Conveyancing for Buying a House in Maidenhead

Stage 1 — Instructing us and your identity checks

We open the file and write to you with our terms. Before we can act we verify your identity and establish where your money is coming from, under the Money Laundering Regulations. That means photographic identity, proof of address, and evidence of the source of your deposit.

Source of funds is the one that catches people. A deposit that arrived as a gift needs a letter from the person who gave it and identity checks on them. A deposit assembled from several accounts needs a trail for each. Money held outside the UK takes longer to evidence, so raise it in week one.

At the same time we write to the seller's solicitor to confirm we are acting and request the contract pack.

Stage 2 — Ordering the searches

We order the local authority search from Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, along with a drainage and water search and an environmental search.

The local authority search comes in two parts. The LLC1 searches the local land charges register and reports what is registered against the land: financial charges, planning agreements, tree preservation orders, listed status, conservation area designation. The CON29 is a set of standard enquiries the council answers about planning history, building control, and whether the road outside is publicly maintained.

We order these before the contract pack arrives, because the council's turnaround is the longest item nobody in the transaction controls.

Stage 3 — Reviewing the title register and the seller's forms

The contract pack brings the official copy of the register and title plan from HM Land Registry, the draft contract, and the seller's completed forms.

The register tells us three things: who legally owns the property, what it is burdened by, and what it benefits from. Burdens sit in the charges register and include mortgages, covenants restricting what you can do, and rights other people hold over the land. Benefits sit in the property register and include rights of way you will rely on.

The seller's property information form is not a warranty. It is a set of statements we test against the register and the searches.

Stage 4 — Raising enquiries on the property

Where the searches, the register and the seller's answers do not agree, we raise written enquiries. The ones that come up most often on any purchase:

• Flood. If the environmental search flags risk, we ask what the seller's insurer has quoted and whether any claim has been made. Your lender may want this before releasing funds.
• Extensions and alterations. Where work has been done, we ask for building regulations completion certificates and planning consents. Where they are missing, the options are regularisation, an indemnity policy, or a price adjustment.
• Shared drainage or access. Where a drain run or an access path is shared with a neighbour, we establish whether the right is registered or rests on long use. Those two are not equally secure.
• Leasehold. If the property is leasehold we request the management pack: service charge accounts, buildings insurance schedule, ground rent position, planned major works, and any disputes.

This stage is where transactions sit. Not because the work is slow, but because every question has to be answered by someone else.

Stage 5 — Reporting to you and to your lender

Once enquiries are resolved we send you a written report on title. It sets out what you are buying, what restrictions bind you, what the searches revealed, and anything we consider you should know before committing.

We report separately to your lender through its portal, confirming the property is acceptable security. Outstanding lender conditions surface here.

Read the report before you sign anything. It is the document that records what you were told.

Stage 6 — Exchange of contracts

Exchange is the point at which you are committed. Before it we need your signed contract, your deposit in our client account as cleared funds, and an agreed completion date.

At the moment of exchange the completion date becomes contractually binding on both sides. You should have buildings insurance in place from exchange, not completion, because from exchange the risk in the property is yours.

Stage 7 — Completion and registration

On the morning of completion we carry out a final bankruptcy search against you and a priority search at HM Land Registry, then send the purchase money to the seller's solicitor by CHAPS transfer. When they confirm receipt, the keys are released.

Afterwards we deal with any stamp duty return and apply to register you as the new owner at HM Land Registry. Registration takes considerably longer than completion and you own the property throughout. We send you the updated register once it issues.

If you are also selling, or want the sequence against a timetable rather than as stages, our conveyancing solicitors in Maidenhead page will point you to the right one.

Speak to us today

Fixed Fee conveyancing, a named solicitor, 20+ Years Experience. SRA regulated and CQS Accredited.