Residential Conveyancing Solicitors

Professional legal advice to help your house move go smoothly

If you are moving home, the legal processes you need to go through can seem complicated and time-consuming. Our solicitors can help you with every stage of the conveyancing process to make it as stress-free as possible, so you can focus on taking care of the rest of your move.

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If you'd like a quotation for your conveyancing costs, just find the category below that best describes your circumstances. Then click the 'Get a Quote' button and enter the relevant details to receive your quotation. If you have any queries or don't know all of the details, you can call us on 0800 138 0458.

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What is Residential Conveyancing?

Residential Conveyancing can refer to the buying or selling of a house. This can be a complicated and unfamiliar process to you. Many people instruct a solicitor to help them navigate the process and receive professional and experienced advice. Our conveyancing team deliver a personal service and friendly service which suits your needs and will work with you closely to ensure that you get the highest level of client care. You can read our buying and selling processes below.

The Conveyancing Quality Scheme

Our residential conveyancing solicitors are accredited under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), so you can have confidence in our expertise and the service we deliver. The CQS standard requires firms to have a high standard of practice management and provide excellent client care. The CQS badge of quality is highly regarded by mortgage lenders too – many will not deal with solicitors who are not CQS accredited. Switalskis is on the approved panel of solicitors for all major lenders, which means that you can use our residential conveyancing solicitors no matter which mortgage lender you choose.

More about the Conveyancing process

The Buying Process

What Does the Buying Process Look Like?

Buying a home is exciting and a significant step in your life. However, there is also a lot to consider and it can be overwhelming with complicated paperwork. Our knowledgeable and friendly conveyancing team can help take some of the pressure off by explaining jargon and helping you understand the process you to make your move as easy and enjoyable as possible.

To begin the buying process, after making an offer, you will need to get and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). EPCs are required when a property is bought, sold, or rented. These are necessary for prospective buyers. They outline information on a property's energy usage and cost, as well as how to reduce costs. The energy efficiency is rated from A to G.

The seller’s solicitors are responsible for preparing the legal paperwork relating to the property you are buying. We will request the Pre-Contract Package from them – this includes official copies of the seller’s title, the draft contract, and a complete seller’s property information form and fixtures & fittings list. When we receive the pack, we check everything is in order. We also check for anything that will affect the property (restrictions or other matters) and advise you of them.

As you are responsible for examining the standard of a property when purchasing, by instructing our conveyancing solicitors, we can provide you with all the necessary information and aid you in your move. There are three key conveyancing searches, Local Search, Water Search and Environmental Search.

When arranging to inspect the property you should also make an application for a mortgage if you should need one. Our team can also help you with this process.

If you know, or think, that the property you are buying has been altered or extended in any way, you should let us know so that we can check and ensure that the correct planning permission and building regulations were obtained at the time, and that there is no breach of any restriction.

The Selling Process

What Does the Selling Process Look Like?

Once you have accepted an offer on your property, you will be ready to instruct a solicitor to begin the process. We will give you an estimate of the costs and ensure that everything is in order. To proceed with the selling process, we will need to obtain the deeds and title to your property. If you have a mortgage the deeds will be with your lender, in which case we will request the deeds when we have your mortgage account details.

We will then ask you to complete a Seller's Property Information form and a Fixtures and Fittings form. These indicate to the buyer which items you are going to leave behind at the property and which items will be removed. This may include furniture, appliances and so on. As these forms are sent to the buyer's solicitor, it is important that the information you provide is accurate.

Once the relevant forms have been completed we can then draft up the contract to send to the buyer's solicitor, and they can carry out searches and a survey on the property and area. We can help with answering any questions that the buyer may have about the property.

When the searches have been completed and the buyer would like to proceed, the contracts must then be signed to make the sale legally binding. A completion date can be set with the contracts signed. This is usually around two weeks, but it can vary slightly depending on paperwork. You should avoid any arrangements such as removal vans until a completion date is set and you can be sure of when you are moving.

