The survey is back, the mortgage offer is in, and the solicitor has just explained that the freehold of the house belongs to a college that has owned the land for centuries. Conveyancing in Cambridge has features that buyers from elsewhere do not expect: college and university freeholds, prices among the highest in England outside London, and a ring of new districts at Eddington, Trumpington, Northstowe and Waterbeach with estate rent charges and management companies that need reading before exchange rather than after.
Leasehold flats cluster around the station and CB1 and along the river, and lease length, ground rent and service charges still decide whether a flat is mortgageable, even after recent leasehold reform. Shared ownership is common, and the terms of staircasing and resale matter. Victorian terraces off Mill Road and in Romsey bring party wall questions, flying freeholds and boundary disputes over gardens a few feet wide.
Letting is a large part of a Cambridge property solicitor's work. Students from two universities and staff on short research contracts fill houses in multiple occupation that need a licence from the city council, and the Renters' Rights Act is changing how every tenancy ends, so landlords are rewriting agreements and procedures. The county court on East Road hears possession and deposit claims.
Commercial work is dominated by laboratories and offices: leases on the Science Park, the Biomedical Campus and Granta Park, with fit-out, break clauses and dilapidations negotiated hard, alongside shop leases in the city centre, farm sales on college land and planning across the Greater Cambridge area.
Residential conveyancing is nearly always fixed-fee; ask for a quote that separates searches, Land Registry fees and stamp duty from the solicitor's own charge.
Property firms serving Cambridge are listed below, verified firms first and then by distance. See what conveyancing involves, the legal fees for buying a house, landlord and tenant law and commercial property law, or the general guide to property solicitors.
