Professional conveyancing solicitors in Woolwich

Whether you are buying or selling, moving home or mortgaging your property, our conveyancing team will offer you expert advice and ensure that all legal formalities are completed correctly. With over 100 years of combined experience and knowledge we have become highly skilled at identifying and correlating various tasks involved in moving homes and reducing the worry of our customers. We recognize each of our clients as individuals with different needs and we keep each one informed throughout the transaction in a clear and concise way.

The disbursement may vary from transaction to transaction and these will be supplied on the initial instruction about whether the disbursement attracts VAT and the VAT rate. The VAT on our fees is charged at 20%. Information about services included/not included will be supplied on request.

The general timescale for a residential conveyancing transactions from receipt of initial instructions is 6-8 weeks and if there is any variation in this time scale you will be notified.

Please note that work is carried out by our solicitor Andrew McArthur who qualified in 2003.

Call us for more details.

Coveyancing Fees

Transparency of our costs and legal fees are important to us. This is why we lay out our conveyancing fees in a clear way. We operate on a system of fixed fees so you know what you are expected to pay. We do not use hourly rates.

Freehold Sale or Purchase Fees

£900 (incl VAT) to around £3,000 (incl VAT).

Prices vary depending on the type of property.

A typical house purchase will start at around £900 (incl VAT).Meanwhile, a substantial historic building will be more around £3,000 (incl VAT).

If there are special complications on the transaction of the property – eg if the legal title is defective, this may increase the fees.

These fees do not include disbursements.

Leasehold Sale or Purchase Fees

£950 (incl VAT) to around £2,500 (inc VAT).

Prices vary depending on the property/leasehold.

A simple transaction with no complications will be around £950 (inc VAT). Meanwhile, a leasehold with a defective lease could see fees of around £2,500 (inc VAT).

Any special complications on the transaction of the leasehold – eg difficulties in obtaining management packs from a third party – may increase the fees.

These fees do not include disbursements.

Re-mortgage Fees

£580 (inc VAT) to £880 (inc VAT)

Prices vary depending on the type of mortgage.

Remortgages on a freehold will be around £580 (inc VAT).Meanwhile, remortgages on a leasehold could see fees of around £880 (inc VAT).

Any complications on the transaction could see the fees increase.

These fees do not include disbursements.

Disbursements

Third party payments are required during a conveyancing transaction. These payments are called disbursement fees and paid on your behalf by H E Thomas & Co.

Search fees - approx £300 depending on the Local Authority.

This is a cost paid to the Local Authority where the property is located. It is required to learn more about the property before a sale is completed. The purpose is to uncover any known details that may negatively impact the value of the property in the future.

Land Registry Fees

This is set by the Land Registry according to the purchase price (see Land Registry fee scale on their website).

Electronic Money Transfer - Fee £30

This is a fee charged for the cost of transferring the mortgage money from the lender to the solicitor.

VAT 20%

We will add VAT to our charges at the rate which applies when the work is done.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

You may have to pay stamp duty land tax on your conveyancing transaction. The amount charged will depend on the purchase price of the property.

You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website. We will organize the payment of this on your behalf.

When do I need to pay the conveyancing fees?

On instruction you will need to pay a balance to cover any expected disbursement fees. This is so funds are available to pay third parties. As a result, any delays are minimized from your end.

There are the only costs you will need to pay upfront.

The conveyancing fees themselves will not need to be paid until the contracts are exchanged if you are buying or the sale completes if you are selling.

Extra disbursement fees may be needed during the process. If required, you will be informed of this at the time.

Residential Sales

Selling residential property

Buying and selling your home, whether it is a freehold house or a leasehold flat is one of the most costly complex and risk filled transactions you are ever likely to undertake. It is important to instruct skilled professionals to undertake this process for you.

At H E Thomas & Co your matter will be handled by a qualified solicitor. You will be able to contact your conveyancing solicitor directly by phone or by email. As well as being Lexcel accredited (the Law Society’s practice management standard) H E Thomas & Co also hold the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation. We are on the panels of most high street lenders and the solicitors who will handle your matter have extensive experience in conveyancing and property law.