When the sale is complete, we deduct all outstanding mortgage fees and payments, estate agent’s fees and our costs from the proceeds. We then pay the balance to you.

Remortgaging

What is the Remortgaging Process?

Remortgaging is the process of changing your mortgage terms. You may change the terms with your current mortgage lender, or you may consider switching lenders to procure a better interest rate than what your current lender provides. There are several steps to this process, which our conveyancing team can guide you through and explain to you in a simple and understandable way, without the legal jargon.

Before we begin any conveyancing work on your behalf, we will give you an estimate of the costs. We will also ask you to provide proof of your identity, as this is a requirement of most mortgage lenders.

1. Obtaining your Title Deeds

To proceed with any conveyancing work on your behalf, we will need to obtain the deeds to your property in order to check whether there are any restrictions or other matters relating to the property that your new lender will need to know about. Your deeds will be with your current lender. You should give us details of your mortgage account as soon as possible to enable us to request them

2. Special conditions of your mortgage offer

You will receive your mortgage offer in writing from your new lender. We must also receive instructions in writing from your lender before we can proceed. Usually, we would receive our instructions at the time you receive your offer. Your new mortgage lender may insist on certain conditions, for example works being carried out to the property, before the funds are released. We will check these conditions to ensure that they are acceptable.

3. Searches required by your lender

It is extremely likely that it will be a condition of your new mortgage offer that one or more searches are conducted. This will be the case even if searches were done when you bought the property as there may have been developments since then. The most common ones we are likely to conduct are listed below:

Local Search

This search is nearly always necessary. It is conducted with the Local Authority and looks into matters like planning permissions, environmental health matters, compulsory purchase orders, tree preservation orders, highways and roads proposals, and enforcements.

Water Search

This search is often a requirement of lenders and is undertaken to check the connection of the property to mains drainage and sewers.

Land Registry Search

A Land Registry search will reveal any entries made against the property since the time of your original purchase. We would need to inform your lender of anything adverse revealed by this search.

Bankruptcy Register Search

This search is conducted to satisfy your new lender that you are not a declared or interim bankrupt.

4. ‘Report on Title’

We will submit a ‘report on title’ to your new lender. This will advise of any problems with the title deeds, or with any of the conditions of their mortgage offer.

5. The Mortgage Deed

We will prepare your mortgage deed and any other documents your new lender requires you to sign. Before we can apply for your new mortgage funds to be released, you will need to sign the deed and associated documents (if there are any). We will let you know when all documentation is ready for your signature.

6. Requesting the funds from your new mortgage

When we have received the offer from your new lender, checked and satisfied any special conditions, clear search results have been received and you have signed all necessary documents, we will then apply to your new lender for your mortgage funds. We will set the completion date at this point, however there may be delays if your new lender’s requirements are not fully satisfied (for example they may not have received references or completed bank mandates). We will apply to your current lender for a redemption statement for the completion date we have set.

7. Completion

When you are changing mortgages, completion is the date when your current mortgage is settled and the new mortgage begins. It is a good idea to make enquiries with your current lender and your new lender in order to work out when is the best time to complete. Some lenders make monthly interest charges rather than calculating interest daily. In cases like this, it is possible that if you complete at the beginning of a month, you may have to pay both mortgages for that month, which is obviously best avoided! Depending on the repayment arrangements, it is also possible that your completion date will affect your first monthly payment of your new mortgage. It is therefore a good idea to speak to your new lender to check the amount of your first payment based on the proposed completion date. If you do this in good time, the completion date can be changed.

Right to Buy Properties

What are Right to Buy Properties?

If you are a council tenant, or a tenant under housing association ownership, we may be able to help you to purchase the property form the council at a discounted rate. The discount on a Right to Buy property can be more than £77,000 outside London or over £100,000 within London. You can see whether you are eligible to purchase the property using our guide below. Our team can help you with all aspects of this process and can advise you on any questions you may have. Once you are ready to go ahead with your purchase, please see our guide to buying a property. Our property experts have vast experience in the Right to Buy and deliver an easy to understand service.

Am I Eligible?

