Residential Conveyancing

For property sales and purchases it normally takes around 6 to 8 weeks from receipt of the initial paperwork from the other party’s solicitor. This timescale can be longer if there is a chain or if there are mortgages involved.

Searches are carried out before exchange of contracts to find out as much information about the property as possible. They are completed by public bodies such as the Local Authority, the Drainage Authority and the Environmental Agency. They give you information such as planning permissions or restrictions affecting the property and confirm if the property is connected to mains water and drainage.

Depending on the area you are purchasing in, there may be additional searches such as a mining search or flood search that needs to be conducted.

We recommend you have a survey conducted to provide you with details of the property’s condition prior to committing to the purchase. A comprehensive survey will look at the structure of the building, any outbuildings and nearby trees/water services etc and provide you with recommendations for any work that may need to be completed.

If you are having a mortgage to purchase the property, the lender may conduct an onsite valuation; this is solely for their benefit and will only comment on the valuation of the property, not any potential defects or issues.

Your deposit will normally be 10% of the purchase price of the property, this will need be cleared in our account before exchange of contracts so that it can be sent to the sellers’ solicitor.

Upon completion of the sale of the property we will normally request the invoice from the estate agents and settle this from the proceeds of the sale.

A payment for the Stamp Duty Land Tax is a lump-sum tax to the Government payable for every purchase of property in England. Land Transaction Tax is payable for purchases in Wales. The rate you’ll pay is calculated on the purchase price, type of property and your individual situation. We will provide an estimate for the Stamp Duty tax payable at the outset of the transaction.

This will be payable before completion in order that the relevant paperwork is submitted to the Government prior to the 14 day deadline; returns submitted after this date are liable for penalties and interest accruement.

When contracts are exchanged, this is when the contract becomes legally binding. A deposit is paid and if either party wished to withdraw they could not do so without incurring financial penalities.

Exchange of contracts takes place when all queries have been satisfied and all conditions of the transaction met. A date for completion to take place will also have been agreed by all parties.

Completion is the day when the buyer officially purchases the property and can begin to move in to the property. The purchase monies are transferred to the sellers’ solicitor and, once received, the keys to the property are released at either the estate agents or with the seller directly.

Any mortgages on the property are either requested to begin or are paid off in full and the title documentation relating to the property is passed to the buyers’ solicitor for handling the registration of the buyer as the new owner of the property.

The keys will be available once the seller’s solicitor has confirmed they have received the full purchase monies from the buyers’ solicitor. Normally they will be available to collect from the estate agent marketing the property or the buyer will have reached an agreement with the seller as to where the keys can be collected.

The keys will normally be available in the early afternoon.

You will be responsible for the property from exchange of contracts and therefore should make your insurance arrangements in advance so that the cover can be activated upon exchange.

If you are selling a property it is advisable that you retain adequate insurance cover until the date of completion.

You have the right to change your mind up until the point of exchange of contracts without incurring major financial penalties. You will be liable for any disbursements such as search fees incurred on your file and any conveyancing fees payable; normally at a reduced rate.

Once exchange of contracts has taken place, both the seller and the buyer are obligated to continue to completion. If you are unable to do so, there will be penalties incurred in line with the details of the contracts; these can be large financial costs and you should therefore ensure you are fully committed to the transaction before authorising exchange of contracts to take place.

You will need to pay an initial fee upfront at the start of the transaction to cover the initial costs incurred by your solicitor. On a sale transaction this will cover obtaining copies of the deeds and title documentation for the property. On a purchase transaction this will cover the initial cost of the searches ordered.

A breakdown of the costs involved, and when payment is due, will be provided to you with the initial paperwork.

In short, yes. A flat in England and Wales will be classified as a leasehold property and there will be, at a minimum, one other party involved. You can expect to pay fees charged by the freeholder or the management company/managing agent in respect of notice of the transfer of the property and the charge (if you are obtaining a mortgage) along with other costs associated with compliance with details and restrictions contained with the lease of the property. We will notify you of these as soon as the information is available to us. These costs are disbursements incurred on your behalf and payment will be required in advance of completion. These costs can vary from £50.00 to £500.00 +.

Most flats in England and Wales will have a freeholder or management company who will complete a set of standard Leasehold enquiry questions. There is normally a cost payable by the seller in respect of the third party providing these responses which will be payable at the onset of the transaction. These costs can vary from £50.00 to £500.00 +

Completion has to take place on a working day (Monday to Friday) as the purchase money needs to be transferred between solicitors and at present, banks only transfer funds on working days.