Consumer Information

We are providing this information in order that you can make an informed choice before instructing us.

Prior to instructing us please telephone or email for a full detailed estimate of legal fees and disbursements for your transaction. You will find our fees set out in the section marked “Fees” at the top of our website. Moving house can be stressful and it is important you instruct a Conveyancer who is able to make your house sale or purchase as stress-free as possible.

Please see below the key stages involved in both a sale and purchase transaction:

PURCHASE TRANSACTION

YOUR INSTRUCTIONS

Once we receive your instructions we will open a file to obtain and correlate all necessary information from you and third parties in order that we can progress with the legal work.

We will request a contract pack from the sellers solicitors. Upon receipt of the pack we will raise any enquiries and provide you with a preliminary report including a location plan of the property you are buying. Once you authorise us to do so we will apply for the searches against the property (see below section Searches)

SURVEYS

It is strongly recommended that you have a comprehensive survey of the property you are purchasing carried out. There is no obligation on the seller to disclose any information of a structural or physical nature that would have been covered in a survey and you must be satisfied that you have taken sufficient steps to check the suitably of the property for your purposes. Please note we are not qualified to give advice on the result of a survey unless there is any particular legal issue your surveyor flags up in the report.

SEARCHES

Again, we would strongly recommend searches are carried out against the Property you are purchasing. If you are obtaining a mortgage your Lender will insist that these are carried out. We routinely carry out searches with the Local Authority, a Groundsure report and a water and drainage report with the water undertaker. Depending on the area which you are purchasing the property there may be further specialist searches required, e.g a coal authority search.

RECEIPT OF ENQUIRIES AND SEARCH RESULTS

Once we are in receipt of satisfactory replies to the enquiries we have raised and satisfactory search results along with a clear mortgage offer from your lender we will be in a position to report to you with our legal findings on the property, searches and mortgage offer along with the contract documentation for you to sign and return.

MORTGAGE

If we are also acting for your proposed lender, i.e bank or building society in the transaction then we have a duty to fully reveal to your Lender all relevant facts about the purchase property and mortgage. Once we have a satisfactory mortgage offer and have reported any issues to your Lender we will forward to you (at the same time as sending the property report) a mortgage report setting out the terms of your mortgage to ensure you understand the same.

EXCHANGE AND COMPLETION

Once all enquiries are satisfied and we have reported to you we will be in a position to discuss dates with the rest of the chain to proceed to exchange of contracts and completion. On completion we will deal with the transfer of the legal estate in the Property into your name and apply for mortgage funds in advance from your Lender to arrive in sufficient time for completion. We will transfer funds to the solicitor acting for the seller of the property.

FOLLOWING COMPLETION

We will, as your agent, submit the necessary return to HMRC with your stamp duty land tax. We will arrange to register your interest in the Property at the Land Registry. Once the Land Registry have completed the application for registration we will notify you by post with a copy of the updated register.

TIMESCALES

Each transaction takes a different length of time to reach completion which is dependent of various factors, e.g. complexity of the matter, the length of the chain etc… However, as a guide, we estimate that the usual length of time for a transaction to complete is between 8 – 14 weeks.

SALE TRANSACTION

YOUR INSTRUCTIONS

Once we receive your instructions we will open a file and obtain and all information from you and third parties in order that we can prepare and issue the Contract and legal pack to send to the buyers solicitor.

ENQUIRIES

We will answer any enquiries raised by the buyers solicitor from the documentation we hold. If the enquiries raised are of a personal nature then we will need to refer these back to you for your answers.

MORTGAGE

If you have a mortgage or secured loan against the property we will contact your mortgage lender to obtain a settlement figure

EXCHANGE AND COMPLETION

Once all enquiries raised have been satisfactorily answered we will forward you the contract paperwork for signature. We will then be in a position to discuss dates to exchange contracts and complete once the rest of the chain is at the same stage.

On completion we will receive funds from the buyers solicitor and redeem any mortgage or secured charge. Any net sale proceeds (after payment of legal and estate agency fees) will be either sent to your nominated account or transferred to your related transaction (if applicable).

TIMESCALES

Each transaction takes a different length of time to reach completion which is dependent of various factors, e.g. complexity of the matter, the length of the chain etc… However, as a guide, we estimate that the usual length of time for a transaction to complete is between 8 – 14 weeks