Andover Based Accredited Specialists in Conveyancing and Property Law
Buying a property or moving home is often said to be one of life’s most stressful events – but it doesn’t have to be, if you appoint the right conveyancing solicitor.At Bonallack & Bishop, our Andover conveyancing solicitors have all the experience you need and a sound understanding of the local property market
Using local Andover conveyancers
There can be advantages to using local property solicitors. Our local conveyancing team are very familiar with the local area and know what searches you will need. For example, depending on where you are buying, we can advise whether you will need a flood report or an environmental report.
Conveyancing solicitor near me
Here at Andover-based Bonallack & Bishop we are fortunate. As well as having a huge number of satisfied conveyancing clients who come back to us again and again (we help thousands of people move home and sell or buy land every year), a number of local independent Andover-based estate agents regularly recommend us – and have done for many many years.
As a result, we have an efficient and effective relationship with such local estate agents – resulting in a high level of service for you, an significant reduction in stress for you throughout the whole conveyancing process.
In the last 20 years, our team of solicitors and licensed conveyancers have helped around 10,000 people just like you move home. So when you appoint us, you can do so safe in the knowledge that we have the kind of real experience you can rely on. Call us on ANDOVER 01264 364433 or email us now for your fixed fee conveyancing quote
But don’t just take our word for it – hear what local estate agents and clients think of our conveyancing service
Here is what a couple of Andover- based estate agents say about us – and click here to read more of reviews for our conveyancing lawyers from our happy clients.
“Having worked in the town as an estate agent over many years, I have dealt with many, if not all the practices in that time.
I have found B&B to be more than helpful and co-operative, going over and above in order to assist me in the sale but also looking after their clients best interests.
In trying times, communication is the key and the team at B&B have always kept me up to date and provided information at critical times that has enabled me to be as efficient as I can in my role between all parties. They’re my first choice representatives for clients and the rapport with the team ensures a professional service from start to finish.”
David Dobson, Partner, Pearsons (Andover)
“I have met many conveyancing solicitors within my 24 years in estate agency and can count on one hand the ones who stand out, one of which is Bonallack & Bishop. Always willing to go that bit further than others within their field to ensure the clients are well represented I have no hesitation in recommending my clients to Bonallack & Bishop.”
Richard Oliver – Bournes (Andover estate agents)
How to choose your conveyancing solicitor?
But don’t have to use the Conveyancing Solicitor your estate agent recommends. Unfortunately, certain “corporate” estate agents can make you feel like there is no other option – that’s because the staff at many of the large corporate chains are on commission to make sure they make the “right” recommendation – which will never be to a local solicitor but instead to a conveyancing factory/call-centre, probably based hundreds of miles away with no knowledge of the local Andover, Test Valley and Hampshire market.
Some useful tips:
- Don’t rush or be pressured into any decisions regarding which lawyers you use
- Conduct your own research into which Estate agent and Conveyancing Solicitor to use, including looking online and getting recommendations from people you know
- When you choose a Conveyancing Solicitor, inform the Estate agent of your choice.
- Expect a personal, friendly and efficient service
- Make sure that you use a Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme accredited solicitor
It’s also a good idea to consider choosing your solicitor before your offer on a property has been accepted. Once an offer has been accepted there can be pressures to complete quickly from the seller and pressures to agree a mortgage with your lender. Therefore, the least thing you want to be worrying about is finding a good solicitor. And being able to appoint a solicitor soon as you have an offer accepted will help your transaction go through that bit quicker.
What is Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation?
Law is getting increasingly complex – not least the law and practice involved in the purchase and sales of houses and flats [you would be surprised at the increase in the number of traps for the unwary – for example if the house your buying or selling has a solar panels attached to the roof].
That’s why it’s important that the solicitors you appoint really know what they’re doing – and the best way of checking that is, whether they are members of the right specialist panel.
When it comes to conveyancing, the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised quality mark run by the Law Society itself for those solicitors who specialise in buying or selling property. And needless to say we have had it from the outset.
So if you are buying or selling a house or flat, make sure that you appoint a quality conveyancing solicitor who is a member of the Law Society scheme.
