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Our specialist team of residential property lawyers offer years of experience in helping clients with all property-related matters. The team is accredited by the Law Society’s Lexcel and conveyancing quality standards and includes:
Residential Conveyancing Solicitors
Whether you’re buying, selling or remortgaging a property, the process doesn’t come without its difficulties. If you’re climbing the property ladder or making your first step on to it, this is undoubtedly an exciting time. With the right conveyancing solicitor on your side, you can focus on enjoying this moment whilst our professionals handle the stress.
At Smith Partnership, we help to ensure your property sale, purchase or remortgage is as hassle-free as possible.
How we can help you
Our dedicated residential property team has years of experience in guiding individuals, couples and families through all aspects of a property transaction. We can help you with:
- Selling a property
- Buying a property
- Remortgaging
- Transfers of equity
- Deeds of Gift
No matter how simple or complex your transaction is, our team is on hand to help you with the same level of care and dedication to take some of the pressure off you.
Buying or selling a house
Whether you’re buying your first house or selling a property to move your growing family into a larger home, enlisting the expertise of a dedicated conveyancing team can ensure the transaction runs smoothly.
Guiding you through the entire process confidently and in the most straightforward way possible, our conveyancing solicitors offer the experience and know-how you need to reach an efficient completion date.
Remortgaging advice
Many homeowners opt to remortgage their property for a variety of reasons. Although a common process, the many legal considerations involved can appear daunting. Whatever your circumstances, our specialist team of residential property solicitors can help you overcome the challenges.
As well as helping you to complete the necessary legal documentation, our team can also advise on the various remortgaging processes available. With our experts on your side, you will also have access to our unrivalled links to reliable and trusted independent financial advisers, who carry out extensive searches to find the ideal remortgaging plan for you.
Contact us for more information, or for a free quote.
Transfer of Equity
Whatever your reasons may be, changing the co-ownership status of a property is an important decision that sometimes needs to be made. For instance, you may be in a position where you want to add a spouse to a deed after getting married, remove an ex-partner after divorcing, adjust ownership share percentages or strategically reduce future inheritance tax liabilities.
Although not a complex process, seeking the right legal advice can make all the difference in how efficiently the job is completed. Our dedicated team can:
- Advise on the necessary documents required to get the process started
- Review title and property deeds
- Confirm identities of all parties involved
- Prepare the transfer of equity deed
- Liaise with mortgage lenders to obtain written consent of their approval of the transfer
Deed of Gift
Gifting a property involves transferring ownership to another person. Reasons for doing this may include estate and Inheritance Tax planning or wanting to see a child benefit from the gift in your lifetime. Whatever your circumstances, our specialist residential property solicitors have experience in supporting clients through every step of the process, including drafting, witnessing and advising on any tax implications.
Why Choose Smith Partnership?
Our residential property team has a breadth of experience which enables us to deal with each matter effectively. There is rarely a complexity that we haven’t encountered before. We draw from this experience to tailor our advice to meet your needs, making the moving process as efficient as possible.
Each case is dealt with by a dedicated member of the team, so you’ll always be sure of who to turn to if you have any questions or concerns. Throughout the process, we offer face-to-face meetings as well as regular, transparent updates via telephone calls and emails to ensure you’re always kept in the loop.
As a firm, we pride ourselves in providing straightforward, jargon-free advice at all times. However, if there is ever a time where you are unsure, our accessible and responsive team will be more than happy to help.
FAQs
What happens to deeds when purchasing a house?
Most properties are now registered at the Land Registry and the legal documents are held electronically by them. We will send you copies of the documents, and any other supporting documents once the application for registration has been completed. Any old deeds that are no longer needed to prove title to the property, would normally be sent to you.
When will I get my money?
If you are just selling, or there is a surplus due back to you after completion of your sale and purchase, we will always try to send this to you on the day of completion or on the next working day. Payment is usually made by BACS transfer which takes 3 to 5 working days to clear into your account. If you require the monies on the same day, we can transfer this by CHAPS transfer at a cost of £24. You should request this in advance and provide us with your account details.
Where and when can I have the keys to my new property?
These are usually kept with the agent selling the property but we will confirm this to you before completion.
The keys can only be released on the day of completion when the sellers solicitors confirm to the estate agents (or buyers solicitors where there are no estate agents) that they have received the full purchase monies.
How do I agree a completion date?
You need to agree a date with your sellers/buyers either directly or through the Estate Agents. You should bear in mind that we will try to meet this date but this is not always possible particularly if the date is too soon or some important documentation or information is missing. Please do not book time off work, removal companies or give notice on any temporary accommodation unless Contracts have been exchanged and we have confirmed a completion date to you. It is best to discuss this date once we are near exchange of contracts as if a date is agreed too far in advance it is difficult to know if this is realistic and all the work involved will be completed in time.
What deposit is required?
Generally you will need to provide a 10% (of the purchase price) deposit although it can be a lesser amount of both the seller and buyer agree. This is paid over from the buyers’ solicitor to the sellers’ solicitor upon exchange of contracts.
If the deposit is less than 10%, there is usually a clause in the contract which confirms that if the buyer does not proceed to completion following exchange of contracts, then the seller has a right to pursue the buyer for the full 10% funds.
What is the difference between an exchange of contracts and completion?
An exchange is when the buyer and seller enter into a legally binding agreement to buy and sell on a set date. Once an exchange has taken place, both parties are committed to the sale/purchase, and cannot pull out of the transaction without legal penalties. Exchange of contracts is also when the buyer must pay a deposit, usually 10%.
Completion refers to the day on which all payments have been made/received, that the property is transferred from the seller to the buyer; the day that you move house.
What is the difference between freehold and leasehold properties?
With Freehold property you own the property and the land on which it is situated. With Leasehold property you own the property for a fixed term, but you do not own the land. You would usually pay an annual ground rent to the Freeholder and at the end of the term, the land reverts back to the Freeholder.
