We're in Lewes, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is UBS , and our solicitor is on the UBS conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no property lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
I am assisting my step-mother sell her flat in Lewes. Does the conveyancer commission an energy assessment or it is for me to coordinate?
After the demise of Home Packs, energy assessments was retained a required part of selling a house. An energy assessment should be to hand prior to the property being put on the market. It is not as aspect of the sale process that conveyancers normally arrange. If you are using a Lewes conveyancing lawyer they may be willing to arrange EPC’s given their contacts with reputable local assessors
Is it the case that all Lewes CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel?
A selection of banks and building societies now make use of CQS as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Lewes. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
Should our conveyancer be making enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Lewes.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Lewes. Plenty of people will buy a property in Lewes, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that can be initiated by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Lewes. The standard information supplied to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a standard inquiry of the seller to discover if the premises has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred and is not revealed by the seller, then a purchaser may bring a compensation claim resulting from an incorrect response. A buyer’s conveyancers will also order an enviro search. This will higlight if there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries will need to be initiated.
We're first time buyers - agreed a price, yet the selling agent told us that the seller will only issue a contract if we use their chosen lawyers as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a local conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Lewes
We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. If they desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Try to communicate with the owners directly and make the point that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to use your own,trusted Lewes conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothe ones that will give the estate agent a introducer fee or hit his conveyancing targets set by corporate headquarters.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in Lewes. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).
Leasehold Conveyancing in Lewes - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying
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What is the the remaining lease term? This information is helpful as a) areas can cause problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where services are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to have all the details You should be aware if it is less than 80 years it will affect the value of the property. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the premises for 24 months in order to be legally able to extend the lease.
I require the services of a lender panel solicitor in Lewes. Can you assist?
Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a Lewes panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to the mortgage company to find out which solicitors in Lewes are on their panel . If you do find such a firm in Lewes not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site