Howells Solicitors

I would not recommend this firm to anyone. My experience was extremely stressful from start to finish. Communication was one of the biggest issues. My calls regularly went unanswered, I struggled to get hold of anyone, and when I did leave messages I was rarely called back. Everything took far longer than it should have, leaving me constantly chasing for updates. What disappointed me most was the complete lack of guidance. As a client, I relied on my solicitors to explain the process and tell me exactly what I needed to do. They deal with property transactions every day, whereas most clients buy or sell a house only a few times in their lives. It is their responsibility to provide clear instructions and make sure their clients understand their obligations. Despite knowing I was abroad before completion, I was never clearly told that I needed to leave the keys with the estate agent or make alternative arrangements. I was also waiting for the buyers to confirm which furniture they wanted to purchase before I could finalise moving everything out. On top of that, I had been reassured that the buyers were not in a rush to take possession, which gave me the impression there was some flexibility. When things went wrong, instead of accepting that there had been poor communication and a lack of advice, the blame was placed entirely on me and I was presented with additional costs. I even had to cut short my holiday, pay almost £400 for replacement flights, and travel back to the UK to resolve matters myself. The stress caused by the way my case was handled became so overwhelming that I ended up spending a night in hospital. No client should be put under that level of pressure because of poor communication and lack of support. Overall, I found the service unprofessional, the communication poor, and the guidance inadequate. I expected my solicitors to protect my interests and clearly explain what was required of me. Instead, I was left feeling unsupported throughout the process. I would not use this firm again, nor would I recommend them to anyone looking for a solicitor.

I want to say a big thank you to Rachael, she was efficient, patient and kind towards me and I cannot fault her service. Rachael continuously kept me updated and is very knowledgeable, during a difficult time she made things a lot easier for me so thank you very much. Would highly recommend Howells

Howells have been amazing. They have handled the sale of my house and all matters relating with the professionalism that we all expect from solicitors/conveyancing teams. However, Sara Miles team have gone above and beyond in their efficiency and communications. Always ready to explain, whilst be caring and supportive on the phone and with e-mails and documentation that was clear and relevant. In particular Cheyanne was on the ball, polite, kind, attentive and responsive - giving a service that took the stress and worry away. When there was an issue, it was addressed and explained to me, and together we resolved the challenges. I have bought and sold many properties over the past 43 years, and this experience was by far the best. The company pricing was also competitive and I can only recommend Howells for their treatment of my sale. I wish all great success moving forwards.

A big thank you so Sara for Dealing with the purchase of my first home! She kept me updated and was only a phone call away when I needed anything, thank you! Xx

Our transactions did eventually complete. This was not the result of efficient legal work, but because we were persistent enough to stop them quietly grinding to a halt. What you can expect (based on our experience with the Swansea office) when working with Howells Legal: • Cash statements containing basic errors • Money confirmed as owed but not returned — until chased, repeatedly • Documents requested, received, misplaced, then requested again • Long stretches of silence, followed by selective replies • Even longer silences broken only by persistent chasing from our side • Multiple versions of “final” figures — none of which were actually final By mid‑process, progress stalled completely. We were told management companies were “unresponsive”. Out of curiosity (and necessity), we contacted them ourselves and obtained the missing paperwork. From that point on, we were effectively doing the job of our solicitors — chasing third parties, reconnecting threads, and keeping the transaction alive. At various stages we found ourselves auditing figures after they had already been issued as final, managing expiry risks on paid valuations, and correcting errors that should never have reached a client. Conveyancing became less a professional service and more a group project, with the professionals playing a surprisingly small role. To be clear, these weren’t grey areas or matters of interpretation. They were administrative failures, lost documents, and follow‑through gaps, many acknowledged in writing — but rarely resolved without pressure. Notably, the word “apologies” never appeared from those responsible. If you enjoy project‑managing your own conveyancing and supervising basic financial administration, this may be tolerable. If you expect your solicitor to do those things for you, I’d strongly recommend looking elsewhere. And for the record: We are still owed money. Complaint number two is already in progress

I had an extremely poor experience with this solicitors firm and would strongly advise others to avoid them, especially first-time buyers. Communication was appalling. Emails were rarely answered, and when I tried calling, the phone was almost never picked up. I was left chasing constantly, with no updates or reassurance throughout the process. When paperwork was eventually sent to me, it was incomplete, with important documents missing. This showed a serious lack of attention to detail and caused unnecessary stress and confusion. As a first-time buyer, I relied on my solicitor for guidance and clear explanations. Instead, my questions were often ignored or not properly answered, and I felt I was treated poorly and not taken seriously. Overall, the service was unprofessional, disorganised, and incredibly frustrating. This was meant to be an exciting milestone, but it was made stressful due to their lack of communication and support. I would not recommend this firm to anyone.

Avoid. I used their services five years ago to complete my first house purchase, and they were absolutely shocking. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the developer’s solicitor contacting me about the lack of progress, I’m not sure anything would have been done. Emails went unanswered, and at one point I had to call them daily to make sure things were moving forward. Whenever I visited in person, they left me standing in a tiny reception area and made me feel very unwelcome. The only reason I’m writing this review now is because I came across the old emails, and reading them gave me a full flashback to the whole ordeal.