Conveyancer recommendations?

[mc2fool]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a conveyancer? Either a solicitor conveyancers or licensed conveyancers.

Personal recommendations of ones that you've actually used and been happy with, please.

The properties (sell and buy) are in London, although according to https://www.theadvisory.co.uk/conveyancing/conveyancing-solicitors/ in most cases there's absolutely no need for the conveyancer to be local.

(Also according to that source they should be ones that specialise in residential conveyancing or at least have a specialist conveyancing department and operate on ‘fixed fee guarantee’ and ‘no completion, no fee’ bases.)

[monabri]

Wouldn't it be better to have one local to where you live so that you can go in to sign any docs ( or to chivvy them along!).

[Steveam]

If everything goes well it really doesn’t matter who you use. It’s when things go wrong or there are “problems” with the documents when who you use will come into its own. Personally I’d use a solicitor but I’m a bit biased as I have some knowledge of their regulation. Don’t be surprised that everything will be handled by a junior member of staff, it’s the backup and supervision that count. I’d try to avoid a “sausage factory” and also try to avoid a big firm as you’ll pay through the nose and not have access to a partner unless things go wrong.

I moved a year ago and it was all a bit of a shambles but I was using a sole practitioner solicitor who is a personal friend and being able to pick up the phone was a godsend (I tried not to abuse the privilege). Unfortunately he was winding down his practice and has now retired. As I was buying a flat there was a lease etc to be reviewed and examined.

Another thing to think about is technology … my solicitor/friend was great about messages and emails. The other side got in a tangle as their original solicitor for both buying and selling was fine but when they switched to buying a new build declined to act (very specifically, and it was in their terms, they do not deal with new builds). They then appointed a new solicitor for the purchase who kept asking for snail Mail even when it was just “when can we expect X.

Best wishes, Steve

[Lootman]

Wouldn't it be better to have one local to where you live so that you can go in to sign any docs ( or to chivvy them along!).

Two anecdotes, both to do with buying or selling properties in London. In both cases there were delays and I felt we were being strung along.

1) My wife took our two (at the time) small kids along to meet him. My wife made no attempt to control their behaviour and it totally got his attention.

2) My solicitor was in a large anonymous office building. I only knew the building address and the floor number. Obviously they wanted to discourage personal interaction. I went there and walked around until I saw her nameplate on a door, and entered. I was super nice and non-threatening. But the underlying message was "I can find you".

In both cases the problem immediately vapourised. So yes, use someone local. In any event I always prefer to do my business in person, face-to-face.

[mc2fool]

Oh, I'd be happy to use a "local" one but unfortunately all four of the people I know who have bought or sold homes in my local area in the last few years each used local solicitors - four different ones - and each and every one has recommended against the ones they used, saying "please don't use Bloggs & Co in Main Street", "extremely slow and unresponsive", "needed constant chasing" and <unprintable>!

So, whether local or not -- and I'm happy to consider (almost) the whole of London as "local" -- to try and avoid similar pot luck, I'd appreciate any personal recommendation anyone may have of ones that you've actually used and been happy with, please.

[Mike4]

I'd personally recommend EJ Winter in Reading. Used them several times and although they charge like a rhino, they are the only solicitor I have ever used who chivvy me along rather than the other way around. They'll send me an email then be on the phone 20 minutes later asking if I received it and could I reply please, so they can get on with pushing the sale or purchase through!

Not used them for three or four years now so things may have changed in the meantime but somehow I doubt it, as this sort of thing in a firm tends to be driven from the top down.

[fisher]

I used Newtons solicitors in Thirsk back in 2020 to sell a property and I was happy with their service. Their pricing seemed reasonable too. They were recommended to me by a friend of mine who works in a local estate agency and told me they were very efficient. It was a personal recommendation and she got no fee for it.

This is the guy I used: https://www.newtons.co.uk/ourpeople/howard-meynell/

[mc2fool]

I'd personally recommend EJ Winter in Reading....

I used Newtons solicitors in Thirsk back in 2020

Many thanks folks. I must admit I had to look up where Thirsk is! Reading I can almost count as "local" 'cos if needed I can get there on the Elizabeth line for free with my Freedom Pass.