Residential Conveyancing Services

Generally no, because in order to obtain a key for the house you are buying, we must hand over the purchase money and, of course, we shall not receive the money until we have completed the sale of your present house and you are actually moving out.  So, unless you wish to obtain a bridging loan from your bank to pay for the new house in advance, everyone must move on the same day.

We would prefer that you either hand them to us or the Estate Agent after you have moved out.  They should not be given directly to the Buyer.  The reason for this is that although the Buyer is bound by the Contract to the purchase, if he does not complete on the completion day itself then he has to compensate you for any delay in completing by paying you interest.  There is no practical way in which we can insist that your Buyer or his Solicitors complete and hand over the money on the actual day of completion.  However, if the keys are handed over to the Estate Agent or to ourselves, we can make sure that the Buyer does not receive the keys until we obtain the purchase money and any compensation which might be due.

No.  We complete direct with the other parties' Solicitors and you are not involved at all.  You need only to make your own practical removal arrangements and we will confirm to you by telephone when the keys to your Property are available.

We leave you to contact the rating authorities and notify them of your new property as, generally, you only become responsible for rates when you begin to move your belongings into the property.

We also leave you to deal with the reading of electricity and gas meters and payment of the telephone account up to the date of completion, as well as applying for connection to these services in your new property.

Although we can guarantee that we shall have completed the legal work and will be ready to complete, and in the vast majority of all cases everything goes through without difficulty, problems do occasionally arise.  The most usual case is where there is a "chain", i.e. A buying from B, B buying from C, C buying from D, and so on. On completion day A's money must be passed to B, B must pass the money to C, and so on down the chain.  As you will see, the further down the chain you are, the more difficult it becomes, and if the person selling to you refuses to release the keys until the money is in their Solicitors' hands, it could be quite late in the day before the keys would be released.  Delays can also be involved if the mortgage advance money does not arrive on time, or if there is a delay in a bank transmitting funds between Solicitors.  We can normally overcome any problems which arise.  You will rarely know about them as we shall be able to deal with them without worrying you.

The only way to ensure that there will be no disruption at all is for you to make arrangements for a bridging loan to be available from your Bank.  We should be pleased to advise you if you are in any doubt.

In addition to relatives and friends, there are many people who should be advised of your move.  We set out below a checklist of names and Authorities, which might be relevant to your move and which we hope will prove useful:-

Gas Supplier • Electricity Supplier • British Telecom/Cable/Nynex • The Post Office (Mail) • Giro Bank • Premium Bonds • Doctor/Hospital • Dentist • Dhss/Pensions • Credit Card Company • Accountant • Stockbroker • Stocks And Shares • National Savings Bank • Income Tax • Schools • National Insurance • Council Tax • Water Supplier • Bank/Investments • Building Society • Insurance Companies • Bupa/PPP • Motor Vehicle Licensing • Driving Licence • TV Licence • TV Rental • HP Companies • Mail Order Companies • Library • Publications/Magazines • Your Employer • AA/RAC • Clubs/Associations • Motor Insurers • Local Business Accounts • Fire Authority • Water Services Supplier

Transferring the ownership of land is not like transferring the ownership of, say, a piece of furniture or a car. Land is always there and in the course of time many rights and obligations may be created in relation to it.  They are often not evident on an inspection of the property. For example, someone may have a right to occupy part of it, but not be there when you call or,  a neighbour may have a right to enter the property and dig up the drains in order to inspect or clean his drain.

The public, too, may have claims - perhaps there is a public footpath across the property; the council could have rights in respect of, for example, compulsory acquisition or unpaid charges for making up the road. The planning authority, or the highway authority, are perhaps considering schemes which would affect the environment of the house you are thinking of buying.

Then there is the question: Does the seller really own it and, if so, is he free to sell it? If he inherited the property, were the correct steps taken to transfer legal ownership to him, or is it still vested in the name of another?

These are only a very few of the snags which can arise and it is your solicitor’s duty to discover if any do exist and on which you should be advised. Conveyancing is the name given to the process of transferring ownership of land from one person to another, the solicitors for the seller and the buyer each being obliged to safeguard their client’s interests.

There are three main areas to consider and we shall briefly look at each. They are:

The work carried out after agreement in principle is reached, but before the seller and buyer are bound by contract to proceed with the matter.

The stage between “exchange of contracts” (when the parties become contractually committed) and “completion” (the day on which money changes hands in return for the keys and transfer of ownership, i.e. the day on which you are entitled to move in)

The conclusion of the formal side of the transaction, when documents are submitted to the Inland Revenue for payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax and to the Land Registry for registration of the transfer of the property.

In most instances it will be possible to offer a fixed fee quotation, else at least a estimate of the likely fees and disbursements for the matter. We will endeavour to provide a transparent and clear fee estimate to help you budget for the transaction. In certain circumstances, where the nature of the matter changes part way through, or where we are not advised of all facts at the outset, it may be necessary to update our fee estimate, but we will always discuss this with you.

Please see our fee guidelines below these FAQs

We all work on our own caseloads, and you will receive a direct point of contact for your appointed fee earner or lawyer including a direct email address and contact telephone number. You may also have contact with our fantastic support team who assist with some of our client onboarding such as ID checks and you will be happy to help you. In the event of any query, please feel free to contact your appointed lawyer in the first instance.