Telephone: 01462 636666

Property services

Ross Williams specialises in residential conveyancing, transfers of equity and re-mortgages. We never forget that the purchase of a new home or the sale of an existing home can be an acutely stressful time. We understand the importance of communicating with everyone involved in the process or chain of transactions. We will always act quickly to avoid unnecessary delays and will always seek to provide our clients with a value for money service.

Buying and selling property
We offer a high quality property service that is responsive, competitively priced and minimises your worries and concerns. To limit the frustration and stress involved in buying and selling a home, our priority is to provide excellent timing and effective negotiation. If you are buying and selling simultaneously, we will co-ordinate the necessary timescales.

Home Information Packs
All houses for sale now require a Home Information Pack (HIP) before the Estate Agent can actively market the property for sale. The HIP must contain an energy performance certificate, local and water searches, an up-to-date copy of the registered title and plan and a few other legally required documents. We can prepare the HIP for you and also review the HIP relating to the property you wish to purchase. Please contact us for details and costs of this service.

Associated costs
Inevitably, when you buy or sell a property, you will incur expenses over and above what your solicitor charges you for the work undertaken. It is important that you are aware of these expenses from the outset and budget properly for them. The information below provides a helpful guide to the likely costs.

Property sale

  1. Estate agent’s fee - usually a percentage of the sale price. Please note that most estate agents charge VAT.
  2. Mortgage Lender’s sealing fee – typically £100, but variable according to the lender.
  3. Land Registry fee. This relates to official copies of the entries relating to your property on the register. The cost will be between £12 and £24 (or perhaps more), depending on the number of documents.
  4. If the property you are selling is a flat, the freeholder or management company may charge for supplying information required by your purchaser. This fee may range from a few pounds to approximately £200-£300. Also, remember that your purchaser will expect the ground rent and service charges to be paid up to the date of completion.

Property purchase

  1. Search fees. Local authorities and water companies will charge for answering enquiries about the supply of services, planning permissions and so on, regarding the property you want to buy. Local authorities charge approximately £150-£200 and water companies £50
  2. You are required to conduct a chancel repair search (currently £17.63), which establishes whether the property has a potential liability for repair and maintenance of the local parish church. Our special environmental and plan searches cost approximately £70 combined.
  3. Stamp Duty, which is charged as a percentage of the purchase price as follows:

    Purchase price                   Amount of duty to be paid
    less than £175,000             nil
    £175,000 - £250,000           1%
    £250,001 - £500,000           3%
    over £500,000                       4%
  4. If you are buying a flat, the freeholder or management company may charge a fee for registering you as the new owner in their records. The fee is usually around £50 + VAT per notice, but can be more.

    The figures above are illustrations of typical fees. Remember to check the level of fees payable in your particular case to avoid any misunderstandings or unexpected costs.

    This is a temporary stamp duty threshold until April 2009 currently when it is intended that this will reduce the old threshold of £125,000 (although it is believed this deadline may be extended.)