Buying a Home, Conveyancing Experts

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Whether you’re buying your first house, moving home, or purchasing a second home or holiday home, you’re probably feeling both excited and stressed about the process. Purchasing a property, for whatever reason, is a large financial commitment. It’s therefore essential to consult an experienced conveyancing solicitor to guide you through the process and handle any issues competently on your behalf.

At Fishers, our skilled conveyancing team of Solicitors, Legal Executives and Licenced Conveyancers are on hand to make your home buying experience as smooth and straightforward as possible. Your transaction will always be dealt with by an expert with considerable experience successfully completing purchases on behalf of clients.

We’re accredited with the Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme, which signifies our position as one of the leading residential conveyancing teams in the country.

We offer the vast majority of our clients fixed fee conveyancing services so you can proceed with your property transaction in total confidence of how much it will cost and what you’ll receive for that price. For an idea of how much your property transaction may cost, please feel free to generate an online conveyancing quote. However, as every transaction is unique, our solicitors will provide a more tailored quote upon your initial contact with us.

Get in touch with our conveyancing solicitors in Ashby de la Zouch and Tamworth today for further information or to obtain a quote. Alternatively, please complete our online enquiry form and someone will be in touch in due course.

How our conveyancing solicitors can help you buy your home

Our expertise includes all types of residential purchase, including:

• Buying freehold and leasehold property Buying your first home
• Buying a second home
• Buying a holiday home
• Buy to let conveyancing
• Government schemes, including Help to Buy and Shared Ownership
• Lease extension and enfranchisement

Our conveyancing team will handle every aspect of your property conveyance on your behalf, including:

• Liaising with interested parties, such as the seller, their estate agents, their solicitors, surveyors, mortgage lenders, freehold landlords, and leasehold managing agents
• Undertaking searches and reviewing the Register of Title or title deeds
• Advising in relation to any rights and obligations, including rights of way, other easements, boundaries, and drainage and water supply
• Drafting and/or reviewing the sale and purchase agreement and providing advice on the terms
• Ensuring monies are paid to the right people at the right times to ensure any mortgages are redeemed and the purchase completes on time
• Liaising with HM Land Registry including registering the transfer and dealing with first registration if the property was unregistered

Buying your home FAQs

What is the process of buying a property?

How long will the conveyancing process take?

Every property transaction is unique; however, many purchases are able to complete around 6 to 8 weeks after your offer is accepted. We will act without delay to ensure your transaction completes as efficiently as possible and will keep you well-informed throughout the process so you’re aware if there are any delays.

Why do I need to prove my identity?

We are legally required to verify your identity under money laundering regulations. Other parties may also require proof, for example, if you’re taking out a mortgage, your lender will require us to verify your identity to proceed.

What do you mean by undertaking “searches” of the property?

We need to carry out the following searches in the course of your transaction:

• Local authority searches – to check things like the property’s planning history and whether it’s on a publicly adopted highway
• Drainage and water searches – to confirm the property is connected to mains drainage and water
• Environmental searches – to check whether the property sits on contaminated land which may render you liable for expensive clean-up costs under environmental law.

Do I need to carry out a survey of the property I’m purchasing?

We recommend that you do obtain a survey before purchasing the property. Your mortgage lender is likely to carry out their own basic survey, however, this is only to assess whether the property is mortgageable under their own policies. Therefore, it’s beneficial to carry out a more thorough survey yourself. Common survey options include:

• Home Buyers Report – this outlines factors which may adversely affect the property such as damp and insulation issues
• Full structural survey – a detailed examination of the property’s condition and highly recommended when purchasing an older or rundown property

What does leasehold mean when buying a property?

Most flats and some houses are sold on a leasehold basis (although the Government plans to outlaw leasehold houses sometime in the future).

This means that you do not own the land the property sits on (or the wider building if it’s a flat), instead you purchase a long lease of the property. Therefore, you are effectively a tenant and you will have a landlord who owns the freehold to the property.

You will pay ground rent and possibly service charges to the landlord for occupying the property.

Long leases generally last for decades and, after 2 years, you become entitled to extend the lease by 90 years which can boost the property’s value.

Do I have to pay Stamp Duty?

Stamp Duty Land Tax works as follows:

• First time buyers – no Stamp Duty is payable on properties up to £300,000. This includes Shared Ownership properties. This also applies to buyers who owned a property in the past but can no longer afford to buy
• Home movers – if you’re selling a property and purchasing a new one you will pay the standard rate of Stamp Duty, which includes a tax-free threshold up to £125,000
• Second homes and buy to lets – you will have to pay an increased rate of Stamp Duty. There is no tax-free threshold and the lowest rate (up to £125,000) is 3% of the property’s value

Why choose Fishers’ conveyancing solicitors to buy your home?

Our conveyancing solicitors are proud to have served our local communities in Ashby de la Zouch and Tamworth for many years. We believe in local knowledge for local people, and our understanding of the property market across Staffordshire and Leicestershire is unparalleled.

Our goal is to exceed expectations, no matter how challenging the case, and we’ve been awarded the Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme Accreditation for our expertise in all types of residential property transactions.

We understand that buying a home can be a financially burdensome time, so we offer fixed fee conveyancing to the vast majority of our clients. We’ll also keep you aware of any third party costs (such as Land Registry fees) you are likely to encounter in advance so you can always stay on top of your legal fees.

Fishers is independently regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

Contact our conveyancing solicitors today

Get in touch with our conveyancing solicitors in Ashby de la Zouch and Tamworth today for further information or to obtain a quote. Alternatively, please complete our online enquiry form and someone will be in touch in due course.