Residential Conveyancing
Meet your Residential Conveyancing team
Dedicated professionals ready to assist you.
Residential Conveyancing Services
New Build Solicitors
Buying a new build home is more complex than the standard legal conveyancing process. We have a specialist New Build team at Herrington Carmichael with a wealth of experience across a range of different transactions.
The new build team deal regularly with schemes like Help to Buy, Shared Ownership and other incentivised new build schemes.
Herrington Carmichael is one of the largest property law firms in the South East. We have been providing conveyancing services for many many years. We have specialists across Residential, New Build, Construction, Disputes and Real Estate.
Property Disputes
Whether you are a Commercial Landlord, Tenant or Land Owner, in the event of a dispute our experience covers a range from the complex and high value to the more modest.
We represent clients in the Courts, Property Tribunals, in Adjudication and use Alternative Dispute resolution procedures, including Mediation, to resolve disputes. We understand your concerns to avoid the expense and distraction that disputes can bring and we will work with you to find a solution to your problem.
Our approach is tailored to you to provide an effective strategy. We have a dedicated team of Dispute Lawyers with a range of expertise and experience dealing with property disputes.
Our Property Dispute Lawyers can support on:
- Commercial Landlord & Tenant Disputes
- Residential Landlord & Tenant Disputes
- Land Disputes
- Construction Disputes
- Restrictive Covenants
Protecting your Property Investment
Our Family Lawyers are experienced in dealing with all matters in relation to cohabitation.
Moving in with your partner? If you are planning to move in with your partner, but do not currently have any plans to get married, we can help you put a cohabitation agreement in place that makes it clear what each of your financial responsibilities are.
Cohabitation is a term used to describe unmarried couples who are in a relationship and live together. It applies to opposite-sex and same-sex couples. If you and your partner share a home, and are not married or in a civil partnership, you are a cohabiting couple. A cohabitation agreement records the intentions of cohabitants in relation to property and any other assets they own either jointly or individually and what should happen if the relationship breaks down.
Cohabitation agreements are legally binding contracts, provided that they are drafted and executed properly, and are signed as a deed. It is therefore essential to obtain legal advice before entering in to any such agreement.
Rural & Agriculture Real Estate
We specialise in rural and equestrian property, and recognise the expertise required so that buyer and sellers can move quickly and with confidence. Clients value our practical and commercial advice, safe in the knowledge that our focus is on achieving positive results for them. We pride ourselves on providing a first-class service, and through our strength and depth of expertise, we believe we are well placed to address any issue that may arise in your rural and equestrian property deal.
We can help with:
- Sale & Purchase of Country Homes
- Livery Agreements
- Private Drainage
- Sporting Rights
- Riparian Rights
All Residential Conveyancing Services
Client wins
Sound Familiar?
Worried about moving stress?
Buying or selling a home can be overwhelming. Our conveyancing team ensures a smooth process, keeping you informed every step of the way.
Confused by legal jargon?
We make property law simple. From contracts to completion, we explain everything clearly so you feel confident and in control.
We make property law simple. From contracts to completion, we explain everything clearly so you feel confident and in control.
Concerned about delays?
Time is precious. We work proactively with all parties to avoid unnecessary hold-ups and get you moved in on schedule.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to your most pressing questions about our services and processes.
To calculate your Stamp Duty payable on your purchase, please visit the gov.uk Stamp Duty Land Tax calculator.
The lead time for property searches varies depending on which search is ordered and the demand that our search providers are experiencing. When we get to the point of ordering searches, we will be able to provide a more accurate time scale but a rough estimate is 1 – 10 days.
A lease is a depreciating asset. As the term of the lease decreases its value decreases and the cost of extending the term becomes more expensive. It can sometimes be difficult to sell a property with a short lease because a mortgage provider may be reluctant to lend money against the short lease term. If you are claiming a lease extension in accordance with the statutory procedure, then you will benefit from your ground rent being reduced to a peppercorn (nil). A lease extension is also often seen as opportunity to modernise outdated terms contained in some older leases.
The time taken to extend a lease depends on a number of variables including the number of parties involved and agreement on the premium and specific terms. A statutory lease extension is dictated by a timetable that must be adhered to and matters generally take a number of months between serving of notice for claim of a lease extension and completion of the matter. Lease extensions outside of the statutory procedure tend to proceed more quickly in light of the fact that the premium and any revised lease terms will have been agreed at the outset usually.
You can enter into a cohabitation agreement at any time, either before you move in with a partner, or when you have been living together for many years. The agreement should be reviewed periodically, particularly where there has been a significant change in circumstances, for example the birth of a child.
Having a Declaration of Trust in place can help avoid disputes where someone has made a financial contribution to a property which was not a loan or a gift to the owners. This is because that contribution may make them a ‘Beneficial Owner’ of the property. This can be considerably complicated to work out who is entitled to what should a property be sold. Examples of individuals who may have contributed to the costs of the Property but who are not registered as an owner at the Land Registry include: A person who has contributed a lump sum towards the deposit such as the legal owner’s parents; The legal owner’s partner who now contributes towards the mortgage and upkeep of the property but is not named as an owner on the title; Someone who has added value to the property even if they are not an owner, such as the adult child of the legal owner who paid for the extension to be built in which they now live. All of the above circumstances have individuals who have contributed to the value of the property even though they are not a legal owner as specified on the Land Registry title of the property. However, they are entitled to a share of the equity of the property even though they are not named on the title. These people are known as ‘Beneficial Owners’. If you are a Beneficial Owner but not a legal owner you may find it difficult to prove how much you are entitled to if the legal owner refuses to acknowledge that you have contributed towards the value of the property.