Why choose SAM Conveyancing Solicitors in Rochester?
Whether you're buying, selling, remortgaging, dealing with a lease, staircasing shared ownership, or paying off your Help to Buy loan, you'll need a conveyancing specialist to handle the legal side of things. With SAM, you benefit from a dedicated conveyancing executive who will guide you through the process, from start to finish, at no extra cost. Available Monday to Saturday to answer all your questions, we'll bridge the gap between you and your solicitor, with regular updates in plain English.
We have hand-selected some of the best conveyancing solicitors Rochester has to offer, which are backed by a no-sale-no-fee guarantee, and the fixed-fee we quote is broken down so you can see exactly what your quote includes. No unpleasant surprises.
You'll also benefit from our state-of-the-art Online Conveyancing Process to track your progress and next steps along the way.
We're first-time-buyer friendly
86% of our purchase clients are First-Time Buyers, so we are hyper-attuned to what you need when buying your first home.
- We take the time to explain the process
- We offer tips on timescales
- We keep it real, never overpromising
Our Conveyancing Services
We can help with all of your conveyancing needs; simple to complex, and always affordable.
- Purchase
- Sale
- Transfer
- Remortgage
- Help to Buy Repayment
- Help to Buy Sale or Transfer
- Auction Sale or Purchase
- Shared Ownership Sale & Purchase
- Shared Ownership Staircasing
- Lease Extension
- Purchase of Freehold
- New Builds & Off-plan Purchases
- First Time Buyers
- Second Homes
- Buy to Let landlords
Fixed quote for our legal costs plus a budget-friendly breakdown of third-party disbursements.
Your sale or purchase is protected by our no sale, no fee guarantee.
Our panel solicitors are pre-approved to work with 99% of mortgage lenders in England & Wales.
Panel solicitors accredited by the Conveyancing Quality Scheme; regulated by the SRA.
Residential Conveyancing Solicitors in and around Rochester
Our Rochester conveyancing solicitors can help you with your conveyance locally or in any of the surrounding areas, including London, Gillingham, Gravesend, Maidstone, Bearsted, Sittingbourne and Dartford.
We have many offices throughout England and Wales, so you can find a solicitor near you.
- Exeter Walk, Rochester, Medway, ME1 2XF
- 120 High St, Rochester ME1 1JT
- 7 Beatty Road, Town Centre, Rochester ME1 2TG
- 60 The Fairway, Rochester ME1 2LU
- 31 North St, Rochester ME2 4SL
- Kensington Mid (terraced house) – Temple Wharf, Roman Way, Strood, Rochester, ME2.
Marketed by Redrow Homes.
Rochester Property Prices
| Average property price in Rochester | £325,264 |
| Population of Rochester | ?27,000 (2001) |
St. Bartholomews Hospital, New Rd, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1DS
Spire Alexandra Hospital, Impton Lane, Chatham, Kent, ME5 9PG
Maidstone Hospital, Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 9QQ
Rochester is on the A2/M2, which links London and Dover, and Rochester Station has trains going to London Victoria, London St Pancras International, London Charing Cross, Ramsgate, Faversham and Dover Priory.
Distance to Airports from Rochester
| Airport | Miles by car |
| Gatwick | 43.7 miles |
| Heathrow | 47.5 miles |
| Stansted | 50.8 miles |
Rochester Grammar School, Maidstone Road, Rochester, ME1 3BY
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Maidstone Road, Rochester, ME1 3EL
The Thomas Aveling School, Arethusa Road, Rochester, ME1 2UW
Local conveyancing solicitor
Are online licensed conveyancing solicitors better than property lawyers near me?
Before the internet, finding local licensed conveyancing solicitors would have meant consulting your local phone book or taking a walk down your high street.
Before modern ID checking processes, your local conveyancing solicitors would need to meet with you to confirm who you were as part of their money laundering and 'Know Your Client' checks. Solicitors previously used to use this time to talk through the transaction with you in person - a part of the service that was reflected in their fees. Nowadays, the legal process can be completed without face to face meetings, using online ID checks.
Although local knowledge becomes critical when choosing your RICS surveyor for a home buyers survey, your solicitor will carry out their work by processing documents and forms, virtually all of which can be obtained and/or transmitted electronically, from down the road or a hundred miles away.
