Conveyancing

Our property team is made up of highly experienced solicitors who have the legal and technical “know how” to resolve any issues that can arise during the purchasing and selling of properties which are prime principle residences.

Everyone in our team works full time in our property law department and do not practice in any other areas of law, additionally any work we undertake for you is supervised by our property law department partners.

For our clients buying  or selling their new home can be complex, and have come to depend on our ability to draw on the wider expertise the firm can provide, such as, tax and estate planning and planning law.

We know that communication is key to serving our clients' needs, so we are always on hand to answer your questions and ensure you are kept up-to-date with everything you need to know.

Why choose LCF?

We have an experienced team who understand the stress involved in buying and selling property. Our approach is simple; we provide a first-class service from our expert team who make the difference by removing confusion and uncertainty, dealing with all of the legal details of a property transaction on your behalf. We let you know what your options are and how best to reach your objectives. No jargon. No hidden fees. Law, Fair and Square.

We are proud to hold Lexcel and CQS Accreditation's, issued by the Law Society. This involves the firm undergoing a rigorous audit process which ensures we maintain high levels of client care.

Pricing

The fees involved in any transaction are important and we review our fees on a regular basis.

So that you have an indication of what will be the costs for your transaction from the outset, for illustration purposes only, a typical fee for the transactions a property valued up to £250,000 is set out below. However, we are always happy to provide a bespoke estimate (and indeed would encourage any potential client to call us to obtain this).

• Freehold Sale or Purchase: £1506.70 (inclusive of vat)
• Leasehold Sale or Purchase: £1672.22 (inclusive of vat)
• Remortgage - £1131.35 (inclusive of vat)

If, during the transaction, there is a new development, we will discuss the change in fees with you and agree a way forward.

NB : Estimates are not fixed quotes and are subject to review throughout the course of a matter unless they are specifically agreed as a fixed fee. Details of the relevant hourly rates for our solicitors are available on request.

(VAT is currently at 20%)

Other costs

In addition to our legal fees , there are costs which are payable to third parties (e.g. searches) that you will be asked to cover.   The below is not a complete list of all costs that you may have to incur , however most transactions will include some or all of the following:

Land Registry Copy Title Entries - £3. 60 (inclusive of Vat) per register, plan or document referred to, assuming they are available online from the Land Registry;

Land Registry application fees – between £20 and £910 depending on the transaction and value involved.  We can let you know the amount when we have sufficient detail;

Bank transfer fees – £42 (inclusive of VAT) per bank transfer;

Search fees – these depend on the area the property is in and which searches are relevant to the particular transaction, but typically a full set of residential searches costs between £300 and £500.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (or Land Transaction Tax in Wales) – this will depend entirely on the transaction and taxpayer details, and we can advise on the likely tax due once we have sufficient details to do so.  HMRC (or the WRA in Wales) do have helpful calculators available here and here.

How long will it take?

For any transaction, the timescales are subject to change depending on when your offer is accepted and It can be quicker or slower, again depending on other factors involved, eh is there a chain involved. The average process takes between 8-16 weeks.

Exclusions

We do not undertake tax advice.

There may be factors which would typically increase the cost of the fees detailed above. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.

Factors that may lead to an increase in cost include:

• If the transaction is not for a principal residence
• If the transaction is your third concurrent property including your Principal residence.
• If a legal title is defective or part of the property is unregistered
• If you discover building regulations or planning permission has not been obtained
• If crucial documents, we have previously requested from you have not been provided to us
• If the property is a new build
• If you require to exchange within 6 weeks of instructing us
• If you require completion within 6 weeks of instructing us

Key Milestones

With every transaction there are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. They may be as follows:

• Taking your instructions and giving you initial advice
• Checking finances are in place to fund purchase and contacting lender's solicitors if needed
• Receiving and advising on contract documents
• Carrying out searches
• Obtaining further planning documentation if required
• Making any necessary enquiries of seller's solicitor
• Giving you advice on all documents and information received
• Going through the conditions of your mortgage offer
• Sending the final contract to you for signature
• Draft Transfer
• Advising you on joint ownership
• Obtaining pre-completion searches
• Agreeing a completion date (the date from which you own the property)
• Exchanging contracts and notifying you that this has happened
• Arranging for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
• Completing purchase
• Dealing with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax (if its a purchase)
• Dealing with application for registration at Land Registry

Quality as standard

We are committed to providing a high quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

If you have a complaint about our delivery of conveyancing services our complaints policy will assist you with who to contact and enable you to understand the procedure that will be followed.

Call Us Now

Our solicitors are ready to help you. Click on Contact Us, use the Contact form above, or send a message direct to one of the team working in this area from their business cards below.