Conveyancing
Bate & Albon Solicitors are experienced in all aspects of residential conveyancing, including buying, selling, re-mortgaging, transfers of equity and equity release. Our team of expert property solicitors have gained a wealth of satisfied customers across Sussex and can provide legal guidance on all aspects of buying or selling a property.
We understand that buying or selling your home can be one of the most stressful life events that you can face. However, we offer complete clarity with conveyancing fees at the outset, which we hope removes any worry about the financial cost that you will have to meet at completion.
We always aim to give accurate timescales where possible. The time frames for a residential conveyancing matter can of course vary, due to factors that rely on various third parties and the chain. However, transactions usually take between 6 – 12 weeks.
- About Us
Specialist conveyancing solictors and property lawyers in sussex.
- Our Services
How can we help?
Purchasing a property
We aim to make purchasing a property as stress free as possible.
With a residential purchase, our team go through the process of checking the property deeds and contract pack and making any enquiries where necessary. Alongside these checks, we also raise searches and check your mortgage offer. Once our solicitors have completed this process, we will report back to you, check you are ready to proceed, and get you to sign the contract in readiness for exchange of contracts.
We are always on hand to negotiate terms of a contract and we will ensure that both parties are satisfied before any proceedings. Having a specialist property conveyancer acting on your behalf, you can have peace of mind that the process will be handled efficiently.
Selling a Property
With a residential sale, we provide a draft of contract and papers to the buyer’s solicitor, and deal with any enquiries they may raise. Once the buying legal party are ready, they will report to their client, and we will contact you to sign the contract to prepare for the exchange of contracts.
It is always our recommendation that you have your extensive amounts of paperwork checked by a specialist. If there are any snags, or enquiries that need to made with parties before a contract is signed, we’ll act and negotiate on your behalf.
Please note that with residential sales and purchases there could also be enquiries as a result of searches, and if the property is leasehold then there are further, more complex enquiries that need to be raised in respect of the lease and maintenance.
Re-mortgaging
You may find yourself needing a solicitor if you need a new mortgage for a property. At Bate & Albon, we can handle the legal process of re-mortgaging, including making updates to the title deeds and land registry.
Equity Transfer
If you’re looking to buy out an ex-partner from your home, transfer ownership to a new partner or spouse, or engage in estate with family, we can handle the legal transferral of property ownership or shares, ensuring a smooth and legally sound process.
Equity Release
We can also represent you in matters of equity release. It’s a complicated process that requires independent legal advice about the rewards, obligations and risks of having equity released from your property in question.
- Meet the Team
Who will conduct my conveyancing?
The partner responsible for our Conveyancing department is Head of Residential Property, Paula Williams. As a partner within Bate & Albon, Paula oversees conveyancing across all our offices, managing a team of experienced solicitors, committed to helping clients across Sussex with a variety of projects.
The administration and day-to-day conduct of your matter will be undertaken by one of our specialist conveyancing solicitors, whose hourly rates vary from £195 to £275 plus VAT at 20% depending on qualifications and experience.
- Billing
How Will you calculate your fees?
Service | Cost |
| Purchase | £1,000 - £2,900 + VAT (20%) for properties up to £1,000,000. For any property over £1,000,000 then please contact us for a bespoke quote which will typically be 0.4% of the purchase price. |
| Sale | £1,000 - £2,900 + VAT (20%) for properties up to £1,000,000. For any property over £1,000,000 then please contact us for a bespoke quote which will typically be 0.25% of the purchase price. |
| Re-Mortgage | £795 - £995 + VAT (20%) |
| Transfer Of Equity | £795 - £995 + VAT (20%) |
| Equity Release | £950 - £1,250 + VAT (20%) |
| Building Safety Act | If your property is within a building that is over 11 metres or four storeys in height, our conveyancing team will need to involve a partner with expertise in the Building Safety Act 2022, which will incur an additional fee of £1,200 plus VAT. |
At Bate & Albon we recognise that every property is different and every client is different in terms of need and expectations. Moving house can be uniquely stressful.
It doesn’t have to be like that – our aim is to attempt to make your move easier. Our service is always personal and we will always provide you with a written estimate and our terms of engagement having discussed your transaction with you first.
The legal fees quoted relate to properties situated in England & Wales. They cover all of the professional work required to complete the sale of your home or the purchase of your new home, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.
The figures quoted above assume a straightforward transaction without unforeseen complexity or issues. If the matter becomes complex then there will be an additional fee, examples of which include (but are not limited to):
- Where your mortgage lender instructs its own solicitor
- Where your purchase of a leasehold property includes the purchase of a share of the freehold title
- Where a lease extension is involved
- Where freeholder consent for any reason may be required
- Where there is a perceived defect in title
- If leasehold, that it is the transfer of an existing lease and not the grant of a new lease
- Shared ownership transactions
- Missing or absentee landlords
- Compulsory Purchase
- Where a transaction is required to be expedited
- Contract races
- Lock out/exclusivity agreements
Obviously each transaction is different and we will try our best to inform you as soon as we become aware of any feature that might have an impact on the quoted fee.
Disbursements are costs or expenses related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursement on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
The following comprise the usual disbursements:
- Electronic payment fee: £35 + VAT. Our charge for the time spent inputting the data and transmitting funds to your bank, mortgagee or third party solicitor.
- Local Search Fees – vary depending on the local authority and search provider involved and the number of searches required. Usually between £275.00 and £400.00.
- Stamp Duty Land Tax Fee charged by Searchflow £8.68.
