1. HallReynolds
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Property Information Form:
This is a series of questions about legal issues affecting
the Property with answers given by the present owner.
If you consider that there are matters which concern
you or are inconsistent with your knowledge of the
property please advise and we can investigate.
Remember the answers are only as good as the
knowledge of the person giving them.
If there are any guarantees mentioned we will send you
copies of any received but will leave you to deal with
any notices of change in ownership required.
List of Fixtures & Fittings:
This will be the List prepared by the Seller setting out
clearly which items will and will not be included in the
price. Copies of these papers will be sent to you to
check.
When will we get these papers? Always difficult to say
since some peoples instruct their Solicitors quickly
others not so - sometimes a Seller will not want to
instruct his Solicitor to proceed until e.g. he has
finalised arrangements for his new purchase, or the
chain is complete, or until he has had a satisfactory
Survey done on the new property.
When we finally receive the papers we can then start
our part of the work. We can only do this if you have
formally instructed us to act on your behalf and sent us
the requested funds to carry out the Searches etc.
Our work consists of checking the legal title to the
property - we do NOT consider any physical aspects of
the property or its value which fall within your
Surveyors’ responsibilities. We do not of course
physically inspect the Property - only the documents
which relate to it. We cannot usually tell you the
precise route of any services crossing your property or
leading to your property.
If these are of particular concern then you must
enquire of the relevant Authorities. This may be
relevant if e.g. you are planning an extension and find
the ability to proceed affected by the presence of a
main drain of pipe which you cannot build over. We can
ask the Seller about this but frequently the Seller does
not know himself.
Buying your home—things you should know
By now you may have already found the home you want to buy and agreed a purchase price. Once you
have heard from the Estate Agent or Seller that your offer has been accepted (“subject to contract”) then
the legal side will start.
18 High Street
Bidford-on-Avon
Warwickshire B50 4BU
T: +44 1789 772955
F: +44 1789 490126
W: hallreynolds.co.uk
E: email@hallreynolds.co.uk
You and the Seller will provide your Solicitors’ names
and addresses to the Estate Agent who will then write
to you, your Seller and the respective Solicitors
providing them details of the transaction and of the
other party’s name and Solicitors.
After hearing from The Agents of the identity of the
Seller’s Solicitors we as your Solicitor will write to the
Seller’s Solicitors asking for the draft contract papers.
Upon receipt the legal work begins. Please be aware
that until a formal contract is exchanged either party
can change their mind at any time.
Until contracts are exchanged you should not assume
that the matter will proceed and should not therefore
e.g. buy any furniture intended for the new property,
give notice under your Tenancy Agreement, give
notice to your Employer NOR book a removal van.
Moving dates are matters that need to be discussed
by ALL parties in the chain of transactions before any
agreement on the actual moving date can be made.
Even once agreement has been reached the moving
date is not confirmed until everybody is ready and
contracts are exchanged then and only then will the
Moving/Completion Date become fixed.
The draft contract papers normally include a large
amount of information relating to the property which
your solicitors will work through. The papers will
usually include:
Legal Title to the property: This will prove he owns it
and is entitled to sell it. It will give information as to
any matters which affect the property.
Draft Contract: A draft contract/agreement which
the Seller’s Solicitors prepares records the terms
agreed between you and the seller. In due course this
will be the document you both sign.
Signing the contract will not create a binding contract
and up to the point where contracts are exchanged
then either you or the seller can change their mind.
Once signed contracts have been exchanged there is
a binding contract in place and neither party can then
change their minds without incurring severe financial
penalties.
This leaflet contains
information and
general advice. It
should not be used
as a substitute for
personalised advice
from a qualified
professional. We do
not accept any
liability arising from
its use. We try to
ensure that the
content is accurate
and up to date but
information and the
law can change over
time

2. HallReynolds
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Mortgage Lending:
Rules issued by the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML)
mean that to enable us to progress your matter:
 You must send us a copy of the Valuation Report
made by your Lender when you receive it;
 You must check the description of the Property
as set out in the Valuation Report and let us and
the Lender know immediately of any
discrepancies.
Other Occupiers - If there are to be any occupiers aged
over 17 of your new property other than the Borrowers
such as a child, parent, partner, lodger etc., please
inform us and your Lender of this immediately as they
will be required to take independent legal advice from
another firm of Solicitors and sign the Occupiers
Consent Form the Lenders send us.
Deposit:
At the time contracts are exchanged a deposit is
payable by you as purchaser. This is usually stated as
10% of the purchase price. If you are also selling we will
ask the same of your purchaser and usually any deposit
they pay may be passed on by us on your purchase.
To avoid potential delays later we should like to be
clear as to your position now. If you have 10% available
you are expected to pay this on exchange or such lesser
sum as you do have. We and the other Solicitors
understand that purchasers frequently fund house
moves by the sale of a house and an increased
mortgage to cover expenses etc. All we ask is that you
tell us your position now so we can plan ahead on your
behalf
Exchange or Exchange of Contracts:
This occurs when we have completed all enquiries and
you have signed the contract and the Seller has signed
his contract and everything is ready. The part of the
contract you sign and your deposit is exchanged for the
part the Seller has signed as proof of your intention to
proceed. This is done by legally binding telephone calls
between Solicitors. Where there is a chain of
transactions all parties have to be able to proceed at
the same time. You should be ready to put in force any
buildings and life/health Insurances from the date of
exchange of contracts so make preliminary
arrangements for this now. Do not however commence
cover until we tell you contracts are exchanged.
