If you are buying a house, you will need a solicitor to deal with the conveyancing on your behalf. Conveyancing is the process of transferring ownership. If you are buying a house, this involves carrying out due diligence work to check the legal title of the property, raising enquiries with the seller’s solicitor and transferring ownership of the property to you. It is important to use experienced housing buying solicitors. If any difficulties should arise, they will have the expertise to deal with them so that your purchase can go ahead without an avoidable delay.

At Lockings Solicitors, we have been representing clients buying property for over 70 years. We know that it can be a stressful time and we will always do everything possible to make sure your move goes smoothly.

We work proactively to avoid hold-ups and we will keep in touch with you throughout so that you know the stage that has been reached. You can contact us at any time if you have questions or concerns.

You will be able to use our secure online portal to provide the initial ‘paperwork’ if you wish. Many of our clients like this option as it is both easy to use and the quickest way of letting us have the information we need to help you move forward.

We offer a FREE initial chat so that you can ask us any questions you may have. Call us on 01482 300 200, email us at welcome@lockings.co.uk or fill in our Free Online Enquiry and we will call you back promptly. We have offices in Beverley, Hull and York and we deal with conveyancing in East Yorkshire, the York area and beyond.

We are on the panels of approved solicitors of all major mortgage lenders and hold the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accreditation in recognition of our high levels of legal competence, risk management and client service.

What do house buying solicitors do?

Your solicitor will carry out the due diligence work needed to make sure that the legal title is sound. They will ask questions of the seller via their solicitor and make other checks, such as carrying out searches and making sure that the necessary planning consents are in place.

They will also be responsible for reporting to your mortgage lender. The lender will need to know that the property is worth enough to be adequate security for their loan.

What do I do once I’ve had an offer accepted on a house?

If you would like us to represent you as your house buying solicitors, you should let the estate agent have our name and address. They will pass this on to the seller’s solicitor so that they can send us the contract package.

In the meantime, if you contact us, we will let you know what initial information we need from you. This can be provided by using our secure online portal, or we can deal with it in the traditional way through the post if you prefer.

When do I instruct a house buying solicitor?

You can instruct a solicitor as soon as you decide to start looking for a property if you wish. If you will be tying in a sale, asking a solicitor to represent you early on is an advantage. If you would like us to deal with your conveyancing, we will arrange for you to have the property information and fixtures and fittings forms straightaway.

We will also start to put together the other information that will be needed so that as soon as you have a buyer, we can send the contract papers to their solicitor.

What is the house buying process?

Once we receive the contract papers from the solicitor representing the seller, we will be able to apply for searches. These include a local search, which can reveal issues such as planning consents for the property and potential developments in the area. Other searches may also be needed, depending on the property.

We will go through all of the information provided and send the seller’s solicitors a list of questions to be answered.

As soon as you have your offer accepted, you can apply for your mortgage offer.

When we have received the search results, replies to the enquiries we have raised and your mortgage offer, we will report to you on the property. If you are happy to go ahead, we will ask you to sign the contract and the mortgage deed.

The contract will not be legally binding until it is exchanged with the seller’s solicitor. You will need to provide a cleared deposit in readiness for exchange. This is usually 10%. If you are selling a property, the deposit from your sale can usually be used for your purchase.

When everyone in the chain is ready to proceed, we will liaise with your seller to agree on a date for completion. If you are tying in a sale, we will also speak to your buyer’s solicitor. You should check that you can book removals for the suggested completion date prior to the exchange.

Contracts can then be exchanged and at this point, the completion date becomes legally binding. Following exchange of contracts, we will carry out the final searches to check that the legal title of the property has not had anything further registered against it. We will also order your mortgage advance in readiness for the completion day.

On the day of completion, we will send the outstanding purchase money to the seller’s solicitor. Once they have received this, they will let the estate agent know that the keys to your new home can be released to you.

How long does house buying take?

The length of time taken to complete a house purchase can vary widely. If you are not in a chain and the seller is able to go ahead quickly, we will be ready to exchange as soon as we have search results, replies to our enquiries and your mortgage offer. It can take lenders several weeks to issue an offer, particularly when the market is busy and they have a strong deal available.

If you are in a chain of transactions, exchange of contracts will need to wait until everyone is ready. The longer the chain, the more risk of a hold-up.

We know that you are probably eager to complete your purchase and we always do all we can to move a transaction along as quickly as possible. Where necessary, we will chase the seller’s solicitor for responses to queries and we can also ask your estate agent to help chase things up if necessary.

Should a problem arise, our experience means we will almost certainly have dealt with something similar before and we will be able to manage it promptly and effectively.

Contact our East Yorkshire and York area house buying solicitors

If you are thinking of buying a house or flat and you would like to speak to one of our expert property solicitors, we would be happy to hear from you.

You can ring us for a FREE initial chat on 01482 300 200, email us at welcome@lockings.co.uk or fill in our Free Online Enquiry and we will call you back promptly. We have offices in Beverley, Hull and York and deal with conveyancing in East Yorkshire, the York area and beyond.