solicitors or conveyancing only firms? Which is best? What are reasonable costs?

[coginamachine]

Just about to offer on a leasehold flat, not bought in a number of years and never in England so I'm trying to get a sense of which is best and if the extra cost for a solicitor is worth it and what should I expect to pay? If anyone has recently bought and would be happy to share what they paid and any other useful advice, it would be most appreciated. We are in the South East if that helps.

We’ve used both solicitors and a conveyancing firm.

We much preferred the conveyancing firm. Their turnaround was a lot quicker and they just seemed more “with it”.

It may have just been our particular solicitor firm but they required multiple chasing and you could never get through to the person that was handling our case/file.

Whereas with the conveyancing firm, we could login to the portal see the status, had a dedicated case worker and got emails/prompts telling us what to do next.

Oh and we’re in the South East too but the conveyancing firm we used was based in Leicester.

we are up north so costs may be lower than down south but just bought our house and cost of solicitor was £1500 and he was ace, admittedly we are cash buyers with no onward chain as the house is empty but 6 weeks from viewing to completion date in a couple of weeks so for us was worth paying extra for a proper solicitor

I wouldn’t dream of buying a leasehold without excellent legal advice from a very good solicitor.

There shouldn’t be any real difference in the service you receive. Conveyancers train specifically to deal with housing transactions and are no less qualified than Solicitors in that respect.

Checking online reviews and if you’re able to speak with the person that will be handling your case are generally the signs of a good firm.

Ahhh sorry just seen it’s a leasehold property. Agree with @UserAlice that it may be worth spending more on a good solicitor.

We were first time buyers buying a chain free freehold property where the seller was a Landlord selling off his portfolio. So really straightforward!

Thanks everyone, as it is a leasehold and also currently tenanted we have been considering a solicitor just to make sure that everything runs as smooth as possible and hopefully nothing is overlooked. We have had a quote so far from a local solicitor and it comes in at £2200 inclusive of vat for services and checks, although there will be additional mortgage checks and survey costs. Online conveyancing firms have come in around £900. So the difference is huge and I am just trying to weigh it all up!

Interesting that conveyancers were easier to deal with as I had thought the opposite that by paying a solicitor you would be buying a speedier service!

The EA are trying to pave the wave and assure me it will all go through smoothly as the seller doesn't need to buy, just give notice to tenants and are recommending a conveyancer. I'm ever hopeful that it will be smooth and speedy but do not wish to go with someone they suggest as they will get commission and I'm not sure that's in our best interest. I do also worry that with tenants it could be become problematic.

I've used comveyancers to buy and sell.

I've used solicitous to buy twice and sell once.

A good property solicitor is awesome. Boiler house conveyancing firm was not a great experience. Smaller independent conveyancer was ok but I would have been wary for a complex purchase.

If leasehold insist on a retention for a year of a decent amount (50% of service charge) in case of late notice overspend from previous years or unheralded major works bills.

I got burned on my current flat - service charge underspend for previous 10yrs but the year I bought there was an overspend of £400/flat and a major works bill for £3500 2weels after completion that apparently only happened AFTER my enquiries were answered by the property managers.
I actually think the property managers were just shit and the person who filled in the enquiry form had no idea about what was going on in the building. But I've not been able to prove it and litigating about providing incorrect information on enquiries was going to cost more than the major works bill.

Thanks for that information, definitely going to keep that in mind. Also decided to go with a solicitor just need to find a good un!

Conveyancers are no worse for leaseholds than solicitors.

I'm a solicitor but I work for a conveyancing firm in the complex title checking team. It means I only deal with leaseholds, newbuild etc. The clients don't know I exist and I'm aware of at least 2 other firms which have a similar set up.

Local is always handy for dropping paperwork in.