Conveyancing Solicitors in Bristol
Buying or selling your home is often the highest value transaction you will ever be involved in, so it’s understandable to be concerned about getting all of the details right. This also applies when remortgaging, leasing or undertaking any other kind of residential property transaction.
Get in touch with our conveyancing solicitors in Bristol
To speak to our specialist conveyancing solicitors, call us on 0117 325 2929. Alternatively, to get an instant quote free of charge, complete our online enquiry form.
Our residential conveyancing expertise
Our residential conveyancing solicitors have decades of experience helping individuals and families to buy and sell their homes. We also regularly work on a wide range of other types of property transactions. This experience means we are able to offer a safe, reliable conveyancing service that protects your interests both during the course of a transaction and after the deal is done.
Barcan+Kirby’s conveyancers are based in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, but we work with people nationwide. Our service is designed to be as modern, accessible and convenient as possible, meaning we can offer exceptional conveyancing that fits around your life. Whether that means meeting face-to-face, talking over the phone, using email or even video conferencing, we will ensure you get the service you deserve.
We are members of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), reflecting the high standards of our residential property service. We are also Lexcel accredited by the Law Society, demonstrating the high standards of our legal service, both in residential property and more generally as a firm.
Our highly experienced team of residential conveyancing solicitors can take the stress and worry out of buying, selling or remortgaging your home. As well as dealing with straightforward domestic property transactions, our property solicitors can also advise you on buy-to-let investments, leaseholds, new builds and shared ownership homes.
We can guide you through the entire process, including everything from negotiating contracts of sale and essential property checks and searches, to handling the financial side of the deal, such as transferring funds. Our aim is to offer a friendly, approachable service that makes it as easy as possible to carry out your property deal with complete confidence.
What is conveyancing?
Conveyancing has many elements to it, however, put simply, it’s the legal transfer of a property from one owner to another. Find out more about what the process involves in our short video.
Our residential conveyancing services
We offer a comprehensive conveyancing service for homeowners and prospective homeowners in Bristol, throughout the South West and across the rest of England and Wales.
We can support you with all types of residential property transactions, ensuring you can get the home you deserve while keeping you legally and financially protected.
Residential conveyancing – buying and selling
Our residential conveyancing solicitors can guide you through every stage of buying or selling your home, ensuring you can have complete confidence that you are getting the right deal for you and that you stay protected at all times.
Our property solicitors can assist you with buying and selling:
- Auction properties
- Freehold properties
- Leasehold properties
- New builds
- Shared ownership properties
New build properties
When buying new build property, there are several specific issues you need to be aware of, as well as the usual challenges when buying any property. We can advise you on everything you need to know, so you don’t risk getting caught out.
Our house buying solicitors’ expertise includes:
- Buying new build property off-plan
- Purchasing a new build using Help to Buy ISAs
- Property checks for new build homes
- Land Registry requirements for new builds
Leasehold homes
Leasehold property is often the only option when buying a flat or apartment and there are various issues to be aware of, including your liability for ground rents and service charges.
Our property solicitors can advise on all of the legal issues involved in leasehold property, including:
- Buying and selling leasehold property
- Leasehold extensions
- Right to Manage
- Leasehold enfranchisement
- Landlord and tenant matters
- Leasehold dispute resolution
Shared ownership
We can advise on all issues related to buying shared property, ensuring you are able to get onto the property ladder while protecting your long-term interests.
Our shared ownership solicitors’ expertise includes:
- Eligibility for shared ownership
- Shared ownership agreements
- Shared ownership mortgages
- ‘Staircasing’ agreements
Buy to let purchases
Buy to let property can be a good investment, but it is important to have the right legal advice when buying your property and renting it out. We can support you with both buying your property and dealing with tenants, making a buy to let investment as straightforward as possible.
Our buy to let solicitors can assist with:
- Buying and selling buy to let property
- Property checks and searches
- Buy to let mortgages
- Tenancy agreements
- Landlord and tenant issues
- Capital Gains Tax issues
Remortgages
When remortgaging, there are various legal checks and processes that need to be carried out. We can support you with all of these requirements, making it as simple and stress-free as possible for you to get the best mortgage deal available.
Our property solicitors’ expertise includes:
- The remortgaging process
- Title deeds
- Mortgage redemption statements
- Property checks and searches
- Transfer of funds
- Amending title deeds with the Land Registry
Transfer of equity
While transfer of ownership is simpler than selling a property in some ways, there are a number of legal details that are essential to get right. Our conveyancing solicitors can guide you through the whole process, ensuring you are able to achieve your goals while meeting all of your legal obligations.
Our transfer of equity expertise includes:
- Transfer deeds
- Registering change of ownership with the Land Registry
- Mortgage issues arising from transfer of ownership
- Declarations of Trust
- Stamp Duty Land Tax issues
- Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax issues
Equity release
Releasing equity from your home can be a great option for those who are planning for the future or simply want to take some capital from the property. Our expert equity release solicitors can advise you on the legal implications and guide you through the process of releasing equity from your home.
Declaration of Trusts
If you buy a house with your partner without getting married or entering a civil partnership, if you later separate, you are legally entitled to 50% of the property each. It doesn’t matter how much each of you contributed to the deposit and mortgage payments.
