My wife and I are looking to buy a flat in Brighton and are in fact using a Brighton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Norwich and Peterborough Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Brighton conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Brighton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My husband and I are nearing an exchange on a house in Brighton and my parents have sent the 10% deposit to my conveyancer. I am now informed that as the deposit has not come from me my conveyancing practitioner needs to make a notification to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the mortgage company he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I advised the mortgage company concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for him to raise this?
Your conveyancing practitioner is legally required to clarify with mortgage company to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. Your solicitor can only report this to your mortgage company if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Brighton. I now require my file but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Brighton of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am purchasing a new build house in Brighton benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not inform my lawyer about this deal as it would adversely affect my loan with Barnsley 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.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Brighton I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Brighton suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
There are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Brighton. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Brighton.
I own a leasehold flat in Brighton, conveyancing having been completed in 2003. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Brighton with an extended lease are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2092
With only 67 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.