- Stamp Duty Land Tax & Land Transaction Tax – amount payable depends upon a variety of factors. A calculator is available through the HMRC website for England and the Welsh Revenue Authority for Wales
- Land Registry Fee – current fees are available through the Land Registry website.
- Managing Agents pack on sale of leasehold – this can only be ascertained on receipt of documents but the average charge is approximately £360.00 including VAT, but can vary depending on the Managing Agent or Freeholder
- Notice and compliance fees on leasehold purchases – these can only be ascertained during the transaction but typically can range between £240.00 to £480.00 including VAT.
- Stamp Duty Land Tax processing fee approximately £9.
- Contact
Need to Speak to us?
- Let's Talk
Contact one of Our Conveyancing experts
- Where are we?
Conveyancing Solicitors in Brighton, Chichester, Eastbourne and Worthing
As a firm based in in East and West Sussex, Bate & Albon are specialists in our local property landscape. We make it a priority that you and both parties receive full clarity and premium service when it comes to Conveyancing. Our highly professional team of legal experts ensure that you and your property are in safe hands.
Looking for a Conveyancer to help you with your property? Contact Chris Albon to see how we can help you with your matter.
Conveyancing FAQs
Conveyancing is the area of law relating to buying and selling property, and ensuring that legal ownership passes on successfully.
In most cases, conveyancing is carried out by conveyancers. These may be solicitors specialising in the area, licensed conveyancers or paralegals who are fellows of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. Either way, conveyancers are trained and qualified specialists in navigating the process.
“DIY” conveyancing is possible in some cases, but highly risky.
In some cases, yes, but it’s very risky. The process is time-consuming and often throws up complications. Also, in the vast majority of cases, the other party will have a solicitor on their side. We’d strongly recommend having a specialist acting in your interests – property transactions are stressful enough!
When you’re buying, your conveyancer will:
- Inspect and advise on all legal documents including title deeds, contracts and your mortgage offer
- Advise on property searches
- Report to your mortgage company
- Liaise with the seller’s solicitor
- Arrange the completion date and transfer of funds
This is not an exhaustive list, but if anything else comes up your conveyancer should let you know.
When you’re selling, your conveyancer will:
- Prepare a contract pack
- Liaise with the buyer’s solicitor
- Send you the contract and provide advice and information on it
- Arrange the completion date and transfer of funds
Once again, this is not an exhaustive list.
The short answer: a long time. Generally, conveyancing can easily take 12–16 weeks, but it varies significantly according to the complexity of the transaction. Even if the conveyancing itself is straightforward, you can still be held up by other factors like a property chain or waiting on replies to enquiries made to a managing agent.
This means there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but a good conveyancing service will always make you aware of any potential delays.
A contract pack is a collection of documents prepared by the seller’s conveyancer. Its contents include title documents, mandatory forms and the contract of sale.
Conveyancing searches are enquiries with your local authority and specialist search companies about factors that may affect your property in the future. These will relate to matters such as covenants registered at the Land Registry, flood risks, water authority and drainage arrangements, environmental risks and development plans in the area.
No – it’s always your right to hire a solicitor of your choosing.
This is a series of linked sales and purchases, usually involving sale proceeds being used from a sale in order to fund an onward purchase. Chains can be very short, such as where there is a first time buyer or new build property, or extremely long and complicated.
You can calculate your rate here.
No, this would amount to a trespass and be in breach of the sale contract.
The conveyancing process depends on moving vast sums of money around simultaneously through the property chain, and is therefore completed on a working day when all banking facilities are available.
We do not work on a no sale/purchase no fee arrangement. However, if, for example, we have reported to you on a purchase and you decide not to proceed, we would usually charge 50% of the initial fee quoted. At this stage, far more than 50% of the work required to assist you in your purchase will have been carried out (closer to 80%).
No. We pride ourselves on referrals coming to us based on the work we carry out.
We will need to be able to confirm the identity of any clients in a transaction but also anyone that is gifting money to them. For those individuals, we will need to obtain a mobile telephone number in order to initiate identification checks using Thirdfort, a third-party verification provider. Proof of funds will also need to be obtained. Please note that these requirements are dictated to us and it is not us enquiring just to be nosey!
Our fees are fairly calculated to reflect the work we carry out and the workload we maintain. We feel that our fees are set at the correct level given the fee earners experience and time spent on each transaction.
At present we are not assisting with any purchases affected by this Act.
Certainly. We are able to onboard clients remotely, without having to attend our offices, and the majority of conveyancing and communication throughout a case can now be carried out electronically. We have assisted many clients who have moved out of the Sussex area or have been referred to us via family and friends.
Whilst this is a choice, we would always recommend you do so. Surveyors can provide us with crucial details that we simply could not be aware of from our position in the transaction.
Our advice is to obtain a few quotes but also to speak with whoever you will be dealing with on a day-to-day basis. Whoever you appoint will be working with you for at least a couple of months and you want to be comfortable in communicating with them throughout the transaction. Check for reviews too; Google and LinkedIn are often good places to start. You don’t want to build an amazing rapport with someone in one department only to find that they are in the client introductory team and once you have signed up you never speak to them again!
If you are selling, then it is sensible to appoint a solicitor at the point of marketing. This will ensure that you are fully onboarded and that you have had an opportunity to provide all the paperwork you will need to contribute to early allowing the sales pack to go to you buyer’s solicitor as soon as possible once a sale has been agreed. Similarly, if you are purchasing, there is no harm in sourcing a solicitor whilst you are still searching for property and completing the onboarding process, so that you are ready to advise an estate agent of who will be acting for you as soon you have agreed a purchase.