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Do you want to find the best price for solicitors’ fees when you’re buying, selling, or re-mortgaging your UK home? Expect to find greater discounts than ever and additional services to help you with property matters.
Each year we assist hundreds of clients with their property needs by connecting them to trusted conveyancers. Our network encompasses licensed conveyancers and conveyancing solicitors who are regulated and monitored by the SRA, CLC, LSNI, LSS, and CILEx. We recommend you double-check the regulatory status of your instructed firm as this may change from time to time.
Conveyancing consists of the legal work that facilitates the transfer of property ownership from one person to another. You need the expert help of a property solicitor or professional conveyancer to guide you through the various steps of the process.
Once you have hired a property lawyer, he or she will perform necessary searches, liaise with the buyer’s solicitor, and do the actual work of exchanging contracts with the buyer. Your lawyer will also handle the payment of Stamp Duty on your behalf.
Because conveyancing is so intricate and essential, attempting to buy or sell a home without the assistance of a knowledgeable and committed property solicitor is nearly inconceivable. Property solicitors are not only well acquainted with the legal aspects of real estate transactions, but they are also quite adept at navigating these legal waters. They are the ones who get you through the hard part of all the paperwork and processes involved, effectively and efficiently, so that you don’t have to worry about these essential elements derailing your transaction.
The average fees for buying or selling property were. The fee to buy averaged £2,300, and to sell, £1,700.
Most of the time, a solicitor’s fee is either fixed or expressed in percentage terms relative to the price of your house. These fees do differ, however, depending on your conveyancer, the worth of your property, and whether you have a freehold or leasehold. If you have a leasehold, your fees are going to be higher in any case.
You should only pick a conveyancing solicitor or conveyancer regulated by the following bodies:
You might check the conveyancing solicitor’s reviews and ask friends and family for any recommendations they might have.
The conveyancing process generally takes between 8 to 12 weeks. There are sometimes delays that can make it take even longer, though. But if you are a cash buyer, it should go much more quickly.
When purchasing a home, the time taken by the necessary legal steps often seems long. The journey through the legal system that must be undertaken to transfer the rights to a piece of property from the seller to the buyer take both the buyer and conveyancer a good bit of time to complete and need to be completed with some accuracy.
A conveyancing search is ordered at the very beginning of the conveyancing process. It comprises three components: the Local Authority Search, the Environmental Search, and the Water and Drainage Search.
The investigations will concentrate on the immediate vicinity of the property to uncover anything that might negatively impact its value or the surrounding environment. They usually uncover any potential problems with flooding, the stability of the ground, the presence of radon gas, and any contamination of the land.
The Full Building Survey report includes the following:
When it comes to the detail that the surveyor will go into concerning defects, repairs, and maintenance, the Homebuyer Survey is fairly standard. Full Building Surveys, however, are more refined and go into more detail about possible and likely defects. Repairs and maintenance are covered in more detail. The Survey cost depends on the age, size, and value of the property.
The analysis they undertake is a visual inspection. This means that, for the most part, the building components that can be seen will be looked at and assessed in accordance with the surveyor’s remit. The Home Survey Report will show you the visible defects and then go on to discuss the kinds of partially hidden or totally hidden defects that the surveyor thinks you should be aware of. It will also try to clarify what kinds of repair work need to be done and the nature of the repairs. The survey is effectively a way to consider “defects” and their potential impact on the building.
A Building Survey Report contains the most important information for understanding the condition of a property. The surveyors that undertake the work follow a set procedure. The first part of the report contains a general overview of the property and its surroundings. The second part details the major and minor problems with the property’s components, inside and out. These problems range from serious structural defects to issues with doors or windows that don’t close properly, and everything in between. The report is written in clear English, complemented by diagrams and photographs. If any of the problems found are what a surveyor might consider important, that’s what the report indicates—using clear and unambiguous language.
Surveyors usually use a tick box to indicate methods of repair when drafting a building survey report. They are also required to comment on the timescale of any repairs. A condition rating is typically included: what needs to be addressed immediately, what is in the process of deteriorating but is in reasonable condition, and what has not deteriorated at all.
A building surveyor is responsible for a variety of checks and tests during a building inspection. These could be checks or tests for damp and woodworm, or they could be visual inspections of the building’s structure. In building surveying, there are visual inspections of roofs – checking for tiles and slates (if applicable) and also checking for leadwork (if applicable) and looking at the junctions between roof and wall. If the wall structure has brick in it, the surveyor will visually check for any “spalling” (brick breaking apart visibly) and any bulging (brick failing to hold its place visibly), for example.
If defects need fixing immediately, then the options recommended for this survey specify what to repair and give some idea of how long the problem has existed. For the most part, this survey describes recommended repair approaches that are standard in the industry and that do not require excessive expenditure. Future maintenance is also discussed, including what to expect when the problem being surveyed is not repaired and what to expect with repairs that are made but with questionable methodology.
Your surveyor will explain some of the legal aspects of purchasing the building, covering—in as much or as little detail as you desire, and their implications, but this is subject to your solicitor verifying.
You might consider having a separate market valuation done to determine whether the property’s asking price is warranted. You’ll also need a reinstatement cost valuation for insurance reasons.
RICS’s industry guidelines suggest building surveys for properties that are large, very old, in some disrepair, or have unusual features. Building surveys are also recommended if you plan to do any significant renovations or extensions.
If you’re purchasing a relatively modern home that’s in decent shape and built to ordinary standards, then a Home Buyer Survey is an acceptable choice. If you want the assurance of an inspection and report that are pretty much guaranteed to turn up any issues that might be hidden or just hard to see, then you should go for a Full Building Survey instead.
The Full Building Survey is more detailed; it is more specifically tailored to the property your surveyor would be inspecting. It also comes with more advice on the visible defects found and on the potential hidden defects that they suspect may be present. Your surveyor will illustrate reports with photographs so that you can clearly see what has been discovered. Both the Home Buyer and Full Building Surveys describe the repairs needed, the order in which the repairs should be done, and the kind of “maintenance measures” that will be required to keep the property in good condition.
A HomeBuyer Report does include a market valuation as well as reinstatement costs. However, a Full Building Survey does not. The main reason for the differences in what is and isn’t included in the two types of reports is how focused the reports are on the condition of the property. The Full Building Survey is the most in-depth and comprehensive survey of a property that you can have done.
Once you have secured your solicitor, the next step is often to engage a property surveyor affiliated with the CIOB, RPSA, or RICS. To facilitate this, simply fill out our contact form. We will then put you in touch with the appropriate surveyor and conveyancer. This pairing of professionals will, we trust, benefit you in the long run by saving both time and money in your property transaction.
Looking for a Chartered Surveyor? If you are buying a property, contact us for a building survey. Our panel of CIOB, RPSA and RICS surveyors will help you with the Level 2 or Level 3 property survey you need in Notting Hill. We can also assist you in Red Book Valuations, Party Wall Awards and other services. Reach out to us today for building surveyors, valuers and party wall surveyors in London!
