Residential Conveyancing

INTRODUCTION

Moving house is known to be a very stressful time and our dedicated staff will ensure that your transaction is dealt with efficiently and that you will be kept informed throughout the process. Your matter will be handled personally by the allocated and qualified member of the team who will either be a Solicitor or a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives with more than 10 years experience.

We will give you a fixed quotation at the outset of your transaction and this will not change unless the circumstances of the transaction change in which case we will notify you and agree any additional fees before they are incurred.

What We Will Do For You

On a sale we will do the following:

Make contact with the buyer’s conveyancer to set the matter in motion.
Send you some forms to complete which will form part of the Contract package.
Order a copy of the registered title of the property (or ask you to provide the title deeds if it is unregistered).
Consider your title to the property.
Issue the Contract papers to the buyer’s conveyancer.
Respond to any enquiries raised by the buyer’s conveyancer in conjunction with you and other relevant parties.
Obtain a settlement figure for your mortgage then we pay them out of the proceeds of sale on completion.
Agree with you the dates for exchange of Contracts and completion of your sale.
Handle the exchange of Contracts and place the deposit funds in your name in our client account.
On completion we will receive the proceeds of sale and distribute them in accordance with a completion statement which will be provided to you and will account to you for any net proceeds of sale or transfer the balance to any onward purchase.
We will settle the estate agent’s fees and our fees and disbursements.

On a purchase we will do the following:

The estate agents will contact us giving details of the terms you have agreed and informing us who the seller’s conveyancer is and we will then contact them to commence matters.
We will receive the Contract documentation from the seller’s conveyancer and then submit our searches and raise appropriate enquiries.
We will consider carefully the Seller’s title to the property they are selling.
On receipt of our searches and enquiries we will report to you on the Contract papers, including the seller’s title to the property, giving you the opportunity to raise any questions or queries with us that you may have. If applicable we will receive your mortgage offer and consider the lenders requirements and report to you and them as required.
We will prepare the necessary documentation for you to sign including assisting you with making a Stamp Duty Land Tax Return (Land Transaction Tax in Wales) and prepare a comprehensive completion statement showing the funds you will need to provide.
We will liaise with you as to the timetable for exchange of contracts and completion and agree dates with all the parties.
Throughout the matter we will deal with the transfer of funds including any deposit payable, the payment of search fees and other expenses and on completion transfer the funds to the seller’s conveyancer and pay the appropriate Stamp Duty Land Tax, the Land Registry fees and our fees.
Once the purchase has completed we will register your purchase at the Land Registry and once that has been completed we will provide a copy of the title to you.

How long will it take?

A typical transaction which does not involve a long chain will normally complete in about six to eight weeks.

How much will it cost?

Each house sale and purchase is different but at the outset we are usually able to give you a quotation tailored to your sale or purchase. Our fees will take into account all the factors we expect to encounter including the value and likely complexity involved. We set out below our typical starting price for properties valued at £250,000.

For the sale of a typical freehold property with a registered title at the price of £250,000.00 our fees will be £750 plus VAT at 20% together with an additional charge of £25.00 plus VAT at 20% for each electronic transfer of funds required in the transaction. In addition we will obtain a copy of your title from the Land Registry at a typical cost of £6.00.

For the purchase of a typical freehold property with a registered title at the price of £250,000.00 our fees will be £850.00 plus VAT at 20% together with an additional charge of £25.00 plus VAT at 20% for each electronic transfer of funds required in the transaction.

For a leasehold property additional work is often required owing to the nature of such transactions.

On a sale it is likely that we would need to obtain a leasehold information pack from the freeholder/managing agent and such packs vary in cost from £0 to £300.00 or even more in some cases.

On a leasehold purchase it is normally a requirement of the Lease that certain administrative obligations have to be complied with which means that on completion we are likely to need to give notice of the transfer/charge to the freeholder/management company, possibly enter into a Deed of Covenant and possibly obtain a Compliance Certificate. Again, administrative fees charged by the freeholder/managing agent vary considerably for such matters.

In addition the following expenses are likely to be incurred and charged for:-

Stamp Duty Land Tax £2,500.00 – please note that the rates may be different for a first time buyer or if the higher rates for additional properties apply. In Wales the Land Transaction Tax takes place of Stamp Duty Land Tax. You can calculate the tax payable by visiting:
- www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax
- www.stampdutycalculator.org.uk/ltt-calculator
Land Registry Fee £135.00
Search Fees £244.08 (including VAT)
Bankruptcy search fee £2.40 per person (including VAT)
Land Registry search fee £3.60 (including VAT)

Additional Information

In some cases we encounter defects in the title to a property or a lack of information regarding evidence of consents for alterations or improvements to a property and it may be necessary to obtain an indemnity insurance policy. We can obtain a quotation for such a policy and, if appropriate, will obtain your instructions before incurring the expense of purchasing the policy.

If the title to the property you are purchasing does not have a title registered at the Land Registry (or an application to register cannot for some reason be submitted electronically) the Land Registry fees applicable will be twice those applying to a registered title.

Conveyancing Quality Scheme

We are pleased to be a member of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme which means that we have been required to comply with high conveyancing standards set by the Law Society.

To Obtain a Quotation

To obtain a quotation tailored to your specific transaction please do not hesitate to call our team who will be able to provide you with a quotation over the telephone which can be confirmed in writing by email or post.