Uncategorized – Sussex Law Solicitors

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)?

Lasting Powers of Attorney, are legal documents registered with the Court of Protection enabling you to appoint representatives to act on your behalf. (more…)

PROPERTY CONVEYANCING

For a buyer the stages of conveyancing are as follows:

Stage 1: Instructing a conveyancer
Once you have found your property and your offer has been accepted the vendor’s estate agent will request your conveyancer’s details to pass on to the sellers’ solicitors. It is best to do your research and select who you would like to act on your behalf so that you can act quickly once your offer has been accepted.

The conveyancer acting for the seller will prepare a legal information pack which will include a draft contract, a fixtures, fittings and contents form, a property information form and the legal title to the property.

Stage 2: Apply for a mortgage

When making a purchase requiring a mortgage you will have already secured a mortgage in principle to prove you’re a legitimate buyer but at the point your offer is accepted you will need to complete a formal mortgage application.

The mortgage lender will arrange a valuation on the property to ensure the property value matches the purchase price. You will then be sent a copy of the formal offer and your conveyancer will receive this at the same time

Stage 3: Searches and enquiries

As a minimum, your appointed conveyancer will need to apply for three different searches:

Local authority search
Water and drainage search
Environmental search

In addition to these, your conveyancer will also receive the legal information pack mentioned above and raise enquiries relating to the property, to ensure you have all the information you need.

There may be other chargeable searches such as bankruptcy and anti-money laundering checks.

While your conveyancer will do their due diligence to find out as much about the property as they can, this does not include the physical condition of the property. Therefore, you need to arrange a property survey or any specialist reports such as electrical or damp reports. A property survey can often be arranged through your mortgage lender or by your instruction via third party suppliers.

It is always recommended that you should have a full survey as the lender survey is a basic valuation survey and may miss important structural items and possible build over and planning issues. You need to read your survey thoroughly and understand the content and any implications highlighted.

Stage 4: Pre exchange

Once your conveyancer has received the results of their various searches, replies to the enquiries raised by the other side, and confirmation of your mortgage offer, they will compile a full report on the property which they will send and arrange for you to sign your part of the contract. You need to read the report carefully, so you are aware of all the factors which affect the property you are buying. It is your responsibility to satisfy yourself with any items reported to you.

Stage 5: Exchange of contracts and completion

For a freehold purchase, on average, it usually takes around 14-16 weeks to reach this point, but it is around 16-18 weeks for a leasehold purchase. Once the contract has been signed by both parties, the conveyancers will then ‘Exchange Contracts’ and the property transaction becomes legally binding.

You will need to have your buildings insurance in place at the point of exchange. Lots of people question this as the property is then insured by both parties. The common law position is that the risk of damage or destruction of the property passes to the buyer on exchange of contracts unless the contract provides otherwise.

It is therefore imperative that a buyer takes out their own policy of insurance which will be effective immediately upon exchange of contracts.

Completion can sometimes be on the same day as exchange, however, if a mortgage is involved, you will usually need a week between exchange and completion. The completion day is the final part of the conveyancing process and is the day you finally get the keys to your new home.

WHAT IF I AM TAKING OUT A MORTGAGE?

If you are taking out a mortgage on the property AND the insurance is being arranged by the lender then it is likely the lender will have the property insured from exchange of contracts. You MUST, however, check with the lender that this is the case. Do not leave this until the last minute.

WHAT IF I AM NOT TAKING OUT A MORTGAGE?

If you are not having a mortgage or you have chosen not to let the lender deal with insurance, you will be responsible to arrange the buildings insurance. The seller has no obligation to you to insure the property other than in certain circumstances, for example, where the property is leasehold, or the contract provides otherwise.

Can you do the conveyancing yourself?

Self-conveyancing or DIY conveyancing is possible for a mortgage free transaction, but rarely occurs these days.

If you’re taking out a mortgage on a property you intend to purchase, then your mortgage lender will insist on you instructing a conveyancer. If you are selling and have a mortgage to repay, the buyer’s solicitor would insist the sale processed are paid to a solicitor who would discharge the existing mortgage. In addition, any party not represented by a conveyancer or solicitor would need to take steps to have their identity verified by a regulated professional.

Is it better to use a local solicitor for conveyancing?

