When you're buying a house in Surrey, you'll need the expert legal help of a conveyancing solicitor. They will be responsible for carrying out searches and transferring ownership of the property. At Compare My Move, we will match you with up to 5 of our conveyancing solicitor partners, saving you time and up to 70% off your conveyancing fees.
All our conveyancers must go through a strict verification process before they can join us to ensure they are fully accredited and verified. For your peace of mind, all conveyancers are fully regulated by either the SRA, CLC, LSS, LSNI or CILEx.
It's vital to hire a conveyancer as they will explain any legal jargon and help you discover important factors concerning the property and the land surrounding the property. To save time, money and stress on your move, let Compare My Move compare solicitors for you.
Bishopsgate Law
99 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3XD
Bishops Gate Law have many years of combined experience as a team in property law. We specialise in helping you with the legal side of the purchase and sale of a house.
"Excellent service, Kunjal and Kaya were always available to help with my many questions! They always seemed on top of everything and had to do very little asking where we were at. Would definitely use again and highly recommended, they are on the more expensive side but it was worth it for the ease."
Mancini Legal Limited
Mancini Legal Ltd, 23 West Street, Horsham, RH12 1PB
Mancini Legal is a reliable and friendly conveyancing solicitor offering our expert service around Guildford and Redhill.
Juno
Juno Property Lawyers Ltd, 43-51 New North Road, London, N1 6LU
Juno are a team of licensed conveyancers who will help you when you want to buy or sell a house.
"Absolutely fantastic, the best experience weve ever had with buying or selling AND weve moved a lot!Excellent communication, personable and a fabulous team, we will use Juno again without failThank you Juno team "
Ross Coates Solicitors
Ross Coates Solicitors, Unit 5-7 Alpha Business Park, Ipswich, IP1 5LT
Ross Coates Solicitors have over 25 years providing our professional and trusted residential conveyancing service across Wales and England.
Alexander Grace Law
A G Law, 7 Kestrel Court, Burnley, BB11 5NA
Alexander Grace Law is an award-winning residential conveyancer, winning ESTAS Best Conveyancer in the North West and County in both 2018 and 2019.
"They were on top of matters. The team were always helpful and kept me informed on most issues. The only slight criticism is I found it hard sometimes to actually speak to someone on the phone which may well be a fault of mine as I am not good with online communication but we got through it."
Attwells Solicitors LLP
Attwells Solicitors LLP, 18 North Hill, Colchester, CO1 1DZ
Attwells Solicitors are a first-class conveyancing solicitor who specialise in conveyancing for buying, selling and both.
"Amazing service, communication, highly recommend Attwells, great work Many thanks."
Muve Conveyancers
Connect2law, 5 Kew Road, Richmond, TW9 2PR
Muve Conveyancers are proud to provide our expert conveyancing service across England and Wales.
"Great experience, really ontop of things"
My Law Matters
Regus, 84 Salop Street, Wolverhampton, WV3 0SR
First established in 1986, My Law Matters are professional conveyancing solicitors regulated by the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority.
Moving Direct Property
Suffolk Enterprise Centre, Felaw Maltings, Ipswich, IP2 8SJ
Moving Direct Property can offer an expert and professional conveyancing service all across the UK. We specialise in helping with the sale of a property.
My Home Move Conveyancing
My Home Move Ltd, 5 Barton Close, Leicester, LE19 1SJ
At My Home Move Conveyancing, we understand that buying, selling and remortgaging a house can be a stressful process - that is why we provide professional conveyancing services to make the process clearer, easier and better for every client.
"Lovely company to deal with and once my account was created correspondence was dealt with on line which made for a very smooth process."
Rice-Jones & Smith
Rice Jones & Smith, 7 Ely Place, London, EC1N 6RY
Rice-Jones & Smiths solicitors have been in the industry for over 200 years helping people buy and sell property.
Brevis Conveyancing Solicitors
Brevis, Kings Court, Stevenage, SG1 2NG
Brevis Conveyancing Solicitors are a firm of client-based conveyancing solicitors offering help to home movers across the UK.
Taylor Rose MW
Taylor Rose M W, 69 Carter Lane, London, EC4V 5EQ
With a 100 year heritage, Taylor Rose MW are one of the leading law firms in England and Wales.
Ackroyd Legal
16 Prescot Street, London, E1 8AZ
Based in London, Ackroyd Legal are proud to provide their conveyancing services across the whole of the UK. Born from one of the fastest-growing, city-based law firms in recent times, brings together the best of the best.
