FAQs

On your purchase, searches are carried out at 2 stages: pre-exchange and pre-completion.

The pre-exchange searches undertaken are with public bodies e.g. the Local Authority, Drainage Authority, Environment Agency etc.

These searches reveal information about the property such as any planning restrictions, tree preservation orders, local developments which may affect the property, whether or not the property is connected to mains water and drainage.

Pre-completion searches are carried out at the Land Registry and Plymouth Land Charges Department.

Dependent on where a property is and any specific lender requirements, additional searches may be required e.g. Coal Mining, Flood Risk. We will advise you of any additional searches that are required.

Identification will be needed in order to complete either a sale or a purchase. This is to comply with Money Laundering Regulations, which stipulate that we must obtain evidence of a client’s identity. We will need, for each owner of the property, a valid passport as well as a recent utility bill.

No, there are no hidden costs associated with our conveyancing service. We will provide you with a fixed legal fee to cover the work. We will only ever increase the fee, if, during the transaction, something comes to light which was unforeseen. If this did happen, we would discuss this with you before incurring extra charges.

It is very difficult to give an average timescale for a conveyancing transaction. We would usually expect a transaction to take between six to eight weeks to reach an exchange with another one to two weeks for completion, making a total of eight to ten weeks. However, much of the timing is outside of our control. You should not make any final arrangements for moving or give notice on any temporary accommodation until contracts have been exchanged and a definite completion date has been agreed.

If you believe, or have reasonable cause to believe, that your tenant has ceased to reside in the premises, you are entitled to change the locks without serving notice or getting a court order. We would always urge you to seek advice though, to avoid any potential claims for unlawful eviction.

In this case, you will need to instruct a bailiff. Again, we offer a fixed fee to assist you with this. A bailiff appointment can take four to six weeks to obtain, possibly longer depending on how busy the bailiffs are.

This will vary depending on if the tenant raises a defence/ counterclaim, and how quickly the court deals with the matter. Typically, both Section 21 and Section 8 proceedings can take four to six months.

If the tenant doesn’t leave, then we can help you to issue a claim for possession at court.