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Conveyancing solicitors in Devon
If you are looking for a conveyancing solicitor in Devon we can help you. Our conveyancing solicitors offer a convenient, efficient, and friendly conveyancing service to clients in Devon, throughout the South West and all over England, Wales and beyond.
If you are buying a detached house in Devon, selling a terraced house in Plymouth, downsizing to a bungalow in Exeter, or buying to let in Torquay, we can help you with your conveyancing.
Why you should use Bird and Co Solicitors for your conveyancing in Devon
We offer a friendly, modern and efficient service. If you want to deal with fully qualified lawyers who are friendly and approachable, our team can help you.
You will have a direct line straight through to your legal team, and direct email addresses for the people handling your conveyancing. You can guarantee that your query will reach the right people, whether you want to ask about search fees, drainage and water fees or anything else related to buying or selling a property in Devon.
"The team always provided me with clear, pragmatic and commercially viable advice with efficient and focused communication."
We're a Conveyancing Quality Scheme accredited firm providing conveyancing to clients in Devon. This acts as a guarantee that our processes and procedures have been approved as meeting the highest conveyancing standards by the Law Society, the body representing solicitors throughout England and Wales.
We are on the panel for most major lenders, and many smaller ones too. Whether you want to use your local Building Society in Devon or one of the larger corporates, chances are we have you covered.
In short, you get an excellent conveyancing service at an affordable price. You don't have the risk of going to the cheapest providers, most of whom aren't solicitors; instead you get a great service from experienced, fully trained conveyancing solicitors.
Why you don't need a conveyancer based in Devon
In the past, most people would have used their local solicitor for their conveyancing. You would visit their office in your nearest town or city and all documents would be hand-produced and posted or delivered by hand.
That service came at a price, however, and the truth is it is no longer needed. With modern technology such as scanning, emailing and even Skype or Facetime video calls there is no need to use your local solicitor. Your conveyancer can be based anywhere and still provide a great service - even if he or she is in an office many miles away from Devon.
We have successfully dealt with thousands of conveyancing transactions all over the country, even with clients from the other side of the world. It is not unknown for us to talk to clients outside the UK using Skype – we even once had clients in Thailand talking to us through an interpreter in New Zealand!
There will be no need for you to visit our offices or hand deliver documents, in fact, you need never leave your home. Our conveyancers can talk you through the entire conveyancing process via phone and email and everything works just as smoothly as it would if we were just down the road.
Online Conveyancing in Devon
“Online conveyancing” is where the entire conveyancing process is handled over the internet. Thanks to email, Skype and other online tools, there is now no need for you to meet with your conveyancing solicitor in person (unless you would prefer to).
Clients come to us for conveyancing in Devon from all over the UK and around the world and we are able to offer the same first-rate conveyancing service as we would if you were dealing with us face-to-face.
When dealing with your conveyancing online, we have exactly the same professional obligations towards you as to any other conveyancing client and promise a fast, efficient service delivered in a modern and convenient way.
Search Fees in Devon
Every local authority is different. We use an excellent, trusted national search provider, which means we can offer effective, reliable property checks and searches to clients in Devon and all over the country. That way we know we can provide a service we are happy with and which we know is properly insured and protects your interests.
What is the process to instruct us for your conveyancing?
First, fill in our conveyancing quote form for conveyancing in Devon. You can find the links at the top of this page.
Our helpful conveyancing support team will then guide you through the initial stages and, once your conveyancing file is opened, your Devon conveyancing solicitor and their small team will deal with the legal side of the conveyancing transaction. You'll be given direct contact details for your conveyancing lawyers and they'll keep in touch with you every step of the way.
Whether you're moving to Devon or away from Devon, our conveyancing team can help you do so with the minimum of fuss and inconvenience.
Fees for conveyancing in Devon
Our fees are transparent and, so long as the situation does not change (for example so long as your property doesn't turn out to be leasehold when we thought it was freehold) the fee we quote is the fee you will be charged.
All our conveyancing fees are dependent on the nature and value of the transaction, so we naturally charge a bit more for more complicated and high value work. However, the fee charged will be the same for a customer in Newcastle as it would be for someone in London, or indeed in Devon.
There are some aspects of our conveyancing fees that we can't change. Fees charged by other bodies such as HM Land Registry, or by HMRC for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) are out of our control and will be the same no matter who you use for your conveyancing.
Introduction to Devon
Devon is a county in the South West of England bordered by Cornwall to the West, Somerset to the northeast and Dorset to the east. The county has a population of around 1,177,900 according to mid-2016 estimates.
Devon has a number of major towns and cities, as well as large percentage of rural countryside and both a north and south coast. As a result, Devon has varied terrain, including hills, valleys, moorland, cliffs and sandy beaches. Devon also has one of the lowest population densities of any part of England, giving it a reputation as a quiet county and making it popular with tourists.
The city of Exeter is the administrative centre of Devon, while the city of Plymouth is the county’s largest settlement. Other major settlements include the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Exmouth.
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city, as well as the county town of Devon and home of its county council. It has a population of 129,800 as of mid-2016. The city is located on the River Exe, and lies around 37 miles northeast of Plymouth and 70 miles southwest of Bristol.