Compare My Move have researched everything you need to know about your move to Surrey. We’ve discovered that the full cost of a Local Authority Search is £207.70, according to Surrey’s council website.
Our research shows that some areas in Surrey are subject to high levels of Radon Gas and that there is a medium to high risk for flooding. There are no cause for concern with subsidence or ground stability, but some risk of contaminated land in Guildford.
Conveyancing searches are an important part of the conveyancing process and are made up by Local Authority, Environmental and Water and Drainage searches. The Local Authority Search is a vital search and will reveal any legal issues that could affect the property or nearby land of the property you’re buying.
The Local Authority Search is split into two parts, the CON29 and LLC1 and will provide you with important information about the local area you're buying in. We’ve looked at Surrey Heath Borough Council’s website to bring you the average cost of conveyancing searches.
For a Basic Search LLC1 and the CON29 form it will cost £207.70, with additional parcels costing £19.30. The LLCI on its own will cost £38.50 and the CON29 form will cost £169.20. CON29O Optional Enquiry will cost £20.44.
Rest assured, your conveyancing solicitor will arrange these and order additional parcels if required. They will be responsible for ordering the searches and chasing them up, as well as explaining the results to you if you’re unclear.
Basic Search LLC1 + CON29 Residential
£207.70 inc VAT
This is the total cost of both the LLC1 and the CON20 form and is the full Local Authority Search.
CON29
£169.20 inc VAT
The CON29 form is used to request information held by a local authority about the property you're buying.
Additional Parcel (LLC1 + CON29)
£19.30 inc VAT
Your solicitor will order additional parcels if required
Local Authority Search costs taken from Surrey Heath's Council website, 2021
During your conveyancing searches, you’ll find out if the property or nearby land is at risk of flooding. This is vital to know as it could affect the future value of the property, putting you in a tricky position. A Flood Risk Indicator report from the Land Registry will be ordered during the environmental search.
Surrey is a county that has experienced major floods in the last 10 years, with the majority occurring in the River Thames’ lower floodplain. Additionally, the council say there are many areas at risk of surface and groundwater flooding.
Environment Agency data shows that more than 43,000 properties are at risk of flooding in Surrey, with 11,226 of these are at a high long term risk, translating to a 1 in 30 chance of floods within a year. An additional 32,584 properties are at medium risk, making the chances of experiencing a flood each year at a maximum of 1 in 100.
Surrey Council has produced a Surrey Local Flood Risk Management Strategy to address how they deal and plan to deal with flood risks. They plan to continue investing in natural and engineered flood alleviation schemes. Rest assured, your conveyancer will take care of ordering these searches and guide you through.
During the environmental search, your solicitor will order a ground stability search which will reveal if the property or the land surrounding the property was built on land that has cause for concern, such as risk of subsidence or landslides.
Data shows that up to 20% of homes in England and Wales are at risk of subsidence, so it’s important to not underestimate the importance of a ground stability search and environmental search. Your conveyancer will have the expert knowledge and experience to help you through the process and let you know your options.
Fortunately, there is a low risk of subsidence in the county of Surrey, according to the UK Subsidence Map. Subsidence is usually present in densely populated areas such as London, which is home to a large population as well as multiple office buildings, causing pressure on the ground.
Your Local Authority Search will reveal if the area is at risk of radon gas. Radon gas is a colour and odourless gas that is present all over the UK, but certain factors mean its presence can be much higher in certain areas.
According to the UK Radon Map, part of Guildford, Blindley Heath and Salfords are areas in Surrey that have the highest exposure to radon gas, with the map showcasing they have a maximum radon potential of 5-10% in an area of 1km squared.
The highly affected areas are Guildford and West Horsley and an area near the A25 near Stoke Park. Bushy Hill, Epsom Road and Onslow Village are more areas that have potentially high exposure to radon gas.
The government's National Radon Action Plan (NRAP) the risk is only concerning if radon gas comes into your home from the ground below. You’ll discover this during the Local Authority Search and can order further searches if high levels of radon are detected.
You’ll also find out during the conveyancing searches if the property you’re buying was built on or near contaminated land. If the land was previously used as a landfill site or by factories then this can pose a threat to your health.
According to Surrey Heath’s council website, Surrey does not have a significant history of industrial uses. However, some land may be affected by contaminated land from historical land use, waste disposal or Ministry of Defence use.
Some areas in Guildford could be at risk of contaminated land as previous use of land included gunpowder manufacture, brewing, mineral extraction and heavy metal manufacturing.
Your Local Authority Search will reveal where if any land is contaminated and your conveyancer can order further searches if anything damaging is revealed.