My best friend’s mother is a conveyancer. I expect that I can be offered mate’s fee for conveyancing, but if not, what level of costs should I be expecting for conveyancing in Portsmouth?
You should contrast pricing. Make use of our search tool on this page. You will notice that quotes seem to vary but the service one can expect are distinct between property lawyers as is the case with most professions.
Our mortgage company has suggested a law firm on their panel based in Portsmouth but I would rather use a conveyancing lawyer in Portsmouth round the corner to me. Are you able to assist?
It is by no means the case that all Portsmouth conveyancing solicitors are listed all lender’s conveyancing panel. Use the above find an approved solicitor tool to find a Portsmouth conveyancing solicitor on the on the bank panel.
What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Portsmouth
There are many recorded licenced Conveyancers in Portsmouth and Solicitor firms in Portsmouth to choose from We would stress that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal aspects of transferring property. They may both also conduct associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, enfranchisement and transfer of equity conveyancing.
I had an offer accepted on a property in Portsmouth on 11/9/2025, valuation was booked 2 days later, received a clean bill of health. Solicitor instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Virgin Money and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Virgin Money to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Portsmouth solicitor - who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Barclays will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Barclays will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Portsmouth surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I acquired my home on 13 September and the transaction details are still not registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Portsmouth expressed confidence that it will be registered in a couple of weeks. Are titles in Portsmouth particularly slow to register?
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Portsmouth registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can differ subject to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry communicate with any other parties. As of today roughly three quarters of such applications are fully dealt with within 12 days but occasionally there can be longer hold-ups. Historically registration occurs once the buyer has moved in to the premises thus 'speed' is not typically an essential issue but where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer must speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Portsmouth I like with a park and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Portsmouth in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be an issue. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
The conveyancing solicitors handling our conveyancing in Portsmouth has sent documents to review that reveal that the land is unregistered with epitome documents. How can it be that the property not currently recorded at the Land Registry?
Although the vast majorities of properties in Portsmouth are now registered with HM Land Registry there are still a few that are unregistered. Any property in Portsmouth that has been remortgaged since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HM Land Registry under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Portsmouth property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Many Portsmouth conveyancing solicitors will be capable of dealing with such matters but where uncertainty prevails the standard guidance these days is for the current owners to register the title first and subsequently sell - this undoubtedly cause a significant delay.