My husband and I are refinancing our apartment in West Sussex with Barclays. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Barclays conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Barclays. This is solely used to protect Barclays if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Barclays had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Do I find a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in West Sussex?
There are two types of lawyers who can do conveyancing in West Sussex namely CLC regulated conveyancers or solicitors. Both professionals handle conveyancing services that required to complete the disposal or acquisition of property. Both are obliged to conduct West Sussex conveyancing to the same quality and guidelines so you can be sure that your conveyancing will be professionally conducted and that the requirements and procedures will be appropriately attended to.
I have paid off my mortgage with Lloyds. I assume I don't need a West Sussex conveyancer on the Lloyds panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Lloyds mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Lloyds mortgage from the register. Lloyds, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Lloyds has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Lloyds has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Coventry BS are being a right pain. The West Sussex solicitor who is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Coventry BS are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Coventry BS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Coventry BS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Coventry BS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Will my conveyancer be asking questions regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in West Sussex.
Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers dealing with homes in West Sussex. Plenty of people will buy a house in West Sussex, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or dispose of the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that can be undertaken by the purchaser or by their lawyers which can give them a better understanding of the risks in West Sussex. The standard information sent to a buyer’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a standard question of the vendor to find out whether the premises has historically flooded. If the property has been flooded in past which is not notified by the owner, then a buyer could bring a legal claim for losses stemming from an inaccurate reply. The purchaser’s conveyancers should also carry out an environmental search. This should disclose whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations will need to be conducted.
I used Arc property Solicitors a few years ago for my conveyancing in West Sussex. Now, I need my documents but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing 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 West Sussex of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in West Sussex before retaining conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to grant a mortgage on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can investigate further via the appropriate mortgage company. 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 can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in West Sussex to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
My business partner and I are planning to lease a unit on the high street. Can you recommend lawyers offering competitive fees for non-domestic conveyancing in West Sussex for less than 1500k?
We are happy to recommend firms who have well rounded knowledge of commercial conveyancing in West Sussex, including the sale and acquisition of businesses as well as simply property. Whether you are looking to buy or lease a shop, pub, restaurant, office, retail unit or a complete business we will put you in touch with the right solicitor. Regarding the charges these will vary based on the structure and heads of terms of the proposed transaction. Please provide us with your contact information or telephone us so that we can provide you with a fixed commercial conveyancing quote.