A local conveyancing solicitor should be people’s go-to preference. There are good reasons for this such as the conveyancer having good local knowledge of the area and the types of property and the local items needing to be searched such as Radon Gas, mining, boundaries etc. It is becoming more common now for property buyers and sellers to consider ‘online conveyancing’ from a national conveyancer or “bucket shop conveyancer”. Whilst this is usually cheap you do get what you pay for.

It will ultimately come down to whose services best suit your needs.

Using personally recommended firms and individuals is a good place to start.

You may find you are put under pressure from the estate agent to not use one firm and to use one they recommend. It is usually the case that the agent is being paid a referral fee from the firm they try to push you on to and they are not receiving anything from the firm they are trying to dissuade you from using.

We recommend that you never use the firm, individual or broker that the agent wants you to use. It is current practice of some estate agents especially the ones who employ sales progressors to try to dissuade clients from using a lawyer who is “Picky” and asks too many questions. A “Picky” lawyer is exactly what you need when making such a large purchase. No stone left unturned is a good thing when buying property. Time taken over your purchase means you should not have any issues when you come to sell because your lawyer has been thorough.

Remember your lawyer has you, their clients best interest at heart. The same cannot usually be said for anyone else. During the process.

The average referral fee demanded by the agent from a law firm and broker combined is approximately £500.

Do you pay stamp duty every time you move?

Yes, if your property purchase is above £250,000.

There are different rules for First Time Buyers (see below), owners of more than one property and non-UK residents.

To find out more about the current stamp duty rates see here.

What fees do first-time buyers pay?

For first time buyers, the fees paid aren’t likely to be much different to those who have purchased a property previously. There are however different Stamp Duty Land Tax rates, with no SDLT payable for properties worth up to £425,000, compared with up to £250,000 for those who have owned property before.

The fees paid to your conveyancer will still be the same regardless of if you’re a first-time buyer or previous homeowner. Yet, there are several schemes to help support first-time buyers to get on to the property ladder – take a look here for further detail on what help you could get as a first-time buyer.

How much do searches cost?

The overall cost of property searches depends various factors. When doing your research into appointing your conveyancer, searches are likely to be estimated as part of disbursements assuming at the very least you will need local authority searches, environmental searches as well as water and drainage searches which are approx £300 – £400.

Please feel free to contact us if you need any guidance or a quotation to help with your property legal needs.

info@sussexlawsolicitors.co.uk

01273 561312

Complaints Procedure

Sussex Law Ltd is committed to providing a professional, efficient and courteous service to all our clients. If you feel that we have failed to achieve an acceptable standard of service, we want you to tell us. We will investigate your concerns objectively and try to generate a positive and speedy solution.

What To Do If You Have A Complaint About The Service We Have Provided Or The Handling or Storage of Your Personal Data

If you are not happy with the service provided to you and/or the handling or storage of your personal data, you should contact the person normally dealing with your case or their supervising partner or manager. The name of the supervising partner or manager will be found on your initial correspondence or, if you don’t have this, then please contact our reception team. You can contact us in writing or by telephone.

01273 561312 – info@sussexlawsolicitors.co.uk

To help us to respond to your concerns promptly please include the following details:

Your full name and contact details
Your file reference number
What you think we have got wrong
What you hope to achieve as a result of your complaint

The person handling your case and the supervisor or manager will carry out an investigation into your complaint and provide you with a response within 15 business days. If the matter is complex and it takes longer to deal with your complaint, they will let you know as soon as possible and give you an approximate timescale of when you can expect a response. They may suggest a telephone call or meeting to discuss matters. If you have a preference for how they communicate their response to you please let them know.

If, following that response you remain dissatisfied you may escalate your complaint to The Practice Manager by email, steve.cole@sussexlawsolicitors.co.uk or by writing to:

Sussex Law Solicitors
45 Ladies Mile Road
Patcham
Brighton
BN18TA

The Practice Manager will carry out an investigation and aim to resolve matters with you on an amicable basis. Please note that The Legal Ombudsman allows us a period of eight weeks from receipt of your complaint to try and resolve matters with you before they will agree to investigate a complaint.

Referral to the Legal Ombudsman

If you are not satisfied with the final response from our Client Care Team, you may refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. A referral must be made to The Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of the date of the letter confirming the investigation has come to an end and your file is closed in relation to the complaint that has been dealt with. In any event you must raise the formal complaint within 1 year of the incident giving rise to the complaint or no more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are as follows:

Telephone: 0300 555 0333 (international: +44 121 245 3050)
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ.

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority

Working with us.

