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You can find out more about our Conveyancers and their own experiences by visiting our Meet our People page here.  

Our expert Conveyancers are available in all four of our offices with many years experience in helping people like you move home. Sarah Brooks is the Head of our Residential Conveyancing department and so regardless of which location you choose, the teams are supervised by her.

While our conveyancers have experience in all variety of property sales and purchases, we do specialise in numerous areas:

1). Equity Release Schemes – equity release is an option increasingly favoured by those who are approaching retirement age and are considering their standard of living or plans for the future.  You may wish to make home improvements before downsizing, help your children financially to start their own journey onto the property ladder, go on that holiday of a lifetime, or look to make your retirement more comfortable.

2). Shared ownership schemes – these schemes are to primarily assist first time buyers onto the property ladder.  Buyers purchase a share of a property from a Housing Association, usually between 25% - 75% with the aid of a mortgage, and rent is then paid on the remainder of the property.  When buying through shared ownership it is important that you appreciate the different responsibilities that you and your landlord will have, and this is where we can guide you through using our knowledge. 

3). Help to Buy and Right to Buy – both of these government schemes are funded by the government to either loan a portion of the funds needed to purchase a property (Help to Buy) or allow local authority tenants to buy their home at a discounted price (Right to Buy).  

4). ISAs and Lifetime ISAs – Help to Buy ISAs were launched to help first time buyers save towards a deposit for their first home.  You can make deposits into the account each month and upon closing the account you could receive a 25% bonus of the amount in your account from the government.   Lifetime ISAs are also available for first time buyers, primarily for those under the age of 40.

There are many different stages involved in buying and selling a property, which can be summarised in three easy steps; Information Gathering, Exchange and Completion.  

Typically it takes between 6 to 8 weeks to exchange contracts and complete on your property, however there are a number of factors that can affect the time scale, and most commonly this is due to waiting for other parties in the chain.   Some common examples include:

• some properties have more complicated legal issues in their title deeds that need to be clarified through additional enquiries.
• survey reports may raise negative issues which require further additional enquiries being raised of the relevant parties. 
• a leasehold property will also require more information gathering from the Managing Agents and Landlords.  
• third parties involved such as Search providers i.e. Local Authorities can have backlogs with regard to providing Local Search results.
• mortgage offers for you and others in the chain can also impact the timescales involved. 

When buying a property, during the Information Gathering stage, which is normally the most time consuming and can cause delays if there are complications obtaining certain details or paperwork from other parties, we will:

• Take details about the property in question and your financial arrangements, including bank statements, gifts of monies and Help to Buy ISAs
• Liaise with the estate agents and seller’s solicitors for the necessary contract paperwork.
• Request all of the information about the property to allow us to advise you as to its legal title.  This will include obtaining:
  • Property Information forms
  • Title deed information
  • Searches
  • Fixtures and fittings contents list
  • Leasehold information (where applicable)
  • Planning permission details and building regulation consents where alterations and extensions have been made to the property

If you are selling a property, we will be looking to you to assist us in collecting the above information in order for us to pass this on to the buyer’s Solicitors.

Once all parties are in a position to, a date for exchange will be agreed and on this day we will usually be able to exchange over the telephone.  It is at this stage that you are legally bound to the sale or purchase of the property.  There is then generally a minimum period of 5 working days between exchange of contracts and completion but it can be up to one month or more, all depending on your own circumstances and that of others in the chain. In between exchange and completion, we will use this time to make the final preparations regarding the searches and financial statements and ensure monies have been collected in time for completion.  On the day of completion, the monies are transferred from the buyer’s Solicitor to the seller’s Solicitor, and once this is done the estate agent will release the keys to the buyer.

Dealing with property is an important step in your life and we understand you will want to know more about what is involved, and not simply the price.  Below is further guidance to assist you but we would be delighted if you would prefer to call us and discuss your move telephone us on:-  

Fareham: 01329 222096
Portsmouth:  023 9275 3575
Southampton: 023 8071 7422
Chandler's Ford: 023 8071 7467
Waterlooville: 023 9277 6569 

Or obtain a more tailored quote by emailing conveyancingquote@warnergoodman.co.uk

It is likely that additional fees will be required when selling your leasehold property in order to pay the landlord and/or the managing agents for the Leasehold Pack for the buyer.  Once you instruct us to go ahead with your sale we will write to the landlord and the managing agents asking them to confirm their charges and we will ask you to provide those fees up front.  In order for you to budget accordingly, you could contact your landlord and managing agent at this stage and ask how much they will charge to provide the Leasehold Pack.

You may also need to obtain a licence from the lease administrator in order to sell the property.  They may wish to ‘vet’ the new potential owner to make sure they are happy, for which you will be charged a fee.  Depending on the type of property, you may also be charged an ‘exit’ or ‘transfer’, which is usually a percentage of the value.

If you are looking to sell your leasehold property, we can advise you as to the necessary steps you need to take and what charges you could face.  The same as when you initially bought the property, the next owner will want to ensure that everything is in place so they understand their responsibilities.  If these are not in place, it could delay the sale.

There are three types of leasehold charges that you could be responsible for when you purchase a leasehold property, and they are:

1. Ground Rent
2. Service Charges
3. Administration Charges for documents including:
   1. Deed of Covenant: this will confirm that you will be bound by, and accept, the terms of the lease.
   2. Notice of Assignment and Charge: this is regarding the change in ownership and mortgage lender for the landlord or managing agent.  This will ensure they have the correct contact details to keep you informed on future plans and applicable charges. 
   3. Certificate of Compliance: the landlord or managing agent will confirm with the Land Registry that the requirements for changing leasehold ownership have been complied with.
   4. Stock or Membership Transfer: you could be required to become a member of the Management Company, and if so your landlord or managing agent may charge a fee for transferring the share or membership into your name.

These costs will be determined by your landlord or managing agent and we can advise accordingly once we have details from them.

When you own a leasehold property, there will be certain rules on what you can and cannot do.  If you wish to ask for consent to make a change that is not mentioned in the lease or is included as something you are not currently able to do, there may be a fee associated with making the request and the consequent change.  Such changes could include running a business from the property, refurbishments, sub-letting or keeping a pet.