Our specialist solicitors can help you resolve this by creating a Declaration of Trust. This allows you to specify how the property would be dealt with if you and your partner separate.
Help to Buy ISAs
When it comes to taking advantage of the Help to Buy scheme, there are two funding options available: the Help to Buy ISA and the Lifetime ISA (LISA).
The Help to Buy ISA
A Help to Buy Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a high-interest savings account for those buying their first property. Applicants could open one with most major banks with an initial deposit of £1,000 and pay a maximum of £200 a month thereafter.
You can no longer open a new Help to Buy ISA.
For budding homeowners who already have an ISA, the real benefit is that, when you come to buy your property, the government will give you 25% of your amount saved. Your solicitor must apply for this bonus on your behalf when you buy.
Currently, the minimum amount that can be claimed is £400, so you need to have saved at least £1,600 first. The maximum that can be claimed is £3,200, however, you can still deposit additional money in the account to take advantage of the interest rate.
If you’re buying as a couple, you can have one ISA each. Please note that the maximum property price you can use your ISA towards is £250,000.
The Lifetime ISA (LISA)
If you’re aged between 18 to 39, you can open a LISA, which can be used to save for property or retirement. The LISA has no monthly limit on the amount you can deposit; an annual limit of £4,000 will apply instead. The maximum government bonus will be larger too: £32,000.
If you’re buying as a couple, as with the ISA, you can both have an account. However, you must be buying a property in the UK that’s £450,000 or less, and you must have it open for one year before you can withdraw the funds.
You can have both an ISA and a LISA, however, you can only use one of them towards buying a home.
Buying or selling? Get an instant quote
Whether you’re a first-time buyer or you’re thinking of transferring equity, fill out our short form and receive an instant quote, free of charge.
Our fixed-fee conveyancing service in Bristol
Our fixed-fee conveyancing costs range from £950 + VAT to £2,575 + VAT depending on the type of property, the type of transaction and the property value.
For a more detailed breakdown of our fixed fee conveyancing prices, please take a look at our conveyancing pricing information.
We provide transparent upfront quotes for all of our conveyancing services, meaning you will know exactly how much your conveyancing will cost from the outset.
This quote includes a breakdown of our fees and all of the payments to third parties (known as ‘disbursements’) for the checks and searches carried out during the conveyancing process.
To find out how much your conveyancing might cost, please fill out our short form for a free conveyancing quote.
Online conveyancing in Bristol
With most people busy with work, family and other commitments, an increasing number of people want to do their conveyancing online, allowing them to fit the process of buying or selling a home around their schedules.
We aim to make our conveyancing service as convenient as possible. You can get a free, no-obligation quote by filling in this short form or by calling us on 0117 325 2929. The entire process can be handled by email, over the phone and via post, meaning there is no need for you to take time out to come and visit our offices in person.
This also means that we can handle your conveyancing no matter where you are in the country, allowing you to benefit from our reliable, efficient conveyancing service whether you are based in Bristol and the surrounding area or much further afield.
Conveyancing FAQs
This depends on several factors, such as whether you’re buying, selling or completing both transactions simultaneously.
Contact our residential property lawyers to discuss your requirements. We’ll provide an estimate which breaks down all fees and disbursements, so you’ll know exactly how much your conveyancing costs will be from the start.
Alternatively you can request a conveyancing quote online.
The length of time it takes for conveyancing varies, but anywhere from 4-12 weeks is common.
There are various steps involved in conveyancing, including:
- Reviewing contracts of sale, lease agreements etc. and negotiating any required amendments.
- Investigating the title to the property to ensure the seller/leaseholder legally own the property.
- Carrying out checks and searches for any issues that might affect the property and your occupation of it e.g. planned developments nearby.
- Handling exchange of contracts, making the deal legally binding.
- Handling transfer of funds.
- Ensuring Stamp Duty and any other relevant costs are paid.
- Registering the transaction with HM Land Registry.
A property deal only becomes legally binding once contracts have been exchanged, meaning up until this point either party is allowed to renegotiate the terms of the deal or walk away.
This means that if any issues are turned up during the conveyancing process or by a building survey, you can try to renegotiate the price to take account of this, as long as you have not yet exchanged contracts.
While the seller will be under no obligation to agree a lower price, if an issue has been identified, it is often possible to agree a discount to reflect this.
Adding someone to the title of your property is relatively straightforward. However, to remove someone where a separation or divorce is involved is more complex.
You’ll need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor to discuss your legal rights before you can proceed with a transfer of property. Contact us to book a free consultation with one of our specialist property lawyers.
Yes, writing a Will is the only way to ensure that your property is passed on as you intend after your death. If you already have a Will and buying a property has changed your financial position, we also offer a Will review service.
To discuss any aspect of Will writing, contact our specialist Will and probate solicitors in Bristol.
Contact our conveyancing solicitors in Bristol for a free quote
Our conveyancers work with clients across the UK from our offices in Bedminster, Bishopston, Bristol city centre, Kingswood and Thornbury. For a free quote, complete our short form.
Our charges are transparent and we outline all fees and disbursements up front, meaning that you’ll understand the full extent of your conveyancing charges from the very start. To find out more, call us on 0117 325 2929.