As a purchaser you buy the property in the condition in
which it is at the time contracts are exchanged hence
the need for surveys to be done prior to exchange. In
the absence of fraud whatever defects are later found
by you at the property you will have no recourse
against the seller.
Searches:
On receipt of the usual papers we will apply for the
Searches and we have to check through the papers
and usually we will need to raise extra enquiries of
the Seller.
i) Local Search:
Thisis a series of questions that we ask the Local
Authority about the Property you are buying. PLEASE
NOTE that the Local Search deals only with the
Property you are buying and NOT any adjoining or
adjacent land. If you want us to make enquires about
any adjacent land you must tell us in writing and send
us additional fees since there is an extra fee charged
by the council for each piece of land searched. It is
generally better for you to make verbal enquiries of
the local Council Planning department by telephone
as they will usually try and be helpful.
The Local Search is essentially a snapshot of the
position since the answers are correct only at the
date the Search is completed and of course matters
can change the next day. Generally a Local Search is
considered “good” for three months so if there are
delays then we may have to ask you to pay for a fresh
Local Search to be done if it is more than three
months old at the date of exchange or six months old
at completion.
Remember the search can only tell us what is known
at the time it is made and things do change. The view
over a field today can be a view over a housing
development or road or factory in the future.
Ii) Enviro Search:
This will tell you a little about the surrounding area
within 500 metres of your property mainly on
environmental matters e.g. Landfill sites, hazardous
substances, risk of flooding and subsidence.
Iii) Water and Drainage search:
This will be an enquiry about the property to the
water Company and should (but not always) confirm
whether the property has mains drainage and send a
plan showing the route of the services nearby.
iv) Flood Search:
v) Other Searches:
Whether we make any other searches depends on
individual factors relating to the property e.g. in parts
of Wales, the Midlands and North Mining Searches to
see if the property stand above former mine
workings, similarly in the west country for tin mines
etc. If a rural property then we may make a Commons
Search to make sure your garden is not common
land!
This leaflet contains
information and
general advice. It
should not be used
as a substitute for
personalised advice
from a qualified
professional. We do
not accept any
liability arising from
its use. We try to
ensure that the
content is accurate
and up to date but
information and the
law can change over
time

3. HallReynolds
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Help us to help you:
We will always try and return your calls if you leave us a
message. Often, if I am not available someone else in
the office may be able to help with an enquiry. If not
however leave a brief note of the nature of your call so
we can try and get the information you need before
calling back.
It is ALWAYS best to make an appointment rather than
calling into the office without an appointment and risk
further disappointment of not being able to see me.
So what happens next?
To be ready to exchange contracts the following stages
have to be achieved:
 By you:
- A satisfactory Survey and valuation report
- A satisfactory Mortgage offer (if required)
 By us:
- Satisfactory result to Searches
- Title and other papers checked and found satisfactory
- You to have signed the contract.
- The question of deposits payable being resolved
- The completion Date agreed
 By others
- All other linked transactions have to achieve the same
position
Title Deeds:
Any documents not required by your Lender for
safekeeping during the term of your loan can be
retained by us or will be sent to you after completion
for you to keep safely. They will almost certainly be
needed when the property is eventually sold.
18 High Street
Bidford-on-Avon
Warwickshire B50 4BU
T: +44 1789 772955
F: +44 1789 490126
W: hallreynolds.co.uk
E: email@hallreynolds.co.uk
Insurances
You should put in hand arrangements to be able to
put on risk any insurances from the moment we tell
you contracts have exchanged.
Buildings Cover:
This is needed from exchange of contracts because if
the property is destroyed between exchange and
completion you could still be liable to complete your
purchase or compensate the seller.
Contents Cover:
Is not required until the date of completion.
Completion or Completion date:
At the time contracts are exchanged a date is agreed
– this has to be a working day not a weekend -
between all parties and it is on this date that the
balance of purchase money is given to the Sellers
Solicitors and in return you are given the keys and we
are sent the Title Deeds of the Property on your
behalf.
All monies are passed through this Firm and apart
from any preliminary deposit you may have given the
Agents do not pay any other purchase monies or
money for contents etc. to anyone except ourselves.
If for any reason the balance of the purchase monies
due to the seller is not received by their Solicitor by
2pm on the completion date then whatever the
reason you will have to pay the Seller interest at the
rate set out in the contract for each day that you are
late in completing. Until they receive all required
funds you will not be entitled to the keys and may
also be liable to compensate the Seller for any losses
that they incur as a result of your breach of contract.
Once we have instructed our bank to remit funds we
have no control over matters thereafter. The banks
will not guarantee to get funds to another bank by a
particular time, just that they will be received the day
that they are sent. We cannot be responsible for
delays in either the receipt of funds from other
Solicitors.
This leaflet contains
information and
general advice. It
should not be used
as a substitute for
personalised advice
from a qualified
professional. We do
not accept any
liability arising from
its use. We try to
ensure that the
content is accurate
and up to date but
information and the
law can change over
time
For more information, or to discuss your conveyancing requirements, please contact:
Kate Taylor: 01789 772955 / Katie.taylor@hallreynolds.co.uk
Residential Conveyancing:
Sales and purchases, residential investments, joint ownership, transfers of title, probate sales, shorthold
tenancies, remortgages.