East Sussex or who has acted in the same development.
As co-executor for the will of my grandfather I am disposing of a residence in Neath but live in East Sussex. My lawyer (based 250 kilometers from mehas requested that I execute a stat dec before the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in East Sussex who can attest this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in East Sussex