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Conveyancing Solicitors in Oxford
No matter what type of property transaction you are looking to carry out in Oxford, our expert conveyancing solicitors are on hand to provide the support you need to make it a success.
Whether you are buying, selling or remortgaging a home in Oxford, there will be plenty of potential hurdles in your way that need to be overcome so you can move ahead with confidence. Our conveyancing team can help to make the conveyancing process as straightforward as possible, carefully guiding you through the entire process from start to finish.
At Bird & Co, we provide a reliable, efficient conveyancing service that is easily accessible for all of our clients. We have a wealth of combined experience handling a wide range of conveyancing matters and use this knowledge to support people from all walks of life.
We also offer a simple online conveyancing service. This means that we can support clients from across Oxford and the wider Oxfordshire area, including Park Town, Littlemore and Headington.
Get in touch with a member of our conveyancing team in Oxford by giving us a call, or get a quote online.
How our conveyancing solicitors in Oxford can help you
Our team of expert conveyancing solicitors in Oxford have a wide range of expertise and can support you on matters related to:
- Buying and selling your home
- Advice for first time buyers, such as:
- Remortgaging
- Equity release
- Advice about buying as joint tenants or tenants in common
- Buying and selling listed property
- Buying and selling leasehold property
- Collective enfranchisement and buying the freehold of a house
- Lease extension
- Transfer of equity
- Gifting property and Deeds of Gift
- Buy to let conveyancing
- Buying and selling land
- Commercial conveyancing
- Stamp Duty advice
We are on the panel for most major lenders, which means we can support you whether you are using a well-known national firm or a local building society.
Why choose Bird & Co’s conveyancing solicitors in Oxford?
We specialise in online conveyancing, which means we can guide you through the entire conveyancing process remotely.
Our conveyancing service is specifically designed to make the process as straightforward as possible, allowing you to complete your transaction with minimal fuss.
When you work with our team, you will always have a direct line of correspondence and an email address for the solicitor handling your case. If you ever have a question about your transaction, you can be sure that you will receive a prompt response.
As a firm, we are accredited with the Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme. This assures that we will:
- Provide high quality legal advice
- Get your conveyancing transaction completed as efficiently as possible
- Provide top quality customer service and respond to queries quickly
- Keep you regularly updated and never leave you in the dark about the status of your transaction
- Be upfront and honest about your fees – we will provide you with an accurate quote before you instruct us so that you can decide whether we are right for you
We are also Lexcel accredited by the Law Society. Lexcel is awarded to firms which frequently demonstrate the highest levels of customer service and practice management.
Why instruct our online conveyancers instead of a conveyancer in Oxford?
There are a number of benefits to instructing our online conveyancers in Oxford. These include:
- We have in-depth knowledge of the national property market, as well as a detailed understanding of the local Oxford market. This gives us an edge over firms that only deal with local transactions.
- Our online systems have been developed with sensitive communication in mind. We appreciate how important it is for our clients to feel safe when they complete conveyancing work remotely, which is why we carry out secure procedures such as encrypting emails, configuring devices and putting malware protection in place.
- We can get your conveyancing done quickly and efficiently. Many of the typical delays associated with the traditional conveyancing process can be avoided altogether when you work with our online conveyancers.
- Online conveyancing tends to be more cost-effective. Traditional conveyancing work incurs various additional costs which can be avoided when work is completed remotely.
- We have dealt with property transactions around the country, even for clients who are on the other side of the world. We stay in touch with our clients using video conferencing, no matter where they are currently located.
- Our legal obligations to you remain the same as if we were meeting in person as there are no differences to the general conveyancing process. We are fully insured just in case.
Our conveyancing fees – how much does our conveyancing cost in Oxford?
We are able to offer fixed fees for straightforward conveyancing work, which means you will have a clear idea how much your transaction will cost from the outset. There may be certain circumstances where additional fees are required to complete your transaction, but your solicitor will keep you informed if this is likely to be the case.