You'll usually find that a high-street conveyancer will charge extra for business conducted 'in person', such as ID checking, and that their time is better spent focusing on progressing your case. We welcome queries from our clients and act as the vital link between you and your solicitor, which means you're kept in the loop and your solicitor is fully engaged in getting your move completed, as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Affordable Housing Schemes
Several affordable housing schemes in Rochester help make buying a property more achievable. The work is more complex, and we have specialist conveyancing solicitors to handle the following:
- Shared Ownership Solicitors
- Right to Buy Solicitors - speak to Medway Council to find out if you are eligible
- Discount Market Sale - check with Medway Council if they are running a DMS scheme
Rochester conveyancing solicitors
You can rest assured that you're in good hands with us. We hand select our panel for skill and experience, from a simple purchase to complex transactions with specialist ownership structures and deeds of trust.
Are you buying or selling a short lease in Rochester?
If there are 80 years or less on the leasehold, it will be harder to mortgage. Whether you're buying or selling, consider extending the lease, which may be done before, during, or in some cases after the transaction.
Our specialist leasehold conveyancing solicitors have vast experience handling the extension of a short lease for buyers and sellers. Speak to a SAM advisor for inclusive, fixed-fee, conveyancing quotes for leasehold conveyancing or share of freehold conveyancing today. Property Challenges Solved.
Look no further for your residential conveyancing solicitor in Rochester
Whatever your property challenge, we can solve it.
Selling a property
Your expert conveyancing solicitor's role when selling a property will include:
- Draft contracts – Your conveyancing solicitor drafts the initial legal contract to be sent to the buyer's solicitor.
- Responding to enquiries – your solicitor responds to any questions the buyer's solicitor may have (this is where you'll find out if you are missing documents, which can cause delays to your sale).
- Investigating issues – your solicitor may need to complete further investigation to try and satisfy them.
- Exchange contracts – once the buyer's solicitor has satisfied their enquiries, contracts are finalised and exchanged
- On the day of completion – your solicitor receives the money for the sale, discharges the mortgage (if required), pays the estate agent, deducts their fee and then sends the net sale proceeds to you.
- Post completion – your solicitor receives the DS1 discharge documents and, when leasehold, settles your liabilities for ground rent and service charges.
Our conveyancing solicitors' cost for selling a property starts from £723 INC VAT.
Buying a home
- Draft contracts – Your solicitor reviews the draft contract sent by the seller's solicitor.
- Raising enquiries – your solicitor will ask the seller's solicitor questions based on the contract, title, and property documents to protect you from any nasty surprises.
- Exchange contracts – once your solicitor is satisfied with their enquiries, they agree with the seller to finalise and exchange contracts
- Day of completion – on the day of completion, your solicitor transfers the money for the sale.
- Post completion – following completion, your solicitor makes an application to HM Land Registry to register you as the new owner.
Our Rochester conveyancing solicitors' cost for buying a property starts from £723 INC VAT.
Add or remove someone from a property title
With a Transfer of Equity, you can buy someone out of a shared property and remove them from the title, or add someone to the title to transfer ownership of a share of the property, making them a joint owner. This service includes:
- Property solicitors' fees, including ID checks, office copies
- HM Land Registration fees
- (if party being removed) ID1 Form verification fee
- (if mortgage) Change of mortgage fee
- (if leasehold) Notice fee to freeholder
Our Rochester conveyancing solicitors' cost for a Transfer of Equity starts at £399 INC VAT.
If someone is giving up their share of the property for less than market value, they may be required to get independent legal advice, which will be an additional expense.
Switch your mortgage deal in Rochester
Your remortgage solicitor will perform all the necessary checks, review your new mortgage offer, and update HM Land Registry post-completion. The process is similar to when you purchase but should take less time, as the solicitor doesn't need to raise any legal enquiries.
If you own a leasehold property, your solicitor must carry out extra work to investigate the lease terms. Our conveyancing solicitors' cost for a remortgage in Rochester starts at £363 INC VAT INC VAT.
Purchase the next chunk of your equity
When you're ready to buy the next chunk of the equity in your shared ownership property, a conveyancer will be required to handle:
- The bank transfer;
- obtaining a mortgage redemption statement from your existing lender;
- receiving your new mortgage offer and confirming the lender terms;
- receiving the memorandum of staircasing;
- handling completion;
- filing SDLT form (if required); and
- registration at the Land Registry.
