Residential Conveyancing

Conveyancing

Our residential conveyancing team offers a personal service to local clients with whom we expect at least one face to face meeting.  We do not do bulk online conveyancing nor do we pay referral fees to estate agents or other introducers. This enables us not only to ensure we are acting in your best interests at all time, but also to offer competitve fees coupled with a personal service.

Our team structure means the most appropriate person is dealing with your matter at each stage of the process.  On the other hand we have a team meeting each morning to review incoming mail and emails so we are all aware of progress.

Set out below are details of our team members, the key stages in a typical freehold purchase and some example costs.  Underneath that is a contact form which you can use to request a bespoke estimate.

John Waldron

Partner

John was admitted as a solicitor in 1976 and has worked mostly in residential and commercial property since then.  His role is to supervise the work of the team, sign off the key stages of the transaction and will usually meet clients face to face when they call in to review and sign the documentation.

Julie Tempest

Conveyancer

Julie is a part qualified legal executive holding Diplomas in Conveyancing and Land Law. She has over 30 years experience in residential conveyancing work. Her main role is to deal with enquiries and any 'title' issues which arise and to take the matter to exchange of contracts. 

Sheila Liversage

Conveyancing Secretary

Sheila has over 40 years experience as a freehold domestic conveyancing secretary.  Her main roles are to deal with the giving of estimates, setting up matters (including client due diligence), general progression of the case and then, after exchange of contracts, to deal with the completion arrangements and subsequent registration of title.

Key Stages in a typical freehold purchase.

Client Due Diligence:
  • This is the process of taking your instructions, checking there are no conflicts of interest, financial or legal issues which arise, and giving you initial advice where necessary.
  • It also involves taking your ID, evidence of address and source of funds. Note we will require to to see original documents.
  • We cannot make a substantive start on the matter until this stage is signed off and the requested payment on account is received.
Conveyancing Due Diligence:
  • Searches - we will carry out pre-contract conveyancing searches and report to you on the results. We normally carry out drainage/water, environmental and official local authority searches with a flood report as an optional extra. The local authority search can take several weeks to be returned but the others are usually returned within 48 hours.
  • Enquiries - on receipt of the contract documentation pack we will review it and raise any necessary enquiries on the title or compliance issues. We will send you copies of the documentation pack, along with copies of the enquiries raised and the replies received. We will advise you on any particular problems or issues which arise.  Note that whilst traditionally solicitors were only concerned to ensure that the property had a 'good and marketable title' it is now necessary to check planning and building regulations compliance in great detail, including the issue by contractors of compliance certificates for work such as replacement double glazing, gas appliances and electrical circuits or consumer units.
  • Mortgage Instructions - if you are having a mortgage we will receive mortgage instructions from your lender. Note this means we will be acting on behalf of you and your lender and owe a duty of care to both of you. On receipt of mortgage instructions we will write outlining the key points and in particular any conditions specified by the lender.  Be aware that to enable drawdown of funds we have to be able to certify to the lender that these conditions have been complied with in full.
  • Survey Report - if you have a survey report done and send us a copy we will review the 'Points for Legal Advisers' section and advise you on any issues which arise.
Moving to Exchange of Contracts:
  • Documentation Signature - when we are satisfied on the conveyancing due diligence we will invite you to a meeting to review the work we have done and to go through and sign the documentation.  We normally have all the documentation ready for you to sign at this stage, namely the contract, transfer deed, mortgage deed and Stamp Duty Land Tax return.  Note however that signing the documentation does not of itself commit you; you only become contractually bound when we exchange contracts on your behalf.  We will aslo discuss with you at this time the payment of the deposit or balance of purchase monies due from you.
  • Agree Timetable for Exchange of Contracts and Completion - the time taken to agree the timetable moving forward is very dependent on the other parties in your 'chain' of transactions; it can take from as little as one phone call to as much as several weeks or even months.
Exchange of Contracts -
  • We will not exchange contracts without your specific authority but once we do you will committed to the contractual completion date.  If you have a sale to tie in with your purchase we will make arrangements for the two transactions to be synchronised.
  • Preparation for Completion - after exchange of contracts we will arrange for all monies needed to be in place for completion, including submission of the Certificate of Title to and drawdown of funds from your Lender.
Completion:
  • On completion day we will deal with the transmission of the necessary funds, formal completion of the transaction and release of the keys.  We also normally submit the SDLT return on completion day and pay any SDLT due to HM Revenue & Customs.
  • As soon as possible after completion, usually when your seller's mortgage has been cleared off the land registry title, we will submit the application for registration of the transfer at the land registry.
  • When registration is complete we will send you a pack of documentation relating to the transaction for your retention.
The sale process is the mirror image of the above, in that we generate the contract pack and then deal with enquiries from the buyer's lawyers.  The seller is required to fill a fairly detailed property information form along with a list of items included or excluded from the sale.

The process can be expected to take two to three months from issue of memorandum of sale by the agents to completion or even longer if issues arise or there are delays in the chain of transactions.

Government guidance can be found at www.gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home

 

Example costs

In the section below you can download example estimates.  They all relate to freehold purchases with basic rate SDLT. The additional cost of higher rate SDLT is also stated; first time buyer relief may apply which would reduce or cancel SDLT liability.

Freehold is the predominant type of property tenure in and around Derby although there are an increasing number of leasehold apartments on the market. Fees for leaseholds, new builds and freeholds on developments with mangement companies are higher than those for straightforward freeholds.

Fees for sales are in general less than for their purchase equivalent.

Note that our estimates are an indication of charges on the basis of details presently known and on the assumption that the transaction(s) will not prove to be substantially more complex or time-consuming than expected.  Having said that, we will always notify you before additional fees are incurred.

If the matter does not proceed to completion, work done and payments made up to that point will remain chargeable i.e. we do charge for abortive work.

For a bespoke estimate contact us on 01332 348484 or via our contact form below.

Estimate 1

£120,000

This is an estimate for a freehold purchase in Derby at £120,000 with no mortgage.

Higher rate SDLT would add £3,600 to the total cost
Download Estimate 1

Estimate 2

£240,000

This is an estimate for a freehold purchase in Derby at £240,000 with a mortgage and gifted deposit.

Higher rate SDLT would add £7,200 to the total cost.
Download Estimate 2

Estimate 3

£240,000/£360,000

This is an estimate for a freehold sale in Derby at £240,000 linked to a purchase at £360,000 with a mortgage.

Higher rate SDLT would add £10,800 to the total cost,
Download Estimate 3
As you can see, above this price the SDLT begins to dwarf the legal fees.
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