Residential Property

Buying or selling a home is one of the most significant financial transactions most people will ever undertake. Whether you are taking your first step on the property ladder, selling a family home, or continuing an investment journey, having the right legal support in place is essential. Our experienced residential property solicitors provide clear, reliable advice throughout the entire conveyancing process.

We have a dedicated team of residential conveyancing specialists who aim to deliver fast, efficient and transparent residential domestic conveyancing services. Acting as trusted conveyancing solicitors and home property lawyers, we guide you through each stage of your transaction, keeping you informed and supported from instruction through to completion.

Clear, personal conveyancing advice

We understand that every property transaction is different. Our team takes a personal approach, navigating each matter with care and attention to detail while maintaining a strong focus on customer satisfaction. We work proactively with estate agents, lenders and other parties to help transactions progress smoothly and to minimise delays wherever possible.

Whether you are purchasing, selling or refinancing, our property solicitors provide practical advice tailored to your circumstances, ensuring you feel confident and informed at every step.

Residential conveyancing services

We can assist with a wide range of residential property matters, including:

• Purchasing and selling residential property
• Remortgages and refinancing
• Transfers of equity
• Right to Buy transactions
• Help to Buy equity redemptions
• Residential investment property purchases
• Probate sales and purchases (probate conveyancing)
• Auction property purchases
• Reclaiming SDLT refunds from HMRC

Our team also works closely with mortgage lenders and can support you throughout the lending process, providing the reassurance of experienced legal oversight on all related documentation.

If you require assistance from experienced conveyancing solicitors, please get in touch to discuss how we can help with your residential property transaction.

Residential property fees

Our residential fee calculator will provide a fee estimate for a purchase, sale or mortgage of an existing residential property located in England or Wales for a value of up to £900,000. If you are purchasing a newbuild property, please contact our specialist new build team on 01642 732 870 as we may be able to provide you with a lower fee estimate for your transaction.

Our fees in acting in a residential conveyancing transaction with a value of £900,000 or more will be calculated in accordance with our hourly rates. Our hourly rates range between £160 plus VAT (£192.00 inclusive of VAT) (for a Paralegal or Trainee Solicitor) and £275 plus VAT (£330.00 inclusive of VAT) (for a Partner, or a Solicitor with 8+ years qualified experience). For instance, if a Property was being purchased for £3 million we may estimate that this could take 20 hours of time by a Partner which would equate to our fees being £5,500 plus VAT (£6,600 inclusive of VAT).

Residential fee estimates are based on the following:

Scope of work (Purchase)

For a Purchase Transaction, the work we will undertake will be as follows:

1. Investigating title to the Property being purchased;
2. Reviewing the seller’s replies to the conveyancing protocol forms and raising additional enquiries where appropriate;
3. Where instructed to do so, commissioning searches and reviewing reports received and raising additional enquiries with the seller’s conveyancers as appropriate or instructed;
4. Negotiating and settling the form of the contract;
5. Drafting, negotiating and settling the form of the transfer deed;
6. reasonable levels of correspondence, telephone calls and emails with you and on your behalf;
7. Where we are instructed by your lender (if applicable) to do so, dealing with all pre-exchange and completion requirements of your lender (if you are borrowing money from a bank or building society for the purpose of the Property);
8. Preparing and issuing our Report on Title prior to exchange of contracts;
9. if the Property is leasehold, reviewing the terms of the lease to ensure it is generally acceptable to lenders compliant with the terms of your lender (if applicable) and providing a summary on the terms of the lease;
10. Meeting with you at our offices (if required) to sign the legal documentation;
11. Requesting replies to pre-completion requisitions; and
12. Dealing with all post-completion administrative matters such as submitting your Stamp Duty Land Tax Land Transaction Return (if applicable) and registering your purchase of the Property at the Land Registry.

Scope of work (Sale)

For a Sale Transaction, the work we will undertake will be as follows:

1. Providing title documentation for the property being sold to the buyer’s conveyancers;
2. Preparing conveyancing protocol forms for you to complete before we provide these to the buyer’s conveyancers;
3. Drafting, negotiating and agreeing the form of the contract;
4. Negotiating and agreeing the form of the transfer deed;
5. Reasonable levels of correspondence, telephone calls, text messages and emails on your behalf;
6. Dealing with all pre-exchange and completion requirements of one mortgage lender (if you currently have a mortgage from a bank or building society secured against the Property);
7. Meeting with you at our offices (if required) to sign the legal documentation;
8. Providing replies to the buyer’s conveyancers pre-completion enquiries;
9. obtaining a redemption figure and redeeming one mortgage (if you currently have a mortgage from a bank or building society secured against the Property);
10. If you are using an estate agent for this sale, paying the estate agent’s fees; and
11. Dealing with all post-completion administrative matters.

