From offer to keys, step by step
A typical freehold purchase runs eight to twelve weeks. Here's what happens at each stage — and what we're doing while you wait.
An itemised fixed-fee quote the same working day. Accept online, complete ID checks from your phone, and your named solicitor opens the file.
We request the contract pack, order your local authority, drainage and environmental searches, and start picking through the title.
We raise enquiries on anything the searches or title throw up — and chase weekly until they're answered. Then you get a plain-English report on what we found and what it means.
You sign, your deposit is paid, and we exchange. The deal is now legally binding and your completion date is fixed — nobody can pull out.
Funds move, keys are released, and you're in. Afterwards we file your Stamp Duty return and register you as the owner at the Land Registry.
You'll never wonder what's happening: we send a milestone update at every stage, and your solicitor's direct line is on every email.
One fixed fee, agreed before we start
Your quote itemises our legal fee and every disbursement — searches, Land Registry, Stamp Duty — so you can see exactly where every pound goes. The number we quote is the number you pay.
Every quote is personal to your transaction — leasehold, new build and auction work is priced up front too, never added later.
Quote MOVE150 for £150 off buying fees, SELL100 for £100 off selling fees, or DUO250 for £250 off a combined sale and purchase. Mention the code in your enquiry — we'll apply it before we send your figures.
Get my discounted quote → Fixed fee · Itemised · Same working dayOur published fee ranges
Typical ranges for a standard transaction, excluding VAT at 20% and disbursements. Every client receives a written, itemised quotation with an exact figure before instructing us.
- Selling a residential property Standard sale with one registered mortgage to redeem £900 – £1,400 + VAT £1,080 – £1,680 including VAT at 20%
- Buying a residential property Standard purchase with one mortgage £1,250 – £1,950 + VAT £1,500 – £2,340 including VAT at 20%
- Remortgaging Depends on the lender and the property £600 – £950 + VAT
Where a matter needs extra work — leasehold, shared ownership, new build, defective title, or bridging, buy-to-let or Sharia-compliant finance — that work is charged as an additional fixed fee, typically £50 – £750 + VAT per item. It is added to the transaction fee above, never charged instead of it, and is agreed in writing before the work is carried out.
- — Typical disbursements are £60 – £150 on a sale and £350 – £900 on a purchase, itemised in your quotation.
- — Stamp Duty Land Tax and HM Land Registry fees are set by government and depend on the price and your circumstances.
Full fee information — hourly rates, what each price includes, disbursements and government charges — is on our fees & service information page. Nothing here is a quote: every client gets a written, itemised figure before instructing us.
Every kind of move, covered
First flat or final sale, freehold or leasehold — if it involves the title to a home, it's our bread and butter.
Searches ordered on day one, enquiries chased weekly and a plain-English report before you sign — contract to keys without the silence.
Freehold · Leasehold · First-time buyersYour contract pack goes out the day we're instructed, and buyer enquiries get answered fast — so your sale sets the pace for the chain.
Sole sale · Sale & purchase chainsSwitching lender or releasing equity — we handle redemption, the new charge and registration before your current rate runs out.
New lender · Product transfer · Equity releaseAdding or removing someone from the title — after a separation, a marriage or a gift — handled sensitively, with the lender squared away.
Separation · Gifts · Joint-to-soleDeveloper deadlines, staircasing and lease terms that need a careful eye — we exchange inside the reservation window, not after it.
Off-plan · Staircasing · Help to Buy redemptionA 28-day completion needs a solicitor who moves first. We review the legal pack before you bid and hit the deadline after the hammer falls.
Pre-bid pack review · 28-day completionSharia-compliant home purchase, done properly.
We're one of the few CQS-accredited London firms with real experience in halal mortgages and Islamic finance structures — trusted by the lenders, explained clearly to you.
What you're actually paying for
Conveyancing is risk-hunting: the searches, enquiries and checks exist to find problems while they're still the seller's — not after they've become yours. Here's what each piece does, and what it typically costs.
The searches, decoded
Planning permissions and refusals, building-control sign-off, enforcement notices, road and rail schemes, conservation areas and tree orders.
What it catches: the loft conversion that never got building-control sign-off.
Mains water and sewer connections, whether drains are adopted, and whether a public sewer runs under the property itself.
What it catches: the extension you're planning sitting on top of a public sewer.
Flood risk from rivers, surface water and groundwater, contamination from past industrial use, and ground stability.
What it catches: the "great value" plot that used to be a landfill — invisible to any viewing.
Where the area or the title calls for it, we'll recommend more — a coal-mining search in parts of Leicestershire, a chancel repair check near old parish churches, or a planning search covering development around the property. Always at cost, always explained before we order.
The disbursements, itemised
Disbursements are costs we pay out on your behalf — passed on at cost, never marked up. On a typical purchase:
Figures are typical ranges, not quotes — your itemised quote shows the real numbers for your transaction before you commit.
Stamp duty, without the surprise
What you owe depends on the price, whether it's your first home, whether you'll own another property, and your residence status — first-time buyers often pay nothing at all, while an additional property adds a surcharge.
We calculate it at quote stage so it's in your figures from day one, collect it with your completion funds, and file the return within HMRC's 14-day deadline.
Buying with Islamic finance? Stamp duty on alternative finance has its own relief rules — see our Sharia-compliant purchase page.
Check the lease length before you fall in love.
Once a lease drops below about 80 years, extending it gets markedly more expensive and lenders get nervous. We review the years remaining, ground rent terms, service charges and the management pack on every leasehold purchase — and tell you plainly what they mean for resale.
The people on your file
Not a case number in a queue — a named solicitor who knows your move, backed by a team clients mention by name in their reviews.
From people who just moved
"Waterstone were the cheapest quote we could find, but the service was five-star. Replies within the hour, every time — and Darius pushed the other side's solicitors whenever things slowed. I'd choose them again without hesitation."
"As we neared completion the buyer's side raised endless questions. Nithi checked and answered every one, kept me informed throughout, and pushed us to exchange as fast as possible. Kind, diligent — a great job."
Across ReviewSolicitors and Trustpilot — most of them movers, just like you.
Read more reviews →Conveyancing questions people ask us
The ones we hear most, answered straight. Anything else — call us, it's what we're for.
Call 020 7063 9040Two minutes now.
Your itemised quote today.
Tell us about your move and we'll send a fixed-fee conveyancing quote the same working day — itemised, personal to your transaction, and valid whether you're ready now or still viewing.