In England and Wales, there are two primary types of property: leasehold and freehold.  The difference between the two essentially all boils down to who owns the land on which the property is built.

Let’s take a look in a little more detail: More...

Whether you’re buying a holiday home in Pembrokeshire, a property to commute from in Cardiff or somewhere new to share with a partner, thousands of people make the step towards owning a second home in Wales every year.

What’s more, with house prices on the rise, buying a second property could also be one of the best investments you could make. However, buying a second home can be very different to purchasing your first. What do you need to consider? More...

Howells Solicitors has completed the sale of the first property in Wales to be purchased using the recently launched Government backed Help to Buy scheme.
 
The conveyancing department in the Swansea office of the award-winning law firm were instructed by Sian Jones on the purchase of a two bedroom apartment on the Persimmon Coed Darcy development near Neath.
 
Due to this being the first Help to Buy purchase in Wales, Philip Howell, founder partner of the law firm personally managed the case and worked with the Help to Buy co-ordinators throughout the process. It took just 20 working days from instruction to completion and all parties liaised together to ensure the quick and seamless transaction.

Commenting on the case, Philip Howell said, “It was a learning process for all parties involved. A couple of minor glitches were quickly resolved resulting in the swift 20 day completion. We have completed another Help to Buy case since and have others at various stages of the conveyancing process across our network of South Wales offices.” More...

If you’re looking to own your very own home, there are a number of ways that you can get help. One of those ways is through getting a shared equity home loan.

What is a shared equity loan?

In order to get a mortgage and buy a property, you need to put down a deposit. Shared equity allows you to get a loan that acts as part of your deposit.  Put simply, shared equity allows you to buy a property without paying a large deposit upfront – perfect for those people who want to buy a home of their own but don’t have the big lump sum.

Shared equity mortgages shouldn’t be confused with shared ownership schemes, where you buy a share of a home (usually between 25% and 75%) and pay rent to whoever owns the remainder.

Do I completely own a property if it’s bought through shared equity?

Yes. You own 100% of the property.

What happens when I sell a shared equity property? More...

Howells has won a prestigious Bronze award for its conveyancing service in the Estate Agency of the Year 2013 Awards.

The Awards, sponsored by The Times and The Sunday Times, saw Howells win third place in the Best Large Conveyancer category – becoming the highest placed solicitors in Wales and across South England. Taking place at the Lancaster London Hotel on Friday 6th December and hosted by TV presenter Penny Smith, the events recognised some of the UK’s leading estate agents and housing experts.

A panel of independent industry professionals judged Howells over a number of months. They contacted various offices, acting as ‘mystery shoppers’, and sought the opinion of both staff and customers. A spokesman from the Awards praised the training, procedures and systems that were in place at Howells to ensure that the conveyancing process was as effective as possible for customers. They said:

“Particularly impressive is the large number of referrals they receive from house builders, who require a committed 28 day turnaround on conveyancing. The fact that they trust Howells to achieve this for them speaks volumes as to the efficiency and quality of their service.” More...