> BUYING & SELLING PROPERTY
TIPS AND ADVICE
Looking for conveyancing solicitors in Braintree you can trust? Cunningtons have been providing expert property law services from our Great Square offices since 1748.
Our experienced Braintree conveyancing solicitors offer fixed-fee residential conveyancing with transparent pricing and fast quotes across Essex.
Cunningtons solicitors have been serving property buyers and sellers throughout Braintree, Colchester, Ipswich, Sudbury, Bishop’s Stortford, Halstead, Haverhill, Saffron Walden, Long Melford, and across Essex for more than 275 years.
When you use Cunningtons solicitors to help with the legal side of property transactions, you can relax. We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and have security written into our DNA!
Why Choose Our Braintree Conveyancing Team?
- Competitive Fixed Fees – Excellent value with no hidden costs
- Fast Conveyancing Quotes – Get your Braintree quote within hours
- Personal Contact – Speak to your dedicated conveyancing solicitor directly
- Local Branch, No Call Centre – Face-to-face service in Great Square
- 275 Years of Experience – Conveyancing expertise since 1748
- SRA-Regulated Excellence – Professional standards and client protection
- Essex Property Specialists – Deep knowledge of local property market
- Award-Winning Service – Recognised excellence in residential conveyancing
- Completion Guarantee – We’ll see your move through to completion
- Walk-In Advice Available – Immediate guidance when you need it
- Great Client Reviews – Trusted by thousands of Essex families
Get Your Fixed-fee Conveyancing Quote Today
Ready to move? Order your fixed-fee quote in minutes.
📞 Call 01376 554332 for a fast telephone quote
📧 Email quotes@cunningtons.co.uk for a written quotation
🚶♀️ Visit our offices in Great Square, Braintree
Conveyancing Services Across Essex
🏠 Residential Property Purchases
Whether you’re a first-time buyer in Braintree or moving to a larger family home in Colchester, our conveyancing solicitors are ready to guide you through every step of your property buying journey:
- Property searches and surveys – We run thorough legal checks on your new home;
- Mortgage lenders – We work directly with your lender;
- Contract negotiation – Then protect your interests in any discussions with your seller or their solicitors;
- Exchange and completion – Aiming for a smooth, stress-free moving day;
- Land Registry registration – We make sure that you arere the legal owner;
- Protection from fraud – All the time advising you how to avoid fraud in your purchase.
Popular areas we serve: We cover local areas like Braintree town centre, as well as nearby Essex villages like White Notley, Cressing, Great Notley, Faulkbourne and Rayne.
🏘️ Property Sales
Selling your home in North Essex or Suffolk? Talk to our conveyancing team to ensure you have a smooth and efficient sale. We help you toward your sale by:
- Preparing your title deed – We get your paperwork ready for the sale;
- Drafting contracts – So protect the proceeds of your sale;
- Buyer enquiry responses – We handle all queries from your buyer and their solicitors professionally;
- Completion coordination – Timing the transaction to fit in with all involved;
- Delivering your final account statement – Showing a clear breakdown of all transactions involved in the legal side of your sale.
🔄 Remortgages & Transfers
Not moving but need legal support with your property? We help with these issues:
- Remortgage conveyancing – Switching to better mortgage rates? You still need conveyancing;
- Transfers of equity – Adding or removing names from deeds, for any number of purposes;
- Buy-to-let purchases – Conveyancing for investment property transactions;
- Right to Buy – Buying from public sector landlords across North Essex and Suffolk.
Online conveyancing, or face-to-face?
Using a local firm of conveyancing solicitors – like Cunningtons – means that you know who you are dealing with. You have one conveyancing solicitor assigned to your transaction, and you are likely to have met them personally at their office, or at least to have spoken to them on the phone.
This means that you are dealing with someone you know personally, which helps when the matter is as important as your home.
When you deal with a firm of online conveyancers, the service is necessarily remote. This may be absolutely fine, but if an issue comes up with your property it’s much easier to deal with it if you are dealing with a conveyancing solicitor you know.
What’s the problem?
Need advice on a legal matter? Why not visit our advice centre in Braintree to discuss your concerns with us.
Get Your Fixed Fee Conveyancing Quote
Competitive rates, professional service, and local expertise – that’s the Cunningtons approach to Essex and Suffolk property transactions.
Our fixed fees include:
- A dedicated solicitor for your entire move;
- All standard searches and legal work as part of our fees;
- Direct phone access to your conveyancing team; as well as
- Local knowledge of local property markets.
Get Your Quote in 24 Hours
Complete the form below for your competitive conveyancing quotation:
Get A Quote
Click here to order your quote from our residential conveyancing solicitors
What areas does the Braintree branch cover?
From our Braintree office, we proudly serve property buyers and sellers throughout our area.
Braintree, Colchester, Ipswich, Sudbury, Bishop’s Stortford, Halstead, Haverhill, Saffron Walden, Long Melford, and across North Essex and Suffolk
Whether you’re buying in historic Colchester, selling in bustling Ipswich, or remortgaging in Sudbury, our Braintree team provides expert conveyancing service with local knowledge that only comes from 275 years in the area.
