Exeter is growing at both ends. On the east side, Cranbrook, a new town that was open fields not long ago, and the estates at Monkerton and Newcourt add a steady stream of new-build homes, with reservation agreements, warranty paperwork, estate rent charges and management company fees to be checked. In the middle, the Victorian and Georgian villas of St Leonards, Pennsylvania and Heavitree change hands at prices that would not look out of place in a Home Counties town, and student houses around Mount Pleasant and the university are bought and sold as investments, with the planning controls on new shared houses and the licensing rules for larger ones part of every purchase.
A property solicitor in Exeter will run the searches that matter locally: flood risk along the Exe in St Thomas, Exwick and Topsham, mining and radon in the west of the county, and planning history in the villages, where a barn conversion or an extension may never have had consent. Village and commuter-town purchases in Crediton, Cullompton, Exmouth and Dawlish often involve septic tanks, private drainage, unregistered rights of way and agricultural ties. Dartmoor's national park planning rules apply on the western fringe.
Landlord and tenant work covers student and family lets, possession claims in the county court at Southernhay Gardens and deposit disputes, and the rules for landlords have changed substantially under the Renters' Rights Act. Commercial property solicitors deal with leases of units on Marsh Barton, Sowton and the science park, shop leases in Princesshay and the High Street, and development agreements for the next phase of housing.
Conveyancing is quoted as a fixed fee; ask that searches, Land Registry fees and any new-build extras be itemised.
Exeter's property solicitors are listed below, verified firms first and then by distance. Read what conveyancing is, the legal fees for selling a house, commercial property law and the general property solicitors guide.
