Conveyancing in Brighton and Hove

Conveyancing is the legal work that gets a sale or purchase across the line. In Brighton and Hove, that means checking the title, dealing with your contract pack, raising enquiries, and ordering searches that cover the property and the area around it. The usual set includes a Local Authority search, a Drainage and Water search, and an Environmental search, because those reports can flag planning, drainage, contamination, and other issues that do not show up in a viewing on a road like Lewes Road or Western Road.

For a flat in Brighton and Hove, the lease often takes more attention than the bricks and mortar. A leasehold file can bring service charge accounts, ground rent clauses, management company replies, and building insurance questions into the mix, while a freehold house in BN2 or BN41 is usually simpler. That is why an ordinary purchase can take 8-12 weeks for freehold and 12-16 weeks for leasehold, though the pace still depends on the chain and on how quickly the other side replies.

Our panel of regulated solicitors, many regulated by the SRA and some licensed conveyancers regulated by the CLC, deal with the legal detail while you keep an eye on the move itself. They check the title plan, confirm what is included in the sale, review restrictions, and flag anything that needs a reply from the seller or landlord. If you are selling, they also prepare the draft contract, reply to enquiries, and deal with the transfer on completion day.

• Local Authority search for planning and building control history
• Drainage and Water search for sewers and supply routes
• Environmental search for contamination and risk flags
• Title review for rights, covenants, and boundaries

That matters because the market mix here is shaped by the local price spread, not a generic South East average. homedata.co.uk records put detached homes at £843,000 in March 2026, while flats and maisonettes sat at £293,000, so a buyer in one postcode can face a very different legal route from a buyer in the next.

What the solicitor can do is check the title, the searches, and the survey replies with care, then flag anything that needs further evidence. For a coastal area like Brighton and Hove, that still leaves room for environmental checks, drainage questions, and a close look at the lease if the property is a flat.

Price and volume also affect how the case feels. homedata.co.uk data shows 2,918 sales in 2023, down from 4,339 the year before, which suggests the chain can still be a live issue even when the property itself looks ready to go. At £404,000 on average in March 2026, many buyers will cross the £250,000 Stamp Duty threshold, while some first-time buyers may still sit inside the £425,000 relief band, so the SDLT calculation needs to be right from the start.

The legal side often matters more than the viewing notes. A terrace at £470,000 can have a different ownership structure from a flat at £293,000, and a leasehold pack can add work even when the building looks tidy from the outside. That is why our panel checks the papers before exchange, not after the key handover when problems are harder to fix.