Why Local Conveyancing Matters
❌ Avoid Online Conveyancing Pitfalls
- No personal relationship – Different person every call
- Hidden extras – Surprise fees throughout the process
- Delayed completions – No local knowledge causes problems
- Poor communication – Emails lost in automated systems
✅ The Cunningtons Advantage
- Your dedicated solicitor – Same person from quote to completion
- Local property knowledge – We know Essex markets inside out
- Face-to-face meetings – Pop into Great Square anytime
- Established relationships – 275 years of local connections
- Immediate support – Call your solicitor directly
Cunningtons Solicitors in Braintree, Essex
Great Square
Braintree
Essex
CM7 1UD
United Kingdom
Tel: 01376 326868
Fax: 01376 550003
Staff Spotlight
Kate Horsted
Conveyancing Partner
Kate Horsted is a Residential Conveyancing solicitor and partner working out of our Braintree office.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions that our Braintree branch gets asked: if you need an answer to a question that is not on this list, please contact us for an answer.
Should I use an online conveyancing company?
We do not generally recommend using an online conveyancer; though you often pay slightly lower conveyancing fees, the level of service will also be lower.
You will rarely speak to the same person twice, and you have to be wary of the extras they add on.
When you are dealing with something as valuable as your home, it is important not to take risks. And the potential small savings to be made by using online conveyancing don’t add up – yet. You should meet the property solicitor who is working on your case face-to-face.
What is the difference between a conveyancing solicitor and a conveyancer?
A conveyancing solicitor is regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA), is a member of the Law Society, will have degree-level qualifications and at least two years on the job training before qualifying.
Whereas a conveyancer tends to be regulated by the Council for Licenced Conveyancers (CLC) and is usually less qualified, although they can still be perfectly competent.
How do I avoid fraudulent transactions when moving house?
With such large amounts of money changing hands, there can be attempts to steal them in transit.
It is easy to avoid fraud if you follow simple rules:
1 Never ever disclose bank account details by email; your property solicitors will tell you other ways to pay your legal fees.
2 Never pay money into an account whose details you have received by email.
3 Both you and your solicitor should pay into accounts whose details you have received by phone or in person.
4 Ideally, test the veracity of bank account details by making an initial payment of £1 – which you then verify by telephoning your conveyancing solicitor – before paying any more.
What happens in the conveyancing process?
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring property, and it happens whenever UK property is bought, sold or remortgaged.
The conveyancing process for each transaction is different, and generally involves liaising between buyers, sellers, mortgage companies, local councils and the Land Registry.
If you are buying property:
We contact the seller’s solicitors to check the title deeds and contract, then conduct a variety of searches depending on the location, check the formal mortgage offer, collect together documents that require signing, organise the handing over the deposit, ensure all monies are in the right accounts, arrange completion of sale, ensure the correct stamp duty is paid, instruct the land registry of the change in ownership, then send the deeds to either the buyer or the mortgage lender.
If you are selling your home:
We obtain the title deeds and up-to-date information from the Land Registry, arrange the contracts that outline the sale, liaise with the buyer’s solicitors, find out the balance on your mortgage if necessary, send deeds for signing, arrange for estate agents’ fees to be paid, collect all funds due to the seller, submit statements and send dees and keys to the new owner.
If you are remortgaging:
We obtain the title deeds and up-to-date title copy from Land Registry, deal with any searches, receive mortgage offer, ask you to sign mortgage deed, arrange for the delivery of the new loan, get up-to-date statement from current lender, run searches at the Land Registry, receive the loan and repay existing mortgage, and register the new mortgage with the Land Registry.
Conveyancing has a number of stages and differs according to the purpose of the transaction, the finances of the buyer/seller/remortgager, the geographical location of the property, and the number of other transactions in the chain.
Talk to your conveyancing solicitor throughout the process and they’ll keep you up-to-date.
When I ask for a conveyancing quote, do I have to pay anything?
All our conveyancing quotes are free and you are not obliged to use us.
However, we have found that most people who receive a quotation for our conveyancing services are happy to use us and remain loyal customers for future moves!
Is there a difference between freehold and leasehold conveyancing?
The short answer is yes.
When dealing with leasehold transactions, there are many more things to check during the conveyancing process, including ground rent, service charges, licences under the Lease and leasehold covenants (obligations).
For this reason we charge an additional fee for dealing with leasehold transactions.
How long does conveyancing take?
As most home moves depend on a number of different factors, it is impossible to predict how long your conveyancing will take. However, on average the process will usually take about 8 weeks for a freehold property, and slightly longer for a leasehold.
But as there can be a number of transactions going on at the same time, usually with a chain of strangers all buying and selling their homes and getting mortgages in place – the process rarely depends on just one person.
What searches does a conveyancer do?
The standard searches your conveyancing solicitor undertakes are:
– local authority,
– water/drainage, and
– environmental.
There are a number of other searches to undertake depending on the locality of the property. For example, in mining areas a mining search is also always obtained. There may also searches for Gypsum in areas where gypsum mining has taken place, Lead Mining, China Clay, and Limestone.