Residential Property Solicitors

A residential solicitor or a conveyancer will handle all the legal aspects when buying and/or selling residential property.

Conveyancing is the process of legally transferring a property between a seller and the buyer. It involves the legal and administrative steps of the property being properly transferred from one person to another. See our Guide to Conveyancing for more information here.

It can be done in eight weeks, but it is more likely to take around three months. Many factors can contribute to how long the transaction can take, including how quickly the vendor and purchaser reply to enquiries, how long the searches take to come back, and the complexities of the transaction. 

1. Instruct a solicitor who will do the following:

– send you the protocol forms 

– obtain your title papers and prepare a contract package 

– answer any additional enquiries

2. Buyer conducts a survey

3. Exchange of contracts will happen when the buyer:

– has a mortgage offer/finance in place

– has the results of searches and satisfactory replies to all enquiries

– At exchange, you become legally bound to sell. The timing will depend on the other buyers and sellers in the chain but could be as little as one or two weeks.

4. The completion date is fixed on exchange of contracts. Before completion your solicitor will:

– agree final transfer of documents

– obtain final redemption figures for your mortgage 

– prepare financial statements for you

– co-ordinate payment of estate agent fees

1. Instruct a solicitor who will do the following:

– contact the seller’s solicitors to confirm instructions

– arrange searches, look through title documents and raise enquiries with the seller’s solicitors

– obtain, review and report on your mortgage offer

– prepare a full report for you on the results of all their investigations

2. Exchange contracts for you and pay the deposit

3. At exchange you become legally bound to buy the property.

4. The completion date is fixed. Before completion the solicitor will:

– make final searches at the Land Registry

– prepare the transfer and mortgage documents

– liaise with lender for the mortgage funds to be sent

– register your purchase at the Land Registry