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Residential Property

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Whether you are buying or selling a house, re-mortgaging, or looking to release equity it can be a stressful and time-consuming process. Whilst bulk conveyancing companies will promise you the earth, what they cannot offer is a bespoke service, tailored directly to your own unique circumstances provided by a team that treat your situation like it is their own.

"You really made sure it all happened and we met our timescales, so thanks once again."

When you instruct us, you get an experienced solicitor who:

At the outset will talk you through all the stages, answer any questions you may have, provide you with a timeline of events and ensure you are clear on what to expect;
Will provide complete transparency: fully brief you on all costs so that you can plan effectively and have no hidden surprises; and
Will personally drive your transaction through to its ultimate completion, thereby ensuring continuity of approach and the best, and quickest, possible outcome

More than residential property

Our team have the expertise to deal with transaction of all values and sizes – in the Midlands as well as the rest of the UK, and have specific expertise in high value residential property transactions.

Our experience allows us to anticipate and deal with issues that may arise – often before they happen. All of this experience saves you time and money, ensuring a far smoother transaction for all parties involved.

What we do

We are experts in all aspects of residential property law, including:

Buying a house
Selling a house
Helping first-time buyers
Help to Buy
Buying or selling a freehold or leasehold property including checking the legal title
Negotiating the terms of the contract and commissioning searches
Selling a freehold or leasehold property from the acceptance of an offer through to completion
Buying through Right to Buy (RTB) or Right to Acquire (RTA) schemes
Transferring equity to add or remove owners
Transferring a property after a divorce
Remortgaging, including checking title details and obtaining the necessary searches to satisfy your lender
Buying investment properties for buy-to-let

Due to recent legislation surrounding Building and Fire Safety, we regret that we are currently unable to act on sales or purchases of leasehold flats in blocks which exceed 5 storeys or 11 metres in height. The new legislation has resulted in highly complex regulations and mortgage lender requirements, therefore we are pausing our work in this area whilst we await clarity from the government and mortgage lenders as to a way forward. Any fees estimate that we provide is given on the assumption that the property you are selling or buying does not fall within this category.

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Assured quality

Due to our high standard of working practices, we have achieved accreditation to the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) which is a standard introduced by the Law Society to promote high standards in the home buying service.

Law Society President John Wotton, "CQS improves efficiency with common, consistent standards and service levels and enables consumers to recognise practices that provide a quality residential conveyancing service.”

Dealing with your whole life – looking beyond property

As a full-service law firm you can also benefit from highly experienced lawyers in associated areas of many areas related to property transactions. For example, we have experts in:

Our dedicated private client team can assist in ensuring that your wealth and family matters continue to be protected no matter what life changes may happen.

"Carol O'Leary who heads up the conveyancing team at Wright Hassall was a pleasure to deal with. Straightforward approach and ALWAYS responded to emails and calls. Highly recommend."

Sarah-Jane Chick

Our service pledge to you

We pride ourselves on our clients receiving the highest possible standards of service and we treat each transaction as if it were our own. In the unlikely event that you should not be happy with our service, you will be provided with the contact details for the head of the conveyancing team who will discuss your issue, ensure that you receive a satisfactory resolution and that the transaction continues to move forward as anticipated. You will receive a service that:

Will treat you with integrity, honesty and respect at all times;
Is transparent and delivers what it says it will, when it says it will;
Communicates openly and effectively, whether that is by phone, email or in person. If you contact us, we will always respond to your question within 24 hours of receiving the question;
Offers a single point of contact who will provide you with a timeline of key dates and events and always be available to support you at all stages of the process; and
A service that will communicate with you in a way that you prefer – be that remote platforms such as Teams or Zoom, email, phone call or in person at our offices.

Our team

Given the size of our team of specialist property lawyers, we will always have the expertise to handle whatever a transaction throws at us. Whilst you will be provided with a single point of contact, we do operate as a team and we regularly support each other as required to ensure that transactions run to time and are dealt with in the optimal fashion – thereby saving you time and money.

Understanding the buying and selling process

The current UK average residential property transaction takes around 12-15 weeks. We do all we can to move forward at the pace you wish but this can be longer if there are delays in obtaining key information, or when dealing with third parties.