Sussex Law Solicitors in Patcham have a vacancy for a full time
Residential Property Legal Secretary

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Legal Secretary to join our busy property department based in Patcham, Brighton.

You will need to have secretarial experience, preferably with Residential Property.

The Role

• To provide secretarial support to the property fee earner
• Audio typing using digital dictation
• Diary management
• Sending client care letters and supporting documentation.
• Apply for searches using on line services including land registry

Experience required:

• At least 1 years recent Residential or Commercial Property legal secretarial experience or several years secretarial experience.
• Fast and accurate audio typing skills, including Digital dictation preferable.
• Experienced with Microsoft office , word, outlook, Excel
• Able to prioritise and multitask
• Friendly working environment
• Competitive salary
You must have good typing skills and an eye for detail.
This is a full-time post 9-5pm some flexibility possible.
Please contact info@sussexlawsolicitors.co.uk with your current C.V. or to communicate your interest.

Working with us.

Sussex Law Solicitors in Patcham

We are seeking an organised, pro-active, articulate and motivated receptionist, preferably with experience of working in a legal environment, on a part time basis 3 days per week including Mondays. The current rate of pay is £12.00 per hour

Duties include diary management, reception duties including managing calls from new and existing clients, greeting clients and file management. The successful candidate will be confident around computer technology and be able to work in an organised manner.

We are an equal opportunities employer and offer the opportunity for everyone to play a key role in our service to our clients..

Skills Range

Essential:

Strong IT skills with knowledge of Microsoft Office
Good communication skills
Attention to detail is essential
Excellent organisational and administration skills
Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment

Person Specification

Able to prioritise your workload and to work to deadlines
Using initiative and flexibility in your approach
Ability to multitask and remain calm under pressure
Commitment to providing an efficient, effective and professional service to our clients
Enthusiasm for team working
Commitment to our company’s values

Benefits

Holiday above standard
Access to training and professional development
Brighton location
Easy Street parking
Non city centre location

How to apply

To apply, please send a cover email and your CV to info@sussexlawsolicitors.co.uk

No recruitment agencies please.

Careers with Sussex Law

Sussex law have a current vacancy for a full time Senior Conveyancing Solicitor

Senior Residential Conveyancer

We are looking for a senior residential property solicitor/conveyancer for our busy office in Patcham. You will be able to run your own matters from start to finish using digital dictation and be able to manage a mixed caseload of freehold and leasehold transactions.

It would also be beneficial if you already have links within the Brighton residential property sector. However, we do not and will not pay referral fees to agents. You will need to be dynamic, motivated and self-reliant with good attention to detail and be commercially aware.

This is a full-time role and an exciting opportunity and there is potential to become a partner. Salary is available upon application, is based on experience and is competitive.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS POSITION, PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR CV IN THE FIRST INSTANCE TO STEVE COLE AT SUSSEX LAW SOLICITORS. info@sussexlawsolicitors.co.uk

Call 01273 561312 or send an email to info@sussexlawsolicitors.co.uk

Sussex Law Best Rated Property Lawyers in Brighton

We are proud to be rated Top 3 Property Solicitors for the city of Brighton.

ThreeBestRated’s goal is to find the top 3 local businesses per category in each town/city across the UK. Its employees handpick 3 top local businesses per category and check reviews, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, trust, cost and general excellence. Only businesses verified by ThreeBestRated employees are included.

Let us know if you need any property related advice or have a requirement for our conveyancing service.

We also have an excellent Private Client department for all of your Wills, Probate and Power of attorney and Estate Planning needs. Contact Sally or Linda.

info@sussexlawsolicitors.co.uk or 01273 561312

Our Cost Transparency

Our rate card for conveyancing, wills, probate and LPA’s is available on request.

Our rates are also available to view in these blog pages under the heading of interest you can use our search box to the right of the page.

The conveyancing rate card below is displayed as a general guide as each matter differs in complexity. Sussex Law are proud to be an accredited member of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), the most important benchmark of quality for residential conveyancing.

RATE CARD CONVEYANCING	2024/2025
PRICE RANGE	£0 – £250000	£250000-£500000	£500000-£1M	£1M PLUS

SALE FREEHOLD	£1500	£1750	£2000	£2250
PURCHASE FREEHOLD	£1750	£2000	£2250	£2500
SALE LEASEHOLD	£2000	£2250	£2500	£2750
PURCHASE LEASEHOLD	£2250	£2500	£2750	£3000
HTB SCHEME ADD £250 + VAT