The additional costs associated with the conveyancing process are called disbursements. Disbursements could include conveyancing searches or registering a transaction at HM Land Registry.
Tax also need to be taken into consideration when it comes to planning out a property transaction. If you are required to pay tax, such as Stamp Duty Land Tax or Capital Gains Tax, your solicitor can help you calculate how much is owed and file the return with HMRC.
Conveyancing FAQs
How does the conveyancing process work in Oxford?
There are three main stages to the conveyancing process. These are:
- Offer and acceptance
- Exchange of contracts
- Completion
Once an offer is accepted on a property, the buyer and seller agree to enter into a contract. Note that this does not mean the transaction is legally binding yet. The contracts first need to be signed and exchanged.
When an offer is accepted, the buyer will then work alongside their conveyancer to carry out various checks on the property. Examples of checks could include:
- Reviewing property information provided by the seller and making further enquiries if necessary (done by the conveyancing solicitor)
- Conducting conveyancing property searches, such as local authority checks (done by the conveyancing solicitor)
- Carrying out an independent survey (done by the buyer)
Once the checks have been completed and both parties are happy to proceed, the contracts will be signed and exchanged. From this point on, the transaction is legally binding.
Completion is when the transaction is deemed to be official. A transfer deed is submitted to HM Land Registry and the seller is required to leave the property.
How long does conveyancing take in Oxford?
The time it takes to complete a conveyancing transaction will depend on a number of factors, some of which may be out of your control (such as delays further along the property chain). Under normal circumstances, a conveyancing transaction is likely to take around 12-14 weeks to reach completion, but this can quickly change.
If there are likely to be significant delays to your conveyancing transaction, your solicitor will inform you of the options at your disposal.
What searches are involved in conveyancing in Oxford?
If you are buying a property in Oxford, your conveyancer will carry out various checks to make sure there are no problems which need to be addressed.
The three main types of conveyancing checks are:
- Local authority checks – to check the surrounding area for planning, pollution, highway, or other related issues
- Environmental searches – to check for issues such as flooding or land contamination
- Water and drainage searches – to check matters such as water and drainage access
Further checks may be required, but this will depend on the type of property in question and where it is situated. Your solicitor will let you know if this is the case.
How do you instruct our conveyancing solicitors in Oxford?
Get in touch with a member of our conveyancing team in Oxford by giving us a call, or get a quote online.
Our Oxford conveyancing team will be able to run through the initial stages of your conveyancing transaction and, once your file is opened, your conveyancer will take care of all of the legal details related to your transaction.
Whether you are moving to, from, or across Oxford, our conveyancing solicitors will be able to lend their expertise.
Get in touch with our conveyancing solicitors in Oxford
Get in touch with a member of our conveyancing team in Oxford by giving us a call, or get a quote online.
Online Conveyancing in Oxford
There isn't really any such thing as online conveyancing. Clients come to us for conveyancing in Oxford, Park Town, Headington and all sorts of other places, having first found us via our website.
After that, the relationship between you and your conveyancer is the same as any other. We have the same professional obligations towards you, and deal with your conveyancing file in the same way.
It might feel like online conveyancing because you can talk to us through email on your computer, but really it is proper conveyancing.
Search Fees in Oxford
Every local authority is different. We use an excellent, trusted national search provider, which means we can provide searches to clients in Oxfordand all over the country, knowing that we will get a product we're 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 Oxford. 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 Oxford 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 Oxford or away from Oxford to somewhere else, our conveyancing team can help you do so with the minimum of fuss and inconvenience.
Fees for conveyancing in Oxford
Here at Bird & Co, we recognise the importance of transparency when it comes to your conveyancing fees. Having a clear idea of how much your legal bill will amount to from the earliest possible stage is essential in financially planning for your future home. That’s why at Bird & Co, our solicitors will provide clarity on costs from the moment you request a quote. So long as nothing changes in your situation – for example the property being leasehold instead of freehold as originally thought – the fee we quote is the fee you will be charged. Never will we charge extra for the costs we incur from postage, photocopying etc. These are our overheads and we don’t pass them to our clients.
