Conveyancing Solicitors in Reading

Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest transactions most people ever make, and it should feel like it’s being handled by people who know exactly what they’re doing. Our conveyancing solicitors in Reading give you clear, practical advice and steady support from the moment your offer is accepted to the day you get your keys, so you always know what’s happening and what happens next.

What is conveyancing?

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from one person to another. It covers legal checks and searches, reviewing and preparing contracts, liaising with mortgage lenders, handling client money, and registering the new owner, and any new mortgage, with HM Land Registry.

At FSP, we act for clients across Reading, Berkshire and the Thames Valley, as well as clients further afield across England and Wales, on every type of residential property transaction. Whether you are buying your first flat, selling a family home, remortgaging, or dealing with a leasehold property, the same principle applies: you get a qualified lawyer who explains things clearly, keeps you informed, and works to get your transaction over the line as smoothly as possible.

Conveyancing services we offer

Our residential conveyancing team advises on every stage of buying, selling and owning property. Each service below links to a dedicated page where you can read more.

Buying and selling

We act for buyers and sellers on freehold and leasehold homes of every value, from a first flat to a substantial country house. See the pages below for more information:

• Solicitors for Buying a House
• Solicitors for Selling a House
• First Time Buyer Solicitor

Remortgaging

Switching lender or borrowing more involve their own legal steps. See our remortgage solicitors for more information.

Leasehold property and lease extensions

Leasehold homes involve extra considerations, from service charges to the length of the lease itself. See our leasehold solicitors and lease extension solicitors pages for further details. Where a case involves formal statutory enfranchisement or a collective freehold purchase, see our dedicated lease extensions and enfranchisement page.

New build

We advise on the specific routes into home ownership beyond a standard purchase.

Buy to let and auction property

Investment purchases move differently to a standard chain transaction. See our buy to let solicitors and auction property solicitors pages for further information, including the tight timescales involved in both the traditional and modern (online) methods of auction.

Transfers of equity and family property matters

Adding or removing someone from the title of a property, whether following a remortgage, a relationship change or as part of estate planning, needs its own careful handling. See our transfer of equity solicitor page for more details. We also work closely with our family law team and our Wills, Tax and Trusts team where a transaction follows a separation or a death in the family.

Landed estates, country homes and developer clients

Beyond everyday residential moves, we advise on rural, commercial and development matters affecting landed estates and country homes, drawing on the combined experience of our Agriculture & Rural Land, Wills, Trusts and Estates, and Real Estate teams for high-value transactions and complex estate planning. We also act for local and national developers selling newly built homes, see our new homes sector page for that side of our practice.

Who we help

Property transactions look different depending on who you are and what you need, so we tailor our approach accordingly.

• Private clients: The largest group of people we act for: individuals and families buying, selling, remortgaging or extending a lease on their own home, whether a first flat or a long-term family house.
• High-net-worth individuals: Clients buying or selling higher-value or unusual properties, such as period country houses, substantial estates, or high-value London apartments with specific landlord or management requirements, where valuation, tax and timing considerations are more complex.
• Owner-managed businesses and investors: Clients building or managing a buy-to-let portfolio, sometimes through a company structure, where mortgage, tax and letting considerations sit alongside the conveyancing itself.
• Corporate and institutional clients: Banks and lenders needing secured lending work or the sale of repossessed property, and developers and housebuilders selling new homes, where our team also supports transactional volume and turnaround time.

Wherever you sit on that list, the advice itself is built around the same principles: a clear explanation of what’s happening, honest timescales, and a lawyer who is genuinely available when you have a question, rather than passing you between different people at each stage.

When to contact a conveyancing solicitor

It’s not always obvious when to pick up the phone. In our experience, these are the moments that matter most:

• Your offer on a property has just been accepted, or you have just accepted an offer on your own home
• You are thinking about remortgaging and want to understand the legal steps involved, not just the mortgage rate
• Your lease has fewer than 90 years left, or your mortgage lender or buyer’s solicitor has flagged the lease length as a problem
• You have seen a property going to auction and want to understand the legal pack before you bid, not after

Whatever stage you are at, an early conversation costs nothing and gives you a much clearer picture of timing and cost before you commit to anything.

