We’re delighted to have strengthened the conveyancing team in our Newport office with the appointment of experienced solicitor Sarah Beynon-Williams.

Sarah has joined our expanding Newport conveyancing team to work with existing clients and manage the new contracts we’ve recently won with local and national panels.

Moving to Howells from another legal practice in South Wales, Sarah has previously managed busy departments and has extensive conveyancing experience.

Sarah is looking forward to her new role. She said: “In my previous position, I was responsible for the growth and development of two departments within the practice.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...

A recently-qualified nurse has won a Howells competition and moved into her first house without having to pay any conveyancing fees.

Emily Kitt, who grew up in Carmarthenshire, won the competition after giving our panel judges the most ‘compelling and worthy’ reason to benefit from the free service. Since qualifying as a mental nurse, Emily has been staying with her Grandmother in Glyngaer, Caerphilly and helping her care for her Grandfather who suffers from Alzheimer’s.

She won the prize after explaining on Facebook that her new house would allow her time to be close to her Grandparents and her place of work. The location of her new house – a two-bedroom property in Beddau, Pontypridd – means that she can still help to care for her Grandfather and cope with the disturbed sleep patterns that are often inherent in Alzheimer’s cases as well as take shopping to her Grandparents.

Emily said: “We’re a very close family. I want to carry on spending the time with my Grandparents, and helping them as well as have my independence and remain close to work. 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...