Diamond Heron Solicitors is renowned for its conveyancing experience. Tracing our roots back over a century, residential and commercial conveyancing remains a core service of this firm and we are proud to be one of the market leaders in this sector.
We have a strong team of reputable solicitors led by Partner Deirdre Mullan and Associate Solicitors Lesanne Green and Cherry Hill. We offer a wide range of services including the following:
- House sales and purchases
- Co-Ownership Purchases
- Transfers of Equity
- Remortgages
- Lifetime Mortgages
- Northern Ireland Housing Executive Purchases & right to buy schemes
- Sales, Purchases and refinancing of commercial properties
- Commercial leases
- Landlord & Tenant matters
We are committed to handling your property matters in a timely, efficient and straightforward manner. We recognise that for most people buying or selling a house can be very stressful and we seek to make the transaction as smooth as possible by being flexible, transparent and communicative throughout.
What We Offer
Our legal services in Property & Conveyancing include:
- House sales and purchases
- Re-mortgaging
- Buy to let mortgages
- Lifetime Mortgages and equity release
- NI Co-ownership Housing Association purchases
- Lands tribunal representation
- Advice on ground rent
- Vestings
First Time Buyers FAQs
Depending on your Mortgage application and the seller’s arrangements, the legal process for buying a new home can take roughly 8-12 weeks.
This seems like a long time, but buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions you will ever make in your life.
We are here to make sure all the legal aspects are covered so that your new home is an amazing investment in your future, whether it becomes your forever home, or a stepping-stone to your dream home.
Surveys can seem like an annoying extra expense if you are financially stretched in the home buying process, but they are extremely useful in identifying issues with the property that may become a bigger problems down the line.
Spending the extra money on a survey before you buy can save you money later. It some cases, the survey may raise defects that you may use to negotiate a lower purchase price.
This is very common and it’s good to get some help on to the property ladder.
We will get whoever is gifting you the funds to sign a Deed of Waiver – this goes with the Title Deeds and simply states that the gifter (eg parents/friend etc) of the funds disclaims any interest in the property.
The process of purchasing a new home goes through a few key steps.
If you are getting a Mortgage, your Mortgage lender will do a valuation of the property and then will issue you a Mortgage Offer, outlining all the aspects of the loan etc.
We will read the Title Deeds for the property and raise any queries we need to raise on your behalf with the seller’s solicitors.
Once we are satisfied with the Title for the property, we will invite you in to sign Contracts and will send these to the seller’s solicitors and lock in a date for the completion of the purchase.
We will ask you to send us any funds due (deposit and/or any funds being provided by family/friends etc) and we will ensure that the Mortgage monies are in just prior to the date of completion.
Once the seller’s solicitors have received the purchase funds and completion is legally agreed, your keys will be ready to collect and you can get moving in.
Just some “life admin” - don’t forget to make sure your insurance policy is in place, contact the utility providers to ensure they are transferred into your name i.e. electric, gas, rates etc, change your address with your bank, driving licence, electoral register, DVA etc.
Moving home and buying a home can be stressful. Now that that’s all done, time to relax and enjoy your new home!
We will be up-front with you from the start about cost and will send you a full quote outlining ALL fees at the start of the transaction. There are no hidden fees or costs.
Fees in a purchase include the following:
Our professional fee -This is the standard fee charged by solicitors for the legal work and is based on the purchase price. The cheaper the property, the lower the professional fee. This will be agreed with you at the very start of the transaction.
Searches – If you are getting a Mortgage, your Mortgage Lender requires us to obtain EJO and Bankruptcy Searches against you. This cost is set by the NI Courts Service at £52 for both searches, per person.
Land Registry registration fees – These fees are based on your purchase price and are set by the Land Registry. Again, these will be outlined to you at the very start of the transaction.
Stamp Duty – This is based on your purchase price but for many first time buyers there is no Stamp Duty to be paid. See our answer below on Stamp Duty in more detail.
Stamp Duty is a land transaction tax charged by HMRC on purchasers of properties in the UK.
For first time buyers, you can purchase a property in Northern Ireland up to a purchase price of £425,000 without having to pay any stamp duty.