Progressive Approved Solicitors
We are now 1 of just 3 law firms formally recommended by Progressive Property – the U.K.’s largest property education business – and our solicitors regularly act for buy to let investors and property developers nationwide, with both residential and commercial property transactions.
My conveyancing quote – is price the only thing I should look at?
Absolutely not. In life, you get what you pay for.
And if you’re looking for the cheapest conveyancing solicitor, you might simply end up with the slowest one. Why? That’s because most really cheap conveyancing solicitors have to handle far more conveyancing transactions every month than everybody else. And that comes at a price – speed.
And also be warned about the so-called “conveyancing factories” recommended by some estate agents. Some estate agents, mainly large regional and national chains rather than good local independent agents, like to recommend them not because they’re good, or understand the local market – but simply do so because they get a huge kick back. And solicitors often end up with only a fraction of what you pay. In our experience few people use these conveyancing factories twice. Be warned.
How our Conveyancing Solicitors can help you
With the largest specialist property team of any local solicitors – now 22 strong – you can rest assured that when instructing Bonallack & Bishop with your move, you’ve got genuine experts on your side. We have the experience and know-how needed to help you with the purchase or sale of your house or flat.
Our Andover conveyancers cover a full range of the issues that crop up when you move home including:
- Buying and Selling Houses and flats
- Buying a mobile home – click here to read about the differences involved in buying a park home
- Buying your council house – click here to read more about buying a council house
- Joint Ownership/Transfer of Ownership
- Equity release
- Extending your lease – click here to find out more about lease extension
- Housing associations and share ownership – click here to find out more about shared ownership and staircasing
- Joint Ownership/Transfer of Ownership
- New builds – Click here to read more about new build conveyancing
- Property auctions – click here to read more about auction conveyancing
- Purchasing new build property – click here to read about the differences in buying a new build
- Remortgaging
And we also have two highly specialist teams acting not just for clients in Andover and the Test Valley but nationwide;
- Lease extensions and buying your freehold – click here to find out more extending your lease or leasehold enfranchisement
- Our specialist property investor and buy to let team – click here to read more about our specialist property investment team
FREE Car Parking
Our Andover office has free car parking for our clients
Disabled Access
Our Andover office offers full disabled access with ground floor interview rooms.
Buying a property in Andover
If you are buying a property anywhere in the Andover or Test Valley area we can help, from Weyhill to Picket Piece.
And whether it is your first home or you are selling and buying somewhere new, we know you will probably have questions about the process. We are always happy to talk to clients and if you ask us to represent you, we will ensure that we are available to speak to you as needed during your purchase.
Any questions on buying or selling property? Call us for free initial phone advice
The basic steps in a property purchase are as follows:
1. Arranging finance
Finding the right mortgage lender early on will give you an idea of the amount you can borrow. You can apply for a mortgage offer in principle before you have found somewhere to buy. This is the lender’s confirmation that they are prepared to lend to you. Having a mortgage offer in principle can reduce the time to deal with the full mortgage application once you have found the right property. It can also show sellers that you are a serious buyer who is ready to proceed.
2. Instruct a solicitor
You can instruct a solicitor at this stage. If you ask us to represent you, we will let you have the initial paperwork for completion, which can speed matters up.
3. Find a property to buy
When you have found the right property and had your offer accepted, you need to give our details to the estate agent. The seller’s solicitor will then be able to send us the initial contract papers.
4. Searches and enquiries
Our conveyancers will go through the contract papers, apply for the searches that you will need and ask the seller’s own conveyancing team any questions that we have about the property and its legal title.
5. Survey
It’s always a good idea to have a survey carried out and not to rely on your lender’s valuation, which will not be an in-depth examination of the property.
You can decide what level of survey you want, depending on the property. The surveyor will be able to guide you on the best type of survey for your needs. If the property is less than fifty years old, in good condition, of standard construction and average size and you do not intend to make major alterations, then a mid-level survey might be the right choice.
If your survey reveals any work that needs doing to the property, you can ask for a reduction in the amount you will be paying to take this into account.
