What we do

Residential conveyancing

Moving house is recognised as being a stressful experience. Our aim at Barnes & Co is to help you through this potentially difficult time by ensuring that the legal process runs as smoothly as possible. We do this by working efficiently on your behalf and using our experience to think ahead and deal with possible complications to minimise delay.

Our legal advisers recognise that the key to client satisfaction is good communication with the client, solicitors, estate agents and mortgage company involved in the process. You will be in contact with an experienced adviser who handles your file and you will also have access to a trained legal secretary/assistant who will be able to deal with many of your queries.

We will give you a fixed quote for the job so you do not need to worry about our fees going up if a complication arises.

Buying

For most of us, buying a house or flat is the most expensive purchase we will ever make. At Barnes & Co, we will ensure that you are obtaining a good title to the property without any hidden surprises. We will carry out all of the appropriate searches and provide a detailed report, highlighting anything unexpected that is revealed and suggesting possible solutions.

If you need a mortgage, we will usually also act for the mortgage company with their agreement.

Selling

We make sure that we are aware of your plans so that these can be factored in to the timetable for the sale.

We recognise that it is extremely frustrating for sellers if their move falls through. Sometimes a disappointment can be avoided if the channels of communication between the parties are good and Barnes & Co’s legal advisers work hard to ensure this. The better the flow of information, the more efficiently the whole process is likely to proceed.

If you would like to know more about the conveyancing process, please refer to Helping you understand.

Re-mortgaging

Your new mortgage company will want to ensure that there are no problems with the title to the property and we will provide a full report as on an initial purchase. We also consider whether there has been a change in circumstances necessitating any searches that were not carried out for the purchase that may have occurred many years previously.

Commercial property

Taking on a commercial lease

Whether you are moving premises or starting out in business for the first time, the last thing that you will want is to have to worry about the terms of the lease. We will relieve the pressure on you by negotiating terms to suit your business needs. At Barnes & Co, we will use our experience of the market to negotiate fair terms for you, taking account of your circumstances.

The issues you should consider are listed in the Business Leases section of Helping you understand.

Granting a commercial lease

If you purchase a property for investment purposes, you will want to ensure that your investment is protected. At Barnes & Co, we will put together a lease which allows you the flexibility you want and enables you to take action if your tenant is not meeting his obligations. The issues that you need to consider are highlighted in the Business Leases section of Helping you understand.

Buying and Selling Commercial Property

In addition to the matters that arise on the purchase and sale of residential property, there are other issues that are key to commercial clients. Just as with residential transactions, our experienced legal advisors find out about your specific circumstances so that these can be factored into the way the transaction is handled.

We ensure that the property title is thoroughly investigated. For example, for buyers of commercial property, we advise on the permitted use of the property and any restrictive covenants that could affect its usefulness as a business premises. We will also advise buyers if there are any existing tenants and their options concerning these.

From a seller’s perspective, it is important to ensure that VAT is charged on the purchase price if you bought the property subject to VAT.

Planning

Planning queries come in all shapes and sizes and so does our advice. We can use our planning experience either to advise you whether you will need planning consent or to make the application for you. We have the advantage that Stephen Barnes worked for a local authority planning department for a number of years and therefore has first hand knowledge of what planners look for in making their decisions.