I have just been advised by my broker that my West Sussex lawyer is not on the lender Solicitor panel. How can I be sure whether this is correct?

Your first step should be to contact your West Sussex lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to notify you what has happened. Where they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the conveyancing panel for your lender.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in West Sussex. Conveyancing is necessary. What is next?

Now that you are legally committed yourself to purchase you now have to find a conveyancing lawyer as a matter of priority as you are facing a tight deadline in which to complete the property. All auction property will have a corresponding auction pack. This will likely include evidence of title and search results. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the auction papers may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation specific to a leasehold property. You need to give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor ASAP. Do make sure that you have funds in place to complete on the date specified in the contract.

is it true that all West Sussex solicitors on the TSB conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the TSB approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be regulated by the CLC.

Principality have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a house in West Sussex has been accepted, now what?

The property agent will need to be advised as to your solicitor's details (ensure that the conveyancers are on the lender’s approved list). Telephone Principality or the broker and finish off any outstanding forms. Principality will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or seller to book a slot for the valuation to happen. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. Principality will send the offer to you and your lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in West Sussex.

I have been told that property searches are a common cause of delay in West Sussex conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in West Sussex.

I am buying my first flat in West Sussex with a mortgage from Yorkshire Building Society. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not inform my lawyer about this extras as it may affect my loan with Yorkshire Building Society. Is this normal?.

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.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in West Sussex. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in West Sussex - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I purchased a 2 bed flat in West Sussex, conveyancing was carried out 10 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in West Sussex with over 90 years remaining are worth £211,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2092

With only 68 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.