As someone with no idea as to conveyancing in West Sussex what is the number one tip you can give me for the ownership transfer in West Sussex
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in West Sussex or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the transaction. For instance, the vendor, property agent and on occasion a bank. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in West Sussex is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the process whose responsibility is to protect your best interests and to protect you.
We are witnessing a definite ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be at fault for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
My Solicitor in West Sussex is not listed on the Aldermore Solicitor Panel. Is it possible for me to retain my prefered solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Aldermore list of approved lawyers?
Your options are as follows:
- Carry on with your preferred West Sussex solicitors but Aldermore will need to retain a conveyancer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the total conveyancing fees as well as result in delays.
- Get a new practitioner to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the Aldermore panel
My stepmother advised me that in purchasing a property in West Sussex there may be a number of restrictions prohibiting external changes to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in West Sussex which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external changes. Part of the conveyancing in West Sussex should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
It is unclear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my West Sussex building society branch on numerous occasions and was told it wasn't a problem and they would lend. My West Sussex conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they would not lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two specifications for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in West Sussex. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £200. Shortly after, the lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Barclays panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian house in West Sussex. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Coventry Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in West Sussex and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who completed the work.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in West Sussex prior to retaining conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. The surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to give a loan on this type of property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can investigate further with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in West Sussex. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.