Our conveyancing solicitors' cost for shared ownership staircasing in Rochester starts at £649 INC VAT.
If you need to add someone to the legal title, you will need to pay an additional fee for a transfer of equity.
Paying off your Help to Buy equity loan
You'll need a solicitor to:
- Receive redemption letter;
- review title for ownership and restrictions;
- obtain Authority to Complete;
- draft a deed of postponement for your current lender;
- handling completion;
- bank transfer; and
- if repaid in full, removal of the loan restriction at the Land Registry.
Our conveyancing solicitors' cost for Help to Buy loan redemption in Rochester starts at £333 INC VAT.
Price based on a freehold with the loan being repaid in full using savings.
Islamic finance solicitors
Specialists in Sharia-compliant conveyancing for Islamic mortgages.
- Can review, advise and negotiate with all Sharia Mortgage Lenders.
- Terms of the contract fully explained with confirmation of Sharia compliance and UK legal compliance.
- We can help with Ijara (Lease), Diminishing Musharaka (Reducing Partnership), and Murabaha (Cost-Plus Financing).
Conveyancing FAQs
The average conveyancing cost in London can be slightly higher than in the rest of the country. Depending on the property's price and the transaction's complexity, you could pay several hundred to a couple of thousand pounds. Our conveyancing fees in Rochester are based on the purchase price, and start at £723 INC VAT.
Fill in our easy online form for a fixed quote tailored to your requirements.
Fees vary between online conveyancing solicitors, high street licensed conveyancers or housing solicitors introduced by your estate agent.
It's unnecessary to have a local property solicitor as the conveyancing process is the same throughout England and Wales. You should prioritise service and efficiency over proximity to Rochester, when choosing a good conveyancing solicitor for any property transaction.
Many factors can delay conveyancing in Rochester. A simple property transaction can be completed in less than two months, but the average is closer to 12-16 weeks.
Online conveyancing is just as safe as you protect your data on the internet as you would in any other transaction. Online conveyancing means speedier turnaround times on documents, more convenient meetings and lower running costs for the firm. We pass our savings on to you.
South East Property Market Reports
- June 2025: Horsham House Prices Reach Record High
- Febuary 2025: 3 Berkshire Districts Break Property Price PB
- April 2024: Surrey house prices close to record highs
- December 2023: Kent House Prices Rising Amidst National Crash
- November 2023: Property Prices in Hampshire Steady Since March
Our panel of solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and conveyancing work is accredited with the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme.
No Sale No Fee applies to any sale or purchase quote except auction, right to buy, discount market sales, or purchase of land. The No Sale No fee only protects the main solicitor's fee. All Additional Fixed Fees are payable in full. Read our No Sale No Fee Policy.
What are the conveyancing costs?
Fees vary between online conveyancing solicitors, high street conveyancers or housing solicitors introduced by your estate agent.
The actual conveyancing costs, outside of the legal work, should be fixed, including:
For buyers: stamp duty, land registration, property searches, ID searches and leasehold charges (if buying a leasehold property).
For sellers: office copies, title plan and management information (if selling a leasehold property).
Make sure to budget for all of the above conveyancing costs and to get a fixed fee conveyancing quote from several firms, to compare value.
Making the right choice of solicitor is key to the whole process:
- Cheap Conveyancing
- Fast Conveyancing
- Best Conveyancing Service
Should you get a property survey if you're a cash buyer?
We always recommend that property buyers get a RICS home buyers survey to find out if the property you're looking to buy has any suspicions of defects such as subsidence and damp.
Anyone buying with a mortgage must book and pay for a mortgage valuation, carried out on behalf of the lender. This survey, although never as thorough as a RICS home buyers survey, at least considers the condition of the property even if only passingly.
There is no requirement to book any kind of survey if you're buying with cash, however unless you are yourself a property expert, you risk many things going wrong. Defects like subsidence can cost upwards of 10s of £1,000s to rectify and you would be passing up on gathering powerful evidence that could be used to bargain with the seller for a reduction in price if, say, any defects were found.
You should also consider the future resale of the property. Anyone buying with a mortgage will themselves have to get a mortgage valuation and a large percentage of buyers do organise RIC home buyers surveys.
By getting such a survey before you buy the property, you are eliminating much of the possibility of getting a nasty surprise later, if there are any defects. It may even be that they are so bad that you choose to pull out of the purchase, on the grounds of the survey report.
