Buying and selling in Guernsey

The Conditions of Sale document is the main contract between you and the sellers. We'll review this document with you and address any questions you may have. Once both you and the sellers sign this document, and the deposit has been paid and endorsed by the estate agent, it becomes a binding contract. 

When buying a property, you will need to give consent to the conveyance of the property in the Royal Court of Guernsey (Contracts Court) to complete the purchase. This court runs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9.30am. A member of Ogier’s Property team will attend the Contracts Court with you and assist you through the process. While new purchasers often prefer to attend and experience the Contracts Court, if you cannot attend or prefer not to, you can give power of attorney to a member of our team to appear on your behalf.

You will be required to pay document duty on both the purchase contract and any registered mortgage. Our team will help calculate the document duty rate of your property. You’ll likely pay a higher rate on any property on the island that is secondary to your main residence. Try our online calculators to work out what your document duty may be. 

Our experienced property team will look to complete a conveyance within five weeks. However, often a date for completion is aligned with sales and purchases of other properties in a chain. 

We will check the title to the property using the records of conveyances kept at the Greffe (a public registry) and records held at the Cadastre (another Guernsey records office) to ensure the seller has legal rights to sell the property. We will ensure that you receive good and clear title to the property to safeguard your future ownership

We're here to help you fully grasp the detail of your mortgage. Our team will explain all the documents provided by the bank's lawyers, ensuring you're thoroughly informed before you make one of the most significant financial decisions of your life. 

We recommend that you instruct us to obtain an immunity certificate for your new property from Guernsey’s environment department. This document can reveal any issues with the planning history of the property and will give you immunity in respect of any historic or ongoing planning enforcement actions that may impact your property. An immunity certificate will always be required if you are using a mortgage to purchase. 

We visit the property to make sure the description in the contract matches what is on site. If we identify any issues, we'll discuss these with you and suggest potential solutions, for example involving a neighbour to clarify a boundary. 

We are unable to provide advice on the structural condition or value of any building and strongly recommend that you obtain a property survey. If you’re securing a loan from a bank, they will require a survey conducted by one of their approved surveyors. 

Purchasing a property is a significant life event. To ensure your assets are protected and your wishes clearly documented, we highly recommend reviewing your will or, if you don’t already have one, making a will. Our dedicated Estate Planning, Wills and Probate team will guide you through updating or drafting your will to reflect your property purchase. 

Our team will prepare a draft Conditions of Sale document for the sale of your property and liaise with the buyer's lawyer regarding any queries (or review them if they were prepared by the estate agent). We will review the draft conveyance prepared by buyers' lawyers.  

When selling a property in Guernsey, you will need to give consent to the conveyance of the property in the Royal Court of Guernsey (Contracts Court) to complete the sale. This court runs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9.30am, a member of Ogier’s Property team will join you. If you can't attend, you can give a power of attorney to a member of our team to appear on your behalf.

We'll liaise with your mortgage lender to ensure all mortgages and secured charges on the property are settled from the sale money and existing charges cancelled.