Scope of work (Mortgage/Remortgage only)

For a standalone mortgage or remortgage matter, the work we will undertake will be as follows:

1. Investigating title to the Property;
2. Commissioning searches and reviewing reports received or if the lender will agree, procuring an indemnity insurance policy instead of procuring full searches;
3. Reasonable levels of correspondence, telephone calls and emails on your behalf;
4. Dealing with all pre-completion requirements of your lender;
5. Preparing and issuing our report on the mortgage deed to you;
6. Meeting with you at our offices (if required) to sign the legal documentation;
7. Attending to the redemption of the existing mortgage (if there is one) and completion of the mortgage deed; and
8. Dealing with all post-completion administrative matters including registering the mortgage deed with the Land Registry.

Basis of fee estimate (Applicable to all residential conveyancing matters)

The estimate of the fees given above is based on the following:

1. The Scope of Work remains as set out above;
2. No information material to this transaction has been or will be withheld;
3. The matter does not become unduly protracted or complicated;
4. The Property comprises of one registered title and there are no title defects that require rectification or restrictions that are to be complied with (other than in respect of one mortgage);
5. We are not required to deal with more than one draft or undertake more than one set of amendments to each legal document to be entered into;
6. We are not required to advise on any existing or proposed overage or clawback arrangements; 
7. No additional meetings are required other than as set out in the Scope of Work above;
8. No site visits are required;
9. No indemnity insurance or statutory declarations are required; and
10. If the Property is leasehold, the terms of the lease form that is acceptable to the mortgagee and does not require any variations and does not need to be extended;
11. The transaction does not involve a property that is a building which is either a Higher Risk Building or a Relevant Building (as defined in the Building Safety Act 2022) or a flat within such a building (please see below for further details on the same).

Fees & expenses (Applicable to all residential conveyancing matters)

If additional work is required which falls outside the Scope of Work and Basis of Fee Estimate as set out above we reserve the right to revise our fee estimate. Please click on the below link for a list of standard charges that we will charge for additional work:

Please get in touch to enquire about additional legal fees.

Any other work will be assessed in accordance with our hourly rates. Our hourly rates range between £160 plus VAT (£192.00 inclusive of VAT) (for a Paralegal or Trainee Solicitor) and £275 plus VAT (£330.00 inclusive of VAT) (for a Partner, or a Solicitor with 8+ years qualified experience).

We will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary.

You will appreciate that disbursements are out of our control and therefore subject to change. There may be alterations to the disbursements and we reserve the right to pass on to you any increase in the level of disbursements that may be incurred on your behalf as the matter progresses. 

If it becomes apparent that there are unforeseen circumstances in connection with your transaction we may have to increase our charges.  We will inform you if any unforeseen additional work becomes necessary and the likely increase in costs and/or disbursements.

If, for any reason, the matter does not proceed to completion, you will be charged for the work done and expenses incurred to date in line with the following:  

Exclusions (Applicable to all residential conveyancing matters)

Hewitts is not instructed to advise on and will not therefore be responsible or liable for the following:

1. The benefit and risk of the transaction (other than the legal title to the Property);
2. Accountancy advice or issues or the interpretation and application of accounting policies;
3. Valuation advice or issues as to the value of the Property;
4. Dealing with any environmental, planning or construction issues or advising on the contents of any home buyer’s report or other survey report (we advise that you seek advice from a suitably qualified professional on any such issues);
5. Investigating and advising on planning permissions or procuring searches for any adjoining or neighbouring land, unless we are specifically instructed to the contrary and we will provide you with a separate fee estimate for attending to the same;
6. Providing any tax advice or dealing with taxation issues; 
7. Advising on any matter involving a property that is a building which is either a Higher Risk Building or a Relevant Building (as defined in the Building Safety Act 2022) or a flat within such a building; and
8. Dealing with any other matter outside the Scope of Work set out above.

Building Safety Act 2022

(Applicable to all residential conveyancing matters)

The Building Safety Act 2022 came into force on 1 April 2023. The Act allocates responsibility to deal with remedial works to make buildings safe (predominately, but not exclusively, in respect of cladding). There are a number of provisions which apply to Higher Risk Buildings and Relevant Buildings.

A Higher Risk Building is a building in England which is:

• is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 storeys, and
• contains at least 2 residential units

A Relevant Building is a building in England which is:

• at least 11 metres in height (measured from the floor of the ground floor to the height of the floor of the upper floor) or has at least five storeys (whichever is reached first
• contains at least two dwellings
• not a leaseholder-owned building (for example owned by a resident’s management company)

The firm’s policy is that we will not act on the purchase, sale, re-mortgage, transfer of equity or lease extension of a Higher Risk Building or a Relevant Building either for the building itself or a flat within such a building. If it transpires during the course of this matter that it involves such a property then we reserve the right to cease acting in the matter and an abortive invoice will be raised to reflect the costs and expenses incurred to date. This may result in you incurring additional costs and could cause a delay in your matter. If you believe that your matter may involve a Higher Risk Building or a Relevant Building then please let us know immediately.