Home and Property Legal Services

Buying A Property

Before you make an offer on a property, we can provide you with a preliminary report and advice which can help your negotiations in agreeing the price of a property.  A preliminary report also minimises the chance of any unpleasant surprises during the conveyancing process.  Our charge for a preliminary report is between £400 and £700 depending upon the value of the property and the costs will be deducted from the conveyancing fee. This will help to identify any issues or risks and give you an opportunity to negotiate on the purchase price.

The report includes available information on: the price listing history; the length of the lease; the identity of who owns the freehold; whether the property is a listed building or in a conservation area (this might affect your plans for refurbishment and alterations); advice on the amount of Stamp Duty Land Tax (“SDLT”) and whether there are any grounds to reduce Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Estate Agents

The issue of whether an Estate Agent giving information about a property on behalf of a seller owes a personal duty of care to a potential buyer, is one in which there is little legal authority.  Consequently, the buyer through us, will need to check the details. 

If there is an error in the information provided by the Estate Agents, you may not have a comeback against the seller and would have to sue the Estate Agents.  The Estate Agents would rely on the usual clause in the Estate Agents’ sales particulars that statements about the property are made “without responsibility.” Consequently, the Estate Agents would be protected from liability by the disclaimer.

In cases where the Estate Agents knew that the buyer would rely on their advice on a particular point, and the buyer was unlikely to obtain other independent advice, it was held that the Estate Agents owed the buyer a duty of care.

Survey

We always advise clients to have a survey of the property carried out before exchange of contracts. A valuation undertaken by a buyer’s mortgage lender is only to establish whether the property will be adequate security for the mortgage loan.  It is the buyer’s responsibility to discover any physical faults in the property. A survey should discover physical defects which are not readily apparent and will help you to make an informed decision on whether to buy the property and the price you offer to buy the property.  We can advise you on which type of building survey is suitable for your house or flat purchase.

When buying a flat in a high-rise residential building, the surveyor’s report should include fire safety aspects of the building and whether there is any combustible cladding present.  If there is combustible cladding present, we can advise you on who would be responsible for removing such cladding and who is responsible for payment of the costs of removing the dangerous cladding.  The Building Safety Act 2022 provides a mechanism which requires the freeholder to pay for the remediation costs and prevents the landlord or freehold owner from charging the tenants and leaseholders. However, the correct process must be followed by the seller and the buyer.  Otherwise, the opportunity to compel the landlord or freehold owner might be wasted.