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Conveyancing

Conveyancing

Are you buying, selling or re-mortgaging your home?

We provide a premium conveyancing service at competitive prices.

Please request a bespoke quote by using the form below.

This form is not an online quote generator – a member of our staff will prepare a  quotation as soon as we are able based on the information you provide to us about your property transaction.

Our normal response time  is 1-2 hours if a request is sent within working hours and next working day if your request is sent during the evening or weekend.

Please feel confident in providing the information we request as we are not a call-centre and there will be no irritating follow up sales calls or disclosure of your details to third parties.

Request a Conveyancing Quote

Our residential property team provides legal advice and services for:

  • Residential conveyancing (purchase and sale)
  • Re-mortgaging
  • Buy to let
  • Equity Release
  • Transfers
  • Tenancy and lease arrangements

When choosing a conveyancing specialist, it’s best to consider whether the firm of solicitors you choose will be able to get the job done properly, efficiently, and cost effectively.

We provide an individual service for our clients based on recognised quality standards.

Since 2013, we have been held the Law Society Conveyancing Quality Mark (CQS). CQS is re-assessed and re-awarded annually.

With a significant proportion of our conveyancing work arising from the South Tyneside area, we find our clients use us time after time, and are happy to recommend us to their friends and family.

Estate agents and mortgage advisors also recommend us to their clients, and it is always reassuring when other professionals feel that our service would be good for their clients.

Our staff

At the end of this page you will see links to the qualified legal staff who provide our property services. Each link takes you to more information about the member of staff, their qualifications and experience.

Our prices for sale and purchase transactions

We do not provide an automated conveyancing fee calculator on our website as we provide an individual quotation for each conveyancing enquiry.  Quotations are free and it is up to the person enquiring whether they wish to instruct us or not.  To help you to decide, it is best to shop around and take prices from several solicitors before making up your mind which conveyancer to choose.

The following information is provided as a guide, but please call us as we are happy to provide advice to help with the decision-making process.

We do not charge an ‘hourly rate’ for conveyancing work as we provide fixed fee rates, this means that once we quote for a transaction you should know exactly what you will pay.

For most of our fixed fee work, if the transaction does not go ahead, we won’t charge for anything apart from the costs of the disbursements that have already been paid for.

If you want to know more about disbursements please read our news page: https://www.hannayslaw.co.uk/what-is-a-disbursement/

An average sale or purchase price for buying or selling a property in the South Tyneside area is £150,000 and we have used this average price to provide example quotations which give an indication of the total costs involved in using our services. If your house purchase or sale is more or less we are happy to give you a quote before you decide to use our services.

Example Sale and Purchase quotations (updated January 2024).

A SALE of a freehold property for £150,000 would be approximately £804.00 and a breakdown of the costs involved can be accessed here: Sales conveyancing quotation updated January 2024

Excluding Stamp Duty the PURCHASE of a freehold property for £150,000 would be approximately £1,159.78  and a breakdown of the costs can be accessed here:  Purchase conveyancing quotation updated January 2024

Stamp Duty Calculator

In addition to the fees mentioned in the quotation examples, if you are buying a property you should consult the Stamp Duty Calculator  which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax

Leasehold sale or purchase

Please note, that we can’t provide the exact information for a leasehold sale or leasehold purchase, but the above examples of our sale and purchase fees can be used as a guide until the additional fees for the Leasehold Charges made by the Landlord or Managing Agents are known. These charges differ from property to property.

What needs to be paid when you instruct us

To start a purchase transaction, a payment equivalent to the costs of the search fees  is required.

To start  a sales transactions we require a payment of account of £50 to cover initial disbursement payments.

When we know the completion date for a transaction we issue a ‘completion statement‘ which itemises all the funds necessary for the transaction.  Any payments made on account during the transaction are included in that statement and taken into account.

Re-mortgage and lease extensions

If you need to re-mortgage a residential property our current price for a standard re-mortgage would be £613 which includes all of our costs, VAT (at the rate 20%) and disbursements.

An average price for a residential property leasehold extension would be £816 which includes all of our costs, VAT (at the rate of 20%) and disbursements.

These prices are correct at  January 2023.

For a quote please contact: info@hannayslaw.co.uk

Anti-Money Laundering Procedures

If you are conducting a property transaction anywhere in the United Kingdom you (and any funders of the transaction) must be able to prove ownership, proof of identity, residence and source of funds. If you are able to visit our offices it gives us the opportunity to check your original documents directly with you but if you can’t we will use an online facility called Thirdfort to check your ID and proof of funds.

A Thirdfort identification check costs our clients £14.95 (plus VAT at the rate of 20%) and an additional £9.95 (plus VAT at the rate of 20%) for a source of funds check.

If any funds are being gifted, the donors also need identification and source of funds checks.

More information on Thirdfort and the checks can be found here: Thirdfort Guide

Keeping in touch

We like to keep our clients fully informed throughout their transactions. Many of our clients prefer to rely primarily on telephone and email to communicate and progress their transactions and if you are living some distance away this may be the only way we can carry out your instructions.

