Buying a Property Solicitors
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If you are ready to buy a new property, then our expert conveyancing solicitors can help. Whether you are buying a house for the first time, moving home or adding a property to your portfolio we know it can all be equally stressful and exciting.
We are proud to hold and maintain a Law Society Conveyancing Quality Accreditation, and our years of experience allow us to assist you with a full range of conveyancing needs.
Buying a Property in the UK – The Conveyancing Process
There are several steps in the conveyancing process, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.
- Making an offer
Once you’ve found the property you want to commit to, you’ll need to tell the seller what you’re willing to pay.
- Instructing a conveyancing solicitor
If this offer is accepted, then you will need to instruct one of our solicitors to handle the conveyancing process for buying the property on your behalf.
- Organising a mortgage for the property
In most cases, you will depend on a mortgage to purchase a property. A mortgage advisor will be able to advise you on what type of mortgage is best for you, find the best offer and apply for your mortgage on your behalf. We cannot offer advice on the mortgage, but we can talk you through the terms of the one that you choose.
- Checking contracts and carrying out property searches
At this point, we will exchange the relevant information with the seller’s solicitor and check through all the contracts thoroughly. We will also need to organise several property checks to protect you and your lender. These include:
- Local authority records detailing planning decisions, road building proposals and rights of way. The search will only cover information that is relevant to the property that you are purchasing.
- Local land charges register – this details any obligations you would have to the local authority or government.
- Drainage and water services to the property detailing whether waste will go into a public or a private sewer.
- An environmental search will check that the property is not on contaminated land or at risk from other environmental factors, such as flooding.
- Chancel Indemnity Insurance to cover you against potential Chancel repair liability (repairs to a local church).
These legal searches must be carried out, but they are not in place of a physical survey on the property that is carried out by a qualified surveyor. You must arrange this separately.
- The exchange of contracts and payment of deposit
When we have discussed all of the findings of the searches with you and know that you are happy to proceed, we can set a date for the exchange of contracts and payment of deposit. On the date of this exchange, we will exchange contracts with the seller’s solicitors on your behalf. This will legally bind you into buying the property.
After the contracts have been exchanged, we will transfer the deposit to the seller’s solicitor and get the title deeds transferred. Once the completion funds are received by the seller’s solicitor, the sale is completed and the seller will drop the keys off to the estate agent.
Getting started with AWH
At AWH we offer quality guidance and support to all our clients. We can ensure that under any circumstance the conveyancing process will be straightforward. We are also regulated and authorised by the solicitor’s regulation authority.
We have expert property solicitors ready to deal with all aspects of residential freehold and leasehold conveyancing. Contact us online today, call us on 01254 274000 or try our online conveyancing calculator.