We offer the following service when acting on your sale:

• Drafting the contract to sell your property.
• Checking your title and raising any issues with you.
• Answering the queries raised by the buyers’ solicitors including obtaining documents
• Corresponding with your lender where necessary and obtaining a redemption figure.
• Finalising the contract and arranging your signature
• Exchanging contracts and arranging completion
• Preparing a financial statement for you
• Settling any mortgage and estate agents fees and accounting to you with the sale proceeds

The matter normally takes between 3 – 6 months to complete.

Please note that it is sometimes difficult to predict what problems will arise when you undertake a conveyancing transaction. Although our quoted fees will cover most of the time we expend on your behalf it does not cover every eventuality. Our fees for a purchase or sale do not include dealing with any second mortgage or drafting deeds of covenant, trust, easement, lease extension or variation, power of attorney or licence to assign. Additional fees will also apply to the transfer of share of freehold arrangements, help to buy schemes and other ancillary services that may be required for your purchase.

We will obtain your consent before incurring any additional expense. Please be aware that if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may require us to incur an additional expense and we will advise you if this happens.

In addition to your legal fees we will have to pay other sums on your behalf for carrying our searches, paying stamp duty land tax (where necessary) and paying Land Registry and other fees known as disbursements which are detailed below.

Disbursements on a Sale

Copy title deeds £6 per title plus £11 to obtain a copy of any lease.

On the sale of a leasehold property a fee is payable to your landlord or their agent to obtain a leasehold information pack. This fee is normally between £100 and £300.

Residential Purchase

Buying residential property

Buying and selling your home, whether it is a freehold house or a leasehold flat is one of the most costly complex and risk filled transactions you are ever likely to undertake. It is important to instruct skilled professionals to undertake this process for you.

At H E Thomas & Co your matter will be handled by a qualified solicitor. You will be able to contact your conveyancing solicitor directly by phone or by email. As well as being Lexcel accredited (the Law Society’s practice management standard) H E Thomas & Co also hold the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation. We are on the panels of most high street lenders and the solicitors who will handle your matter have extensive experience in conveyancing and property law.

We offer the following service when acting on a purchase for you:

• A named contact will support you throughout the purchase process, always available to answer your queries
• Checking the title for the property, carrying out searches, investigating the planning history and creating a report for you about your new property.
• Liaising with the seller, the seller’s solicitor and the estate agent.
• Meeting to go through your report and signing the contract.
• Negotiating an exchange of contracts for you
• Preparing the transfer deed and checking that the sellers title has not changed.
• Preparing a financial statement for you
• Obtaining any mortgage funds and completing the purchase for you
• Completing and submitting a stamp duty tax return to HMRC
• Registering the purchase with the Land Registry post completion.
• We act for most major lenders, dealing with the legal work relating to mortgages

The matter normally takes between 3-6 months to complete.

Please note that it is sometimes difficult to predict what problems will arise when you undertake a conveyancing transaction. Although our quoted fees will cover most of the time we expend on your behalf it does not cover every eventuality. Our fees for a purchase or sale do not include dealing with any second mortgage or drafting deeds of covenant, trust, easement, lease extension or variation, power of attorney or licence to assign. Additional fees will also apply to the transfer of share of freehold arrangements, help to buy schemes and other ancillary services that may be required for your purchase.

We will obtain your consent before incurring any additional expense. Please be aware that if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may require us to incur an additional expense and we will advise you if this happens.

In addition to your legal fees we will have to pay other sums on your behalf for carrying our searches, paying stamp duty land tax (where necessary) and paying Land Registry and other fees known as disbursements which are detailed below.

Disbursements on a Purchase

Local Authority, drainage and environmental searches which give vital information about the Property that you are buying. These 3 searches are £195.89.

Land Registry fees. These vary according to the value of the property. See the following link to calculate them – Land Registry Fee calculator (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees)

Stamp duty is normally payable when buying a property. The following HMTC calculator will tell you how much: Stamp Duty Calculator (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro)

On the purchase of leasehold property you may have to pay some or all of the following to the landlord of the property:

Notice of transfer fee. This fee is usually between £60 - £180

Notice of charge fee. The fee is usually between £60 - £180

Deed of covenant fee. The fee is usually between £60 - £150

Certificate of compliance fee. The fee is usually between £90 - £150

• Buying and selling your property
• Remortgages
• Deed of transfer of ownership
• New build properties
• Auction sales and purchases
• Lease extensions or freehold purchases
• Repossession sales and purchases
• Voluntary registration of ownership
  
• Buy to let properties