How the conveyancing process works

While every transaction has its own quirks, most purchases and sales follow the same broad stages.

1. Instruction and due diligence: Once your offer is accepted, we take your instructions, run identity and funding checks, and, for a seller, begin preparing the draft contract.
2. Searches and enquiries: For a buyer, we carry out property searches, such as local authority, water and drainage, and environmental searches, and raise enquiries on the seller’s title and contract papers.
3. Mortgage offer (if applicable): Once your mortgage offer is issued, we check its conditions and report to you on the mortgage.
4. Reports: once we have received the search results and replies to enquiries we provide you with a report on the title and searches, so you understand exactly what you are buying into.
5. Exchange of contracts: Both sides sign identical contracts and the buyer pays their deposit. Once exchanged, the transaction is legally binding and a completion date is fixed.
6. Completion: On the completion day, funds are transferred, keys are released, and, for a purchase, we deal with Stamp Duty Land Tax and register your ownership with HM Land Registry.

Most straightforward transactions take around 8 to 12 weeks from an accepted offer to completion, though this varies with mortgage arrangements, search turnaround times, and whether you are part of a chain.

Case studies

Every transaction is different, but these examples, drawn from work we have carried out for clients, give a flavour of the range we cover.

A straightforward family move

A family relocating to Reading for work needed to sell their existing home and buy a new one in a four-property chain. We coordinated closely with the other solicitors in the chain to align exchange and completion dates, so the family could move directly into their new home without needing temporary accommodation.

A leasehold flat with a short lease

A buyer’s mortgage offer was conditional on the flat’s lease, which had fewer than 85 years remaining, being extended before completion. We advised on the options available, negotiated timing with the seller and freeholder, and helped the purchase complete on schedule.

A high-value period property purchase

We acted for clients buying a country manor house with substantial land and outbuildings in need of complete renovation, working alongside our Agriculture & Rural Land colleagues on matters affecting the wider estate, including access rights and existing restrictive covenants.

Costs and fees

Conveyancing fees are one of the SRA’s designated price-transparency categories, so we publish clear pricing information for residential purchases, sales and remortgages, in addition to giving you a tailored quote before you instruct us.

Our fees depend mainly on the value of the property and whether it is freehold or leasehold, with disbursements, third-party costs such as search fees, Land Registry fees and bank transfer fees, charged separately and set out clearly alongside our own fees. Stamp Duty Land Tax, where payable, is also separate from our legal fees. See our conveyancing pricing information for our published price ranges, or try our conveyancing calculator for an indicative figure based on your transaction. We will always confirm your actual costs in writing before you instruct us.

Why choose FSP for conveyancing

Our residential conveyancing team is accredited under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), and the wider firm is top ranked in Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500. That combination of sector accreditation and firm-wide recognition means you get specialist knowledge backed by real depth.

• CQS accredited: Our conveyancing team holds the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation, a recognised mark of technical competence and best practice in residential property work.
• Led by genuine specialists: Kate Parry-Jones, Partner and Head of Residential Conveyancing, has over 20 years’ experience across residential and commercial property, and acts for clients ranging from first-time buyers to high-net-worth individuals and companies.
• Head of New Homes: Kate Parry-Jones also leads our New Homes team, so new build purchases are handled by someone who deals with developers and their contracts every day.
• Quality assured: Lexcel accredited by the Law Society for excellence in legal practice management and client care, and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
• Clear, upfront pricing: See our conveyancing pricing information and try conveyancing calculator to get a clear indication of costs before you instruct us.
• A full-service firm: Our conveyancing team works closely with our Wills, Tax and Trusts team, our family law team and our Real Estate team, so related matters are handled under one roof.

Ready to get your move started?

Call us on 0118 951 6200, get in touch via our online enquiry form, or use our conveyancing calculator for a steer on cost.

You can also read our sellers’ notes guide or our buyers’ notes guide to see what to expect, whichever side of the transaction you’re on.