Buying This Woodland (England & Wales)

Buying a woodland from Woods4Sale should be a straightforward process. We suggest you look at a few before you commit to making a purchase.

A visit to the woodland is essential before you confirm you wish to buy it. We reserve the right to refuse to sell any woodland to purchasers who have not been to see it first.

Once you have viewed a woodland and decided you wish to buy it, please send an email confirming your intention to info@woods4sale.co.uk with the following information (please ensure you have funds in place before doing this):

• The name and price of the woodland
• Confirmation you have viewed the woodland
• Full name (including middle names), address, phone number and date of birth of all legal purchasers
• Please confirm how you will be funding the purchase and that you have cleared funds available
• The full contact details of your instructed solicitor (including name of company, contact name, email address, telephone number and full address)

Once we are satisfied you have met the criteria above, the woodland be taken off the market and marked as sold on our website. We will not then accept any other offer.

We have a list of solicitors who are experienced in woodland conveyancing. Please visit the Recommended Solicitors page of this website. Solicitor fees can range from £600 to £1,500 (+ VAT) depending upon the complexity of the conveyancing. Other costs include recording the land registry title (£20 - £45 for woodlands up to £80,000), and searches which tend to vary from £50 to £150 and can be more expensive (up to £600) for a full set of searches/if searching a large area. Stamp duty only applies to woodland purchases in excess of £150,000.

We recommend you obtain a quotation from more than one solicitor to include all potential charges in any estimate and advise you agree a fixed fee in advance.

The Conveyancing Process

The conveyancing process should take no more than four weeks.  We ask all buyers to maintain regular contact with their solicitors to keep the process moving and ensure a reasonably fast turn­around of documents. As part of the process you will be obliged to verify your identity and source of funding, and we may use a regulated third party to carry out online identity checks based on the information you provide us.

Conveyancing in England and Wales can be broken down into the following stages:

• You write to us confirming you want to purchase a particular woodland.
• The seller’s solicitor writes to your solicitor with a draft contract and a plan (map) of the woodland.
• Your solicitor sends off for local searches.
• Your solicitor sends pre-contract enquiries to the seller’s solicitor.
• They reply to your solicitor's enquiries.
• When all parties are happy with the contract, it is signed.
• Your solicitor sends a transfer document to the seller’s solicitor for signing.
• The seller signs the transfer and returns it.
• Contracts are exchanged and you pay the 10% deposit.
• Completion and payment of the full amount.

Once your purchase has completed, we will pay for your first year’s membership with the Small Woods Association, a charity promoting sustainable woodland management.

If you have any concerns at all during the sales process, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will help you in any way we can.