Zoe Touhey, Partner, Head of Residential Conveyancing West

Liz Deakin turned to Zoe Touhey’s Cheltenham Residential Property team when she and her husband needed advice with buying a home. Their conveyancing expertise and friendly service led to a smooth completion.

Grateful for their support, Liz said: “Thank you so much for your work in helping us to secure our home. Throughout the process, you and your team have been professional, extremely efficient and yet always approachable, caring and friendly.

“Our conveyancing was not in the least bit straightforward but you have made the whole thing seem incredibly easy. You've taken every bump in the road in your stride and enabled us to do the same. At every stage we've felt as though we were up to date, well informed and that we were in the best hands. It is rare that buyers like my husband and I feel able to respond to enquiries from a vendor or estate agent with certainty, knowing that everything is in hand, but we were always sure of this knowing that you were on the case. As we are not legal experts, I realise that we inevitably asked some ‘dumb questions’ throughout the process, but we never felt uneasy about asking - you always answered in terms we could understand and were patient when we were slow to catch up!

“We very much enjoyed the team approach which you have implemented - it has meant that we always knew that a team member would be working on our case and we haven't needed to worry that holiday or other absence might impact the process. Under your leadership, your team runs like clockwork and we've valued working with them, both collectively and as individuals.

“Whilst I recognise that HCR is not a ‘budget’ option, the fact that you made the process so smooth has undoubtedly saved us far more money overall than the difference in upfront cost.

“I'm afraid you are stuck with us now. There will be further purchases in the future and we will be straight back to you. I've also started to recommend you to others and will continue to do so. If you would like to use us as a reference, please feel free. I'd happily take a call if a prospective client would like to speak to an existing customer.”

Zoe Touhey’s persistence and determination to secure her client’s first home, a flat in London, succeeded in spite of a complex lease which needed alteration and difficulties with access to the property.

Despite having to stay with friends and family while Zoe tackled the complexities, her client was delighted with the support Zoe gave her while the issues were resolved. She said: “Zoe was amazing – she explained everything so well; she was fantastic!”

After a number of solicitors had tried to solve the problem, Harrison Clark Rickerbys’ Real Estate Residential Team in Cheltenham rectified a complicated title issue for the Sandersons.

When they were told a restriction on their property title was making it unsellable, the Sandersons were desperate to find a solution to the problem.  Zoe Touhey, partner and Head of Residential Property in Cheltenham and Worcester, looked at the issue from a practical perspective and broke the issue down into its simplest form.

A certificate needed to be provided by a management company which was no longer in existence, but a new one had taken over. Zoe was able to draft the relevant documentation needed by HM Land Registry in order to resolve the issue.

Not only did this benefit the clients who were now able to sell their property, it also benefited the new management company as the properties for which they were responsible could also be sold.

Mr Sanderson said: “Having previously been told by other solicitors that this would be an extremely costly and time consuming issue, I was pleasantly surprised that Harrison Clark Rickerbys rectified this very quickly and my sale moved to completion very smoothly.”