6. Pre-completion
Once we have the search results and replies to enquiries, we will give you a full written report on the property and the information we have uncovered. If you are happy to proceed with the purchase, you can sign the contract and mortgage deed. The contract is not legally binding until the exchange of contracts takes place.
You will need to pay a deposit, usually 10% of the purchase price and we will require cleared funds before exchange of contracts. If you are tying in a sale, we can usually use the deposit from your sale for your purchase.
7. Exchange of contracts
We will liaise with you and the seller’s solicitor over suggested completion dates. You will need to check that you can book removals. Once we agree on a date, we can exchange contracts and you will then be legally bound to complete the purchase on that date.
8. Completion
After exchange of contracts, we will order your mortgage advance. You will also need to let us have any balance of money necessary to complete.
On the day of completion, we will send the purchase money to the seller’s conveyancing solicitor. They will let us know once they have received this and the estate agent will release the keys to you.
In the days following completion, we will arrange to register your purchase and mortgage with HM Land Registry.
Selling a property in Andover
1. Instruct a solicitor
If you are selling a property, you can instruct us before you have a buyer. We can complete the initial work, including verifying your identity and opening a file in readiness. We will also let you have the forms you will need to complete for the buyer, including a property information form and a fixtures and fittings list.
Instructing a solicitor early on can reduce the time taken to reach the exchange of contracts. This can be important if someone has a strict deadline, for example, if the person at the end of the chain is buying a new build home.
2. Issuing the contract package
Once you have accepted an offer for your property, our conveyancers will send the contract package to the buyer’s solicitors. This will include the contract, a copy of the legal title, a copy of the official plan of the property, the property information forms and a fixtures and fittings list.
The seller’s solicitor will review the information provided and may come back to us with questions. We will work with you to answer these promptly.
We will also obtain a mortgage redemption statement from your lender. This will give you some idea of the amount they will need to redeem your mortgage and any additional charges they are making, such as an administration fee or redemption penalty.
3. Exchange of contracts
We will discuss completion dates with you and with your seller’s solicitor. You will need to check that removals are available for your preferred days. We can then exchange contracts and the completion date will become legally binding.
We will obtain an accurate mortgage redemption figure calculated to the day of completion.
4. Completion
On the completion day, you should leave your keys at the estate agent once you have moved out. We will let you know once we have received the sale money from the buyer’s solicitor and we will confirm with the estate agent that the buyer can pick up the keys.
We will arrange for your mortgage to be redeemed.
Remortgaging
If you are remortgaging, you will usually need a solicitor to deal with the transaction unless you are staying with your existing lender.
If you ask us to represent you, your new lender will need us to do much of the same work as on a purchase. This is because they must establish that the property is good security for their loan.
We will obtain a redemption statement from your existing lender so that you can see how much you will receive on completion or need to pay before completion.
Following completion, we will arrange to remove your former loan from the Land Registry and register the new loan.
Want to know more?
Click here to find out more about the Conveyancing Process Timeline or read up on Conveyancing Terms Explained
How long does the conveyancing process take?
That’s a difficult question to answer, because it really depends on your circumstances. So, for example if you’re buying the council house you live in under the right to buy scheme for cash, it’s going to be much quicker than if you’re using a mortgage and your sale and purchase is part of a long extended chain of other transactions.
Sometimes buying or selling a house can be as little as a few weeks – but this is really unusual. And post Covid the average time taken has sadly increased. Whilst 3 months was perhaps average pre-2020, 3rd party delays have meant that it often takes nearer to four and a half months – however quick your own solicitor is.
Need Specialist Conveyancing Solicitors To Help You Buy Or Sell Property In Andover or the Test Valley? Call us now
We are proud to have strong relationships with a number of local estate agents, who use us because of our high level of client service.
So whether you live in Andover itself, one of the villages or further down the Test Valley in Stockbridge, for conveyancing legal advice you can trust, and a FREE no obligation fee quote from local solicitors, contact us today.
- Call our property team on ANDOVER 01264 364433 OR
- E-mail us using the online enquiry form below
If you’re thinking of visiting us, then please note that our Andover office moved in 2017. Our address is;
Suite 1, Healey House, Dene Road, Andover, Hampshire SP10 2AA