All our conveyancing fees are dependent on the nature and value of the transaction, so we naturally charge a bit more when a higher volume of legal work is required. However, the fee charged will be the same for a customer in Newcastle as it would be for someone in London, or indeed in Oxford. Your location will not affect the final price.
While we pride ourselves for these realistic fees, there are some aspects of our conveyancing fees which 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. Should you wish to gain more information on these, just get in touch with our team and request a quote today. We will provide you with an estimated breakdown of the costs you are likely to pay for your HMRC for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) are out of our control. Should you wish to gain more information on these, just get in touch with our team and request a quote today. We will provide you with an estimated breakdown of the costs you are likely to pay for your conveyancing.
Introduction to Oxford
Known as ‘the “dreaming city of spires”, the City of Oxford is one of the fastest growing and most ethnically diverse in the country. With a population of 150,200 it is also the 52nd largest city in the UK.
Oxford is globally recognised for the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Within this University is a range of stunning architecture, and the city itself hosts examples of every English Architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons. The presence of the university has led to Oxford becoming a centre for the education industry, with a wide range of UK companies drawing their teaching staff from the pool of Oxford University students and graduates.
It has a particularly broad economic base, and its industries include motor manufacturing, publishing as well as a range of science-based, IT and publishing businesses. Following the success of Digital Oxford, an organisation dedicated in putting Oxford on the map for digital development, the city has a growing reputation for innovation.
Notable employers relevant to these businesses include BMW, who have their principal Mini production site in the in the suburb of Cowley. Oxford University Press is also based in the city, and is the largest university press in the world, employing around 6000 people. Furthermore, there are also a number of other notable companies who provide significant employment in the city.
Oxford is a major draw for tourists as well as film and TV crews due to the vast historic buildings that shape the town. The many museums, galleries and collections serve as popular attraction with most being free of admission charges due to serving as part of the University. Alongside this, The Bodleian Library draws regular crowds as it continues to be the largest university library system in the UK. Visitors can taker a guided tour around the Old Bodleian Library to see its historic rooms featuring over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles of shelving.
Being a relatively large city with a high tourist footfall, the town is well equipped with retail facilities. Within the city centre, there are two main shopping centres as well as a smaller shopping arcade. There is also a large shopping centre outside the city centre known as the Templars Square shopping centre.
The main shopping streets in the area include Broad Street, Golden Cross and Cowley Road. In the centre of Oxford you will find the Clarendon Centre and the Westgate Centre, two shopping malls featuring a range of high-street retailers. For a selection of high end boutiques or antique shops, stroll down The High Street in Oxford to find high quality products for reasonable prices. The Covered Market, on the other hand, offers a unique shopping experience in the form of cobbled Victorian streets dotted with great food stalls, traditional green grocers, jewellers, books and hidden vintage treasures.
Geographically, there are many other large settlements, which are easily accessible from Oxford. Reading is located just 24 miles away, Swindon 36 miles, Cheltenham 43 miles, Milton Keynes 38 miles and London just 51 miles away as well. Oxford railway station allows for access to many of these towns; First Great Western offer services to locations such as London Paddington, Worcester and Banbury and CrossCountry services to as far away as Manchester and Edinburgh. The city is also served by the M40, connecting London to Birmingham as well as roads such as the A34, connecting the North and Midlands to the port of Southampton.
Oxford is considered a very green city; complete with a variety of Parks, Commons and nature walks. There are 28 nature reserves within or just outside the ring road including Cutteslowe Park, University Parks and Lye Valley. The Oxford University Botanic Garden is one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world and contains over 8,000 different plant species on 1.8 hectares, making it the perfect place for relaxation.