New Build Conveyancing

Our team has built a reputation as a leading provider of new build conveyancing as we have been appointed as panel solicitors for the likes of:

• Ashberry Homes
• Bellway
• Berkeley
• Bovis
• Barratt
• Cala Homes
• Croudace
• David Wilson Homes
• Elivia Homes
• Jaspar Group
• Legal & General Homes
• Linden Homes
• Radian
• Redrow and many more.

Once you have reserved your property (paid your reservation fee and signed the  reservation form with the developer) and instructed your solicitor (returned your completed inception form), we will send you some initial paperwork for you to complete and return. This will cover all the information we require surrounding your personal details and source of funds. Once all of this is completed, we can start legal work and begin to progress towards exchange – we would order searches, check through your mortgage offer, prepare your report, post your paperwork and eventually exchange.

At the point of exchange, your file will be passed to our completion and registration teams. These teams arrange setting up anything required for completion and ensure you make it to completion successfully and smoothly. Following this they will ensure any disbursements are paid (the estate agent’s commission invoice for example) and arrange for an application to be lodged at land registry to register you as the new owner of the property.

Generally, a new build specific or recommended solicitor will be familiar with the time frames that are expected by the developer and they will be able to prioritise the work to meet or even surpass the deadlines in question. At Herrington Carmichael, typically your solicitor will have dealt with the site previously which means we can ensure as fast a turn around as possible. Overall, this means the transaction should progress smoothly and efficiently.

Is it beneficial to use the recommended solicitor for my related sale?
It is useful to instruct a recommended or new build solicitor for any related sale as they will be better equipped to deal with the time pressures that come with having a developer at the end of a chain. 

This means that we can better prioritise files to fit with the expectations of the chain and keep all parties well informed throughout the entire transaction.

Our New Build Solicitor fees are a fixed rate, meaning the legal fees will not change throughout your transaction. However, should a situation arise where an additional cost is incurred we would discuss this with you accordingly. 

Our legal fees should also not be confused with disbursements. Disbursements are third party fees which are out of our control and would be charged regardless of which solicitor you instruct. Disbursements can be subject to change slightly over the course of your transaction but we give our best estimation. 

Please note that our fees are heavily discounted for sites upon which the developers recommend us i.e. we are their ‘panel solicitors’.  We can do this due to our extensive knowledge of the site, the developer and their legal teams. 

A Declaration of Ownership (also known as a “Declaration of Trust”) is a legal document commonly used to set out the interests of individual parties where an asset is held in joint names with others. When a couple, for example, purchase their home, they may decide to put in place a Declaration of Ownership to set out their property interests. They could, for instance, decide that the property should be held equally or specify unequal proportions.

There are a number of benefits to putting in place a Declaration of Ownership. It not only clarifies the way in which the property is to be owned but also confirms the responsibilities of each of the co-owners, thereby avoiding complications from arising in the future.

You may need to think about a Cohabitation Agreement.

A Cohabitation Agreement records the arrangements between two or more people who have agreed to live together. It records each parties’ rights and responsibilities in relation to the property, financial arrangements during the relationship and any arrangements to be made if they decide that they no longer want to live together.