Residential Conveyancing – Buying

Buying a new home or property can be daunting – you need to be sure everything has been checked to protect you from risk. Our experts are here to do exactly that and reduce the stress involved with moving and purchasing a new house or commercial building. We’ll keep you informed each step of the way and work hard on your behalf to secure your new property.

Right to Buy

If you are eligible or think that you may be eligible for right to buy your council or housing association property please contact us and we can help you.

If you would like to understand exactly what is involved in the purchase of a property, please use our guide below or call us on 01604 603040 – we’ll do all we can to help.

Once you have agreed with all the relevant parties to purchase the property of your dreams, please inform us as soon as possible since we attempt to follow a set of procedures.

1. We will firstly contact the seller's solicitors and request for the "contractual documentation" on the property you are proposing to buy. The documentation will consist of:
   • the latest official copy of the Title Deeds
   • a Contract
   • a Sellers Property Information Form (and if it is leasehold an Additional Property Information Form)
   • and a Fixtures, Fittings and Contents Questionnaire

   It generally takes a while for the Sellers' Solicitors to get hold of all this information. One the contractual documentation is received, we then proceed to carry out the required searches namely, local authority, drainage, environmental, and (if the property is in a mining area) mining searches. Searches are simply a list of questions about the property that are sent to the local council, local water authority, environmental agency experts and the coal authority.

2. The only other remaining documentation we will require to proceed is a copy of your mortgage offer (if applicable). Once we have all of the following documents: Contract, Up-to-date copies of the Title Deeds, Sellers Property Information Form, Fixtures Fittings and Contents Questionnaire, Local Authority Search, Water Search, Environmental Search, Mining Search (if applicable), and Mortgage Offer (if applicable) - we will then review the documentation sent together with the results received from the searches and raise standard additional enquiries on the property with the sellers' solicitors. We will also prepare a Pre-Contract Report with a Completion Statement which will be sent to you before you are asked to make an appointment to call in and sign the Contract, Transfer Deed, Mortgage Deed and Stamp Duty Land Tax Form. If you are just purchasing then all we require is the balance to complete or a deposit, but if you are buying and selling then this will generally not be needed. If you are unable to call in to sign, then the documents can be sent to you for signing and returning and alternative arrangements can be made for the balance to complete or a deposit to be forwarded to us by telegraphic transfer.
3. When you call into the offices, we will endeavour to go through all the above documents with you and explain any problems there may be in relation to the property. At this point you may raise any issues that you are not happy with or do not understand e.g. shared rights of roadway etc. You may also provide us with a proposed date for completion etc. At this point, you may sign all documentation in readiness. Once you are comfortable that there are no major issues we can then proceed to exchange contracts. provided we are also in cleared funds with regards your balance to complete or deposit.
4. Once the purchasers and the sellers are both ready, a Completion Date (or the 'moving date') is discussed and agreed. We will then formally proceed to exchange contracts (this means swapping the contract signed by the sellers for the one signed by the purchasers - together with a deposit provided by the purchasers). Once contracts are exchanged, this makes the transaction legal and binding and neither party can withdraw without incurring huge costs.
5. On the day of Completion, we remit the balance of purchase monies to the sellers' solicitor and in return receive the transfer deed and the title deeds. We will also send you a receipted invoice detailing how the transaction proceeded.
6. We must then immediately but certainly within twenty-eight days arrange for the payment of stamp duty (if appropriate) and, within two months of the completion date, make the appropriate application to register the purchasers' ownership at the Land Registry.