Freehold Purchase (with or without Finance)

• The work you have instructed us to carry out is a purchase of a residential property.
• Obtain your detailed instructions either by telephone or in writing or at an initial interview.
• Consider the Memorandum of Sale and ensure that this reflects the agreement you have reached with the Seller.
• Contact your Seller’s solicitor and request the draft Contract and supporting documents.
• On receipt of the draft Contract and supporting paperwork conduct a thorough review of the same and research any case law or statutory legislation that may be necessary.
• Submit local, environmental, coal, brine, water, chancel, flood or any other search that may be necessary.
• Raise detailed enquiries with the Seller’s solicitors.
• Consider your mortgage offer from Lender and address any special conditions they may raise or any special requirements, for example: gifted deposit or purchase at an undervalue.
• Consider replies received from the Seller’s solicitors to our enquiries and seek further clarification if required.
• Consider results of various searches and raise enquires on any matters arising as appropriate with the Seller’s solicitors.
• Prepare a comprehensive report on title and forward the same to you together with all supporting documents associated with the property.
• Advising and reporting to you on the terms of any Freehold Rentcharge or Estate Service Charge which may apply to the property.
• Address any queries you may have on the report on title and if you are happy with the contents receive your instructions to proceed to exchange of Contracts and agree a completion date.
• Prepare a Stamp Duty Land Tax return for your approval and signature.
• Exchange Contracts with the Seller’s solicitors and agreeing a completion date.
• Carry out pre completion searches with the Land Registry.
• Prepare draft transfer and requisitions on title and send to the Seller’s solicitors. Consider replies to requisitions on receipt and ensure correct undertakings have been given in relation to the discharge of any existing charge or mortgage on the Property.
• Prepare completion statement and our account and submit to you for approval and payment of any balance.
• Arrange your signature to any completion documents including any Lender’s Legal Charge.
• Prepare Certificate of Title and submit to your lender and deal with any further queries that they may raise.
• Receive lenders advance and balance (if any) from you. Organise formal completion by transmission of funds to the Seller’s solicitors. Contact the Seller’s solicitors to confirm completion, release of keys and release of documents. Report completion to you.
• Attending to submission of the Stamp Duty Land Tax return to HMRC and paying any Stamp Duty that is due.
• Attending to post-completion requirements of any managing agent, if the property is subject to a Rentcharge or Estate Service Charge. This may include serving a Notice of Transfer and Charge, obtaining your signature to a Deed of Covenant and obtaining a Certificate of Compliance.
• Submitting application for registration of the Transfer to the Land Registry and dealing with any requisitions raised.
• Receiving the Land Registry Title Information document and checking that it is correct and then forwarding it to yourself and your lender.

Despite our efforts to ensure that our role is clear, clients sometimes make incorrect assumptions about what we are and are not going to do for them. To help avoid any such misunderstanding, we bring to your attention the fact that that we are not providing you with any advice on any of the following:

• Any tax or Revenue issues
• Property valuation advice

When necessary, we will, in consultation with you obtain such additional advice as is required from appropriately qualified third parties.

It is important for you to appreciate that the information provided above is based on a number of assumptions, including:

• The property is registered with good title and there are no specific title defects that we have to address.
• We are not involved in any unusually drawn out negotiations with your lender regarding the issue of the offer of loan, we do not have to address any unusually lengthy conditions contained in your offer of finance and that we do not encounter any delays from them in paying us the advance monies on completion.
• Your lender has not insisted on any personal guarantees being signed by you or any member of your family that require separate legal advice.
• There are no issues over any rights of way, rights to services or covenants that require detailed investigation and if necessary require a formal release and that we are not involved in any negotiations with title indemnity insurers and have to obtain any insurance cover to address any such issues
• We do not enter into any protracted correspondence or negotiation that has to be conducted with the Local Authority regarding planning building control, environmental or local land charges regarding any matter revealed by the Local search or otherwise.

If any of these key assumptions are incorrect or change over time, we will need to provide you with a revised scope of work, revised timetable and revised fee estimate

For a detailed quote, please use our Conveyancing Estimate.

“Disbursements” is a rather old-fashioned word to describe all the fees and taxes we have to pay other organisations on your behalf as part of the house-buying process.

We have tried to include all the major items of expenditure that we anticipate you will incur during the transaction in our e-quote estimate.

Sometimes however matters can arise which mean that extra costs are incurred.

For a detailed quote, please use our Conveyancing Estimate.

On the information that we have at the present time, we estimate the work outlined above will be completed in 8 – 10 weeks.

Note:

• Estimated time frames run from when we receive the draft Contract papers from the Seller’s solicitors.
• These time frames are our best estimates only as there are many aspects of this matter over which we have little or no control.

Details of our team and their experience can be found here.

Once we fully understand your needs, we will assign your case to the most appropriate member of our team. All work done by the team is ultimately supervised by the Team Leader or one of the other partners in the team. The lawyers in our team are supported by paralegals and other assistants to ensure that your case is handled efficiently and cost-effectively.