Historically, Exeter's economy developed as a result of its agriculture and during the Industrial Revolution the city excelled due to exploiting the waterpower of the River Exe. In modern times, however, the local economy revolves mainly around the service industry. Exeter has been recognised as among the top ten most profitable locations in the country to base a business and more than 35,000 commute to Exeter on a daily basis for work. The most notable employers in the city are Met Office, who relocated from Bracknell to Exeter in 2004, the University of Exeter and Devon County Council.
Exeter also boasts an impressive retail sector. The city's High Street consists of mainly chain stores, and accommodates only one independent store. Other notable shopping areas include Princesshay, a shopping centre that opened in 2007, containing 65 stores.
Although tourism does not play a huge role in Exeter's economy, (only 7% of employment) there are a number of cultural attractions. The Northcott Theatre is one of the few English theatres to maintain its own repertory company. It has a capacity of 464 visitors. The city also has another theatre, the Barnfield Theatre.
There are also many museums and galleries, such as the Royal Albert Memorial Museum. This is the principal museum in the city, and has just undergone a four-year, £24m redevelopment. Another venue, The Spacex, is an art gallery exhibiting contemporary art and promoting artist-led projects, events and research.
Sandy Park is also a popular attraction, being the home ground of the Exeter Chiefs rugby club who regularly receive attendances at their home ground in excess of 9,000. Exeter City Football Club is also based in the city at St James Park, which has capacity of over 8,000. Exeter also has several cricket clubs, a squash club, rowing clubs and a speedway team.
The M5 motorway connects the city to areas such as Birmingham, Bristol and South Wales, while the A30 offers a straightforward route to London by road. Exeter is also well connected by road to the rest of the county and to neighbouring areas.
Exeter has two train stations, Exeter St Davids and Exeter central. Exeter St Davids provides long distance services, such as to Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, all operated by CrossCountry Trains. There are also services to stations such as London Paddington, London Waterloo, Reading and Bristol. Exeter Central provides more local services, to areas such as Paignton and Barnstaple, however there are also trains to London Paddington and London Waterloo as well.
Exeter International Airport lies to the east of the city, offering frequent services to locations such as Faro, Mallorca and Lanzarote.
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city on the south coast of Devon, 37 miles south west of Exeter and 190 miles south west of London. With a population of 264,200 as of mid-2016, Plymouth is the largest settlement in Devon and the second largest in the South West, after Bristol.
Due to its coastal location, the city has a long history as a commercial shipping port. It was an important location for managing imports and passengers from the Americas and exporting local minerals such as tin, copper and lime. Nowadays, the city's industry is still largely maritime-based, with ferry links for France and Spain, as well as the largest naval base in Western Europe – HMNB Devonport – which employs over 12,000 people and generates around 10% of the city’s income.
The University of Plymouth has also allowed Plymouth to grow in size, being the 9th largest university in the country, with an income of around £160m. It specialises particularly in Marine subjects, such as maritime business and marine engineering. Aside from higher education, there are 71 primary schools, 13 secondary schools, 8 special schools and 3 selective state grammar schools.
Besides the navy and university, Plymouth’s economy relies heavily on the service industry. It is also home to the famous Plymouth Gin Distillery, which produces Plymouth Gin, once the most widely distributed gin in the world.
Plymouth is also currently undergoing a scheme known as Plymouth 2020, which is meant to encourage urban growth, with a population increase to 300,000 as well as the development of 33,000 homes.
As well as frequent ferry services to both France and Spain, transporting pedestrians and vehicles, Plymouth City Airport is also set to be reopened in 2018 thanks to a redevelopment scheme known as FlyPlymouth. Additionally, the Plymouth Railway Station, which was opened in 1877, is managed by First Great Western and provides frequent services to London Paddington.
Torquay
Torquay is a town on the south coast of Devon, 18 miles south of Exeter and 28 miles north east of Plymouth. It has a population of 65,245 according to the 2011 census and is a popular tourist hotspot. Torquay forms the borough of Torbay alongside Paignton and Brixham.
Local attractions include Kents Cavern, the Victorian Pavillion, Torquay Museum and Babbacombe Model Village. Toquay is also known for hosting a number of sailing events and regattas, as well as being home to a professional football club – Torquay United – as well as several non-league football teams and a rugby union team – Torquay Athletic.
Paignton
Paignton is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon that forms part of the borough of Torbay in conjunction with Torquay and Brixham. According to the 2011 census, Paignton has a population of 49,021.
Like Torquay, Paignton is popular with tourists, with a number of local attractions, including Paignton Zoo, Paignton Pier and Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway. Paignton beach and Preston Sands are both popular for water sports, while Broadsands beach is home to a number of bird species, including the rare cirl bunting.
Exmouth
Exmouth is a port town and seaside resort on the south coast of Devon, located at the mouth of the River Exe. The town had a population of 34,432 at the time of the 2011 census.
Exmouth is a popular location for water sports, including sailing, wind surfing and jet-skiing, as well as outdoor activities such as bird-watching, walking and cycling.