To be eligible for the Right to Buy, you must have been a secure council tenant, or a tenant in a property transferred from council to housing association ownership, for two years (or five years if you became a tenant after 18/1/05). The property has to be your only or main home and it has to be self-contained. There are exceptions to this however, it is best to discuss this with our team to learn more.

How Do I Apply for the Right to Buy?

If you are eligible to purchase a property, you then need to submit an application. You can download an application form from the gov.uk website.

What Happens After I Have Applied?

If your application is successful, you will be sent the details and the terms of the Right to Buy transaction. This will include the price of the property and the discount that you are entitled to. You will also be provided details of any structural problems and the costs of any likely improvements that will have to be made. You will need to make a final decision on the purchase within twelve weeks of this stage. Once you have accepted the terms, our solicitors can then help you with the buying process.

The buying process is similar to open market property purchases. The landlord’s solicitors (usually the Local Authority) will prepare the papers for the sale and the purchase will proceed as per an open market purchase. However, some Local Authorities only complete sales on a particular day of the week. You should be aware that you will pay rent on the property right up until the date of completion.

Our Residential Conveyancing Specialists

Sarah Cookson

Director & Solicitor

Richard Wisnia

Director & Solicitor

Shabana Aslam

Associate Solicitor

Rahul Roy

Solicitor

Mark Thornton

Solicitor

Briony Ely

Solicitor

Maria Watkins

Trainee Solicitor

Christine Hardisty

Licensed Conveyancer

Lindsay Zabukas

Conveyancing Executive

Sarah Kent

Associate Conveyancer

$Angela Higgins, Conveyancing Pontefract, Switalskis Solicitors$

Angela Higgins

Licensed Conveyancer

Melanie Hirst

Conveyancing Executive

The Conveyancing Calculator

If you would like a full quote for your specific needs, you can use our Conveyancing Calculator. By answering a few of our questions, we can provide you with the most comprehensive answer possible.

How Can Switalskis Help Me?

Our experienced conveyancing solicitors can help you through your unique case and ensure that all legal aspects are handled thoroughly and efficiently.

Whatever your conveyancing needs, contact us now on 0800 1380 458, or send us a message through our website.

What our clients say

"A big thank you for all your professional support to Becky during the housing buying process. I know it hasn’t been easy for you and the sellers solicitors weren’t the best, but you have been great and it’s very much appreciated. You have been thorough, efficient and prompt throughout and I can’t recommend your professional service enough."

'Karen Burns' - Conveyancing Client

"Thank you for dealing so quickly and efficiently with our house completion. I recognise that we asked for a very quick turnaround and throughout you were both very supportive and on the front foot to make that happen. It was a pleasure dealing with you both on the purchase."

'RE' - Conveyancing Client

"The service throughout has been absolutely excellent."

Conveyancing Client

"With all the ups and downs of our sale, you guys were always there, professionally and efficiently making things work for us. We both really appreciate the level of service you provided. I wish you all the success in the future, as you deserve. Thank you"

'JW & KW' Conveyancing Clients

"I would recommend Switalskis to anyone who wants to buy a property. Sarah Cookson was very helpful."

Conveyancing Client

"Thanks to Maria for looking after us so well… we were really up to the 11th hour with getting the correct figures and the bank transfers sorted, but Maria worked with us in a totally professional way with great care, consideration – and a good sense of humour."

'KT' - Conveyancing Client

Our latest Residential Conveyancing posts

Moving house during the Coronavirus pandemic

Mar 27 2020

Residential Conveyancing Solicitors

Professional legal advice to help your house move go smoothly

Get in Touch

Contact Us

Request an instant quote for conveyancing

SaleOnly

Purchase Only

Sale & Purchase

New Build Property

New Build Property

New Build

Transfer of Equity

Re-Mortgage

What is Residential Conveyancing?

The Conveyancing Quality Scheme

More about the Conveyancing process

Our Residential Conveyancing Specialists

The Conveyancing Calculator

How Can Switalskis Help Me?

What our clients say

Our latest Residential Conveyancing posts

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