Clients are always welcome to visit our offices or arrange an appointment with the Solicitor managing their case, bearing in mind Covid-19 restrictions and safe working procedures. a face-to-face appointment offers a good opportunity to discuss the transaction process in more detail. If you are able to visit our offices we can check your documents with you, take the necessary copies and obtain signatures, but please don’t worry if this is not possible for you.

Additional information : Purchases

How long will my house purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 4-6 months, but can take longer. Prior to Covid a purchase would take 6-12 weeks but we now find that searches are returned less quickly , some bank  staff dealing with mortgages are still working from home and the seller may have reasons to slow down the process.

Transactions  can also be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in a chain as everyone has to be ready at the same time to complete. The more related transactions in the purchase the longer it may take to get everyone ready at the same time.

If you are a first time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage in principle, could take up to 26 weeks or longer to complete depending on when the new build property will be finished being built.

If you are buying an auction property, you may have committed to complete the transaction in a month at the auction.

If you are buying a leasehold property that requires an extension of the lease, the process can take between 3 and 9 months if everything proceeds smoothly, but the process can take longer.

Your conveyancer will keep you updated with timescales as the transaction proceeds.

What are the stages of the purchase process?

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances, but these are the basic stages;

  • Take your instructions and give you initial advice
  • Check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender’s solicitors if needed
  • Receive and advise on contract documents
  • Carry out property searches
  • Obtain further planning documentation if required
  • Make any necessary enquiries of seller’s solicitor
  • Give you advice on all documents and information received
  • Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you
  • Send final contract to you for signature
  • Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
  • Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
  • Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
  • Complete purchase
  • Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
  • Deal with application for registration at the Land Registry

Stamp Duty or Land Tax (only applicable to purchase transactions)

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a government tax based on the value of the property to be purchased and the purchasers property ownership history.

You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using the HMRC calculator       https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro or if the property is located in Wales   https://beta.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-calculator

Our Fixed Fee quotations include our costs, disbursements and stamp duty and should provide a clear understanding of the total cost of a purchase transaction as well as the full funds you will need to complete the transaction.

Additional information – Property sales

What are the stages of the selling process?

Sometimes a sale can be more complicated due to the individual circumstances of the property or how the current ownership is funded, but in a straightforward sale the steps are as follows;

  • Take instructions and give you initial advice.
  • Request mortgage redemption details from the lender and if property is in negative equity we provide advice.
  • We ask the vendor to complete the standard house sale questionnaires in which you give information about the property and the fixtures and fittings
  • Assist in negotiating arrangements for the fixtures and fittings (for instance if some are being left behind or being sold at a separate price)
  • Assist in negotiating who will fix any issues raised in the buyer’s survey – sometimes the sale price is re-negotiated if appropriate to the issues
  • Liaise with estate agent who has advertised and assisted in the sale of the property
  • Deal with enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitor and respond to enquiries
  • Draft contract
  • Agree completion date with vendor and buyer’s solicitor
  • Exchange contracts (before or on completion date)
  • Vendor provides keys (etc.) to the Estate Agent before or on the day of completion
  • On day of completion – receive the sale funds, redeem the mortgage, send legal documents regarding ownership to the buyer’s solicitors. Pay estate agent. We make arrangements to refund any balance to the vendor.

How long will my house sale take?

How long it will take from an offer for your property being accepted until your property is sold will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 3-6 months, but it can take longer depending upon the circumstances of the sale and sometimes can complete more quickly. Your conveyancer will keep you updated with timescales as the transaction proceeds.

 

If there is a specific question not covered in the information we have given here please do not hesitate to email us or phone us.

Please call us on 0191 4974630 or 0191 4555361 to request a quotation or you can complete the online form that you will find at the top of this page.

 

convey

CQS has established itself as the quality mark of the home-buying sector and enables consumers to identify practices that provide a quality residential conveyancing service. With so many different conveyancing service providers out there CQS helps home-buyers and sellers seek out those that can provide a safe and efficient level of service.”

Buying and selling a home can be a stressful time. Choosing a solicitor to help in that process just got easier. By looking for a CQS firm like Hannays Solicitors and Advocates, who have now been members of the Scheme for three years, the public can seek out a firm that has proved its commitment to quality.

The overall beneficiaries will be clients who will receive a reliable, efficient service as recognised by the CQS standard.

The scheme requires practices to undergo a strict assessment, compulsory training, self-reporting, random audits and annual reviews in order to maintain CQS status. It is open only to members of the Law Society who meet the demanding standards set by the Scheme and has the support of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Building Societies Association, Legal Ombudsman and the Association of British Insurers.

Please call us on 0191 497 4630 or 0191 455 5361 to arrange an initial meeting to discuss your individual circumstances and outline your options.

Our Conveyancing team

What our clients think

"Recommended by a family friend 20 years ago and have used ever since"
"I would recommend because of the professionalism at all times from the staff"
"Recommended by my friends – friendly and straightforward"
"Very polite staff and straightforward procedure"
"We couldn't be any happier with the service we received"
"Advice given was useful and the service was brilliant"

Contracted with the Legal Aid Agency