Conveyancing Solicitors in Coventry

Freehold property is the one that gives you complete ownership of the building and the land on which the building is constructed. A leasehold property is owned under a lease agreement. A lease is an agreement where you rent land and property for an agreed period. 

The ownership in this type of agreement is temporary, and later on, after the lease expires, you transfer ownership back to the permanent owner. You may negotiate on a new contract and extend it or vacate the premises after a lease period expires.

You would need a licensed conveyancer, especially if you are buying with a mortgage. Your mortgage company will insist you to have a conveyancer lawyer to carry out the process. If you are using your own money to buy the property, you would need assistance in handling the legalities involved. 

It is difficult for an individual to carry out the process since any minor mistake can lead to huge monetary loss. For example, in the completion form, there are more than seventy questions, and each one has to be answered carefully or else you can attract a penalty.

Other than that, the Land Registry may also refuse to accept information from you without verification.

Conveyancers along with banks, building societies, and mortgage brokers do identification checks. It is also called ‘Know Your Client’ checks done by these institutions before buying and/or selling their client’s property. The process is also necessary to meet Money Laundering Regulations.

Conveyancers collect satisfactory evidence to verify the true identity of any individual who approaches them to buy/sell their property. 

You might be asked to provide the following identification documents. If any other documents are required, you will be informed in advance:

• An active passport and/or photo driving license
• Address proof or utility bills

We are transparent in our pricing. Our range of conveyancing services is available at a flexible price. Our quote for conveyancing is fixed, which clearly mentions the structure of the pricing. Hence, there are no surprises waiting for you anywhere between the process. 

Our quote for normal conveyancing transaction comprised of:

• Our conveyancing services fee
• Disbursements and other additional costs, such as Land Registry Fee / Land Registry Searches / Stamp Duty Land Tax Form / Electronic Money Transfer Fee
• Stamp Duty while purchasing a property

If there is any unexpected increase in our fee due to unforeseen circumstances, solicitors will engage with you to explain why you need to pay additional charges. 

According to HMLR Land Registry, a title deed is a property document that mentions the benefits and rights that affect the property.

The completion day – the day when the remaining amount of the property purchased in Coventry is handed over to the seller. Upon receiving the amount, the seller leaves the property and the buyer gets complete possession of the bought asset. The buyer usually collects the keys of the new property from the estate agents. The date of completion is decided on the day of contract exchange.

In the exchange of contract, the buyer and the seller become legally bound to complete the deal. None of the parties can pull out of the transaction upon completing this stage. The lawyer of the buyer confirms the amount deposited on the contract exchange, which is usually 10% of the purchase price.

During the exchange of contracts, the date for “completion” is also confirmed. On this day the buyer hands over all the remaining money to purchase the property through their lawyer. Thereafter, the seller vacates the property and the buyer gets the keys, full possession of the property, and can move in.

You have to calculate it as per the SDLT rate. But, Stamp Duty calculation involves a couple of variables that determine how much you need to pay when buying a property. The latest UK regulations says that every buyer has to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if the property purchased has the current SDLT threshold of £125,000. This calculation is usually done by a conveyancer.

Following is the list of Stamp Duty charges for the property of different valuation:

Property or lease premium or transfer value                        SDLT rate

Up to £125,000                                                                                Zero
£125,001 to £250,000                                                                    2%
£250,001 to £925,000                                                                    5%
£925,001 to £1.5 million                                                                10%
Above £1.5 million                                                                          12%

You can calculate the amount of Stamp Duty you have to pay using this link: www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro

Our conveyancing service in Coventry includes property checks to find out more about the property you are buying. It helps find any potential issues involved with the property that might impact its valuation.

Some of the common searches include:

• Search for the local authority, such as coal mining searches or tin mining searches, surrounding areas for pollution, planning, highway, etc.
• Search for environmental issues, such as land contamination and flooding.
• Search for flaws in water and drainage system, such as drainage access to the property

Besides, there can be many other types of local searches that are not listed here that are carried out according to the location and type of the property.

If you are a buyer, your conveyancer will ask you for some funds at the initial stage of the transaction as search fees, to be paid out on your behalf. Other than that, you would not need to pay until the completion stage when you will be paying the balance of the purchase price and your legal expenses. If you are borrowing more than 90% of the purchase price, you will have to pay the legal expenses and before the exchange of contracts.