More information about the buying and selling process can be accessed from the following independent UK Government guides:

Typical stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the home buying / selling process can vary, and there are many factors that can impact the timescales for each stage including other members of the chain, mortgage applications or results of surveys that require further investigations.

As a general guide the following steps are included as part of our service for a typical conveyance transaction:

Taking instructions and giving initial advice
Drafting or receiving and advising on contract documents
Carrying out searches and obtaining planning documentation if required
Raising or answering enquiries on title documents and searches
Reporting on title and obtain mortgage offer (if appropriate)
Obtaining authority to exchange and agree completion date
Agreeing pre-completion documents and obtaining pre-completion searches
Providing a financial statement
Completing the sale/purchase
Dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax and application for registration at Land Registry

Pricing transparency

Quality assured: Wright Hassall’s conveyancing team is CQS accredited, the Law Society’s quality standard for residential conveyancing, and is also a member of the Lender Exchange, a secure portal enabling law firms to exchange information with lenders designed to reduce risk and combat fraud. The firm is also Lexcel accredited, the Law Society’s legal practice quality mark for practice management and client care.

Most conveyancing costs will fall within the fee scale indicated below. However, there are a number of elements that will influence the cost of conveyancing such as the location of the property (for instance, the proximity of old coal workings or other topographical features); whether or not the building is listed and / or within a conservation area; its valuation; or if it is a new lease in a development. Therefore, it is our standard practice to give you an individual quote depending on the circumstances of your sale or purchase.

Whilst our pricing will not be as cheap as bulk conveyancers or smaller high street firms, what you get is experience, quality and a breadth of expertise that is hard to rival. If peace of mind is important to you, we ensure that we will provide this in all our dealings with you at what is a very competitive cost.

Indicative fee scale

Base Value plus VAT charged at 20%

	>£400k	< £600k	> £800k	> £1m	>£2m
Freehold sale	£1,800	£1,920	0.28%	0.50%	1%
Leasehold sale	£1,920	£2,040	0.30%	0.75%
Freehold purchase	£1,920	£2,040	0.30%	0.50%	1%
Leasehold purchase	£2,160	£2,280	0.35%	0.75%

Remortgage freehold	£1,050	£1,200
Remortgage leasehold	£1,150	£1,300
Transfer freehold interest	£1,150	£1,300
Transfer leasehold interest	£1,250	£1,300

The example prices above are provided on a fixed-fee basis, and do not take into account any costs payable to a third party, including Land Registry fees stamp duty. For a guide to the amount of stamp duty due, please see this link for accurate Stamp Duty Calculators.

We have provided average timescales based on previous experiences, however please note that how long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. It may be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain.

For example, a first-time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage in principle, is likely to be significantly quicker than if you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease.

In such situations additional charges may apply. Additional costs are incurred through the completion of searches on the property. Searches tell buyers practical information about a property. We have listed the most common searches below and use online providers to reduce the cost to you wherever possible.

Title information - England & Wales: £4 + £3 per document or plan. Scotland: £20 + £30 per document.
Local authority searches to show council plans affecting the property - £90-400
Highways & access - £24-£100
Drainage and water connection information - £60-100
Flood risk – £25-30
Environmental contamination history – £50-£100
Mining & ground stability - £30-60
Landlord or developer’s pack containing some or all of the information above instead of the searches - £300-1000
Searches of agricultural property, if required, are determined by each property (bespoke) and more expensive.

We will obtain quotations and inform you of the cost. We may recommend further searches depending on risks revealed or local issues e.g. HS2 route or energy equipment; we will confirm as soon as we know if we need to do any further searches.

Exclusions

If the legal title is not correctly registered
If the property is not registered at Land Registry
If there is an issue with the title to the property, and indemnity insurance is required or the defect in the titles requires remedying
Deed of Variation or Lease Extension
If there is more than one lender involved or there are Charging Orders that need to be dealt with
If one of the people involved is represented by someone else
If the property is a Listed Building
if building regulations or planning permission have not been complied with in the past
If there is a dispute with a neighbour or family member
If there is to be a gift from a family member or friend
Additional land with your home
If there is a delay in receiving key information from third parties such as accounts from a landlord
Should your property tax situation be complex.