Gardner Champion Solicitors Avis 

Before I go into detail about the absolute horror show I experienced with this firm over 9 long and very stressful months, I want to say that Hafiza Begum was fantastic. In the last few weeks before completion she took on my case and was responsive, professional & really worked with a purpose of pushing things along on my behalf.

But Hafiza was the exception. The rest of this firm provided a level of service so deeply incompetent that it left me so frustrated and angry at times. I never want to experience anything like this again.

I used Gardner Champion for a shared ownership staircasing on my flat moving from 50% to 100%. I paid a £500 deposit in DECEMBER 2025, and didn't complete until late SEPTEMBER 2026. 9 MONTHS!

Taking 9 months for a staircasing transaction is completely unacceptable. I was repeatedly passed from one incompetent person to the next:

• Anis Dadu: Took on my case initially and then completely went ghost, dodging me for months on end.

• Nahal Allahi: I was passed to Nahal, who did the exact same thing. Nahal at one point sent a very rude and blunt email to my mortgage broker after they sent a chaser email on my behalf which was really uncalled for.

On top of the radio silence, the paperwork coming from both Anis and Nahal was consistently riddled with basic mistakes.

I had to phone and email relentlessly for weeks just to get an unhelpful response. The stress they put me through at times was really bad.

I was so desperate and ignored that I seriously considered driving 5 hours to their physical office just to force someone to look me in the eye and give me an update because getting through on the phone was impossible.

The absolute worst part of this is the financial damage it caused me. Because they wasted time for nearly a year, my original mortgage offer expired. I lost out on a fantastic interest rate because of this. Their laziness is now costing me much more money on the higher interest rate.

While I am grateful Hafiza redeemed this to an extent towards the end, the months of stress, dodged calls, and subsequent financial cost caused by this firm is unacceptable.

DO NOT USE THIS FIRM.

I had an excellent experience with Gardner Champion, particularly Isma Dad, who handled our conveyancing.We had to change solicitors at a late stage, but Isma took over the matter quickly, was professional, responsive and extremely helpful, and worked hard to get the transaction completed.She kept us informed throughout and made what could have been a stressful process much easier. Highly recommended, and a big thank you to Isma and the Gardner Champion team.

Hands down one of the best solicitors I have delt with, was abit skeptical online but they explained the situation, provided clear information, were always ready to help, will be back again

I had a terrible experience with Gardner Champion solicitors in trying to get my 100gb pounds deposit back from a cancellation of their online services, repeated attempts,emails to no avail,I have had to step it up to any get justice.Complete lack of customer satisfaction.

I had an amazing experience

My purchase has now completed successfully and I have collected the keys.

To be fair, when Ghalia Hussain became involved, the transaction did move forward. Queries were answered, issues were addressed, and she ultimately helped get the purchase over the line during a particularly difficult period of my life. For that, I am grateful.

However, the overall experience was undermined by repeated communication and case management issues throughout the transaction.

My original conveyancer went on extended leave without informing me, and I only became aware of this after chasing for an update and receiving an out-of-office message. The file was reassigned without any proactive communication, which immediately damaged my confidence in the process.

Throughout the transaction there were multiple occasions where updates, reports and documentation were promised by a particular date but were not provided as advised. This resulted in repeated chasing and uncertainty at key stages of the purchase.

The most significant concern occurred immediately before completion. A gifted deposit declaration that was required by the lender and clearly referenced within the mortgage offer was only identified and requested the afternoon before completion. This created an entirely avoidable last-minute scramble to obtain signatures and return documentation in order to keep the transaction on track.

There were also instances where information and payments that had already been provided appeared not to have been properly recorded, creating further unnecessary stress.

The legal work itself ultimately achieved the desired outcome and the purchase completed successfully. However, the communication, expectation management and file administration fell below the standard I would expect during such an important transaction.

In summary:

Positives

Purchase completed successfully.
Ghalia worked hard in the final stages to progress matters.
Queries were answered once the file reached completion stage.

Areas for Improvement

Communication and proactive updates.
Handover arrangements during staff absence.
Managing client expectations regarding timescales.
Earlier identification of lender requirements.
Internal file administration and tracking of information already supplied.

Overall, I am pleased to have completed my purchase, but the process was considerably more stressful than it needed to be.

⭐ 1/5 – My Experience with Gardner Champion Solicitors

After almost **nine months dealing with Gardner Champion Solicitors**, I can honestly say that this has been one of the most stressful professional experiences I have ever had.

The sale of my property started on **12 December 2025** and was finally completed on **13 August 2026**.

I am 45 years old, and I can honestly say that **I have never experienced anything like this in my life when dealing with a professional service**, particularly during what should have been a straightforward property sale.

Throughout the transaction, I experienced constant changes of solicitor/fee earner, poor communication, long periods without meaningful updates, repeated requests for documents, additional costs, and multiple changes to the proposed completion date.

There were occasions when documents that I had already provided appeared to be requested again, and new requirements were raised extremely late in the transaction, sometimes only days before an agreed completion date.

I was also charged an **overseas fee**, despite already having to deal with the transaction remotely from the United States.

The financial impact was significant. I continued paying the mortgage, Council Tax, insurance, water, gas, electricity and other property-related costs for almost nine months while the property was no longer being occupied by me. I also paid for several documents, Help to Buy requirements, valuations and extensions during the process.

The property was originally marketed at **£240,000**, and I agreed to sell it for **£233,000**, reducing the price by £7,000 in good faith and with the expectation that the sale would proceed quickly.

Instead, I experienced almost nine months of delays, uncertainty, additional expenses and stress.

The most frustrating part was the lack of clear and consistent communication. I often felt that I had to chase the firm for information about my own transaction rather than being proactively kept informed.

There were also several changes of solicitor during the process, which made matters even more difficult. Every time someone new took over the file, there appeared to be another period of waiting while they familiarised themselves with the case.

### One positive point

I do want to be fair and acknowledge that **Ghalia**, who became involved towards the final stage, was the solicitor who finally took control of the situation and pushed the matter towards completion. She communicated with the relevant parties, dealt with the outstanding issues and ultimately helped get the transaction completed.

My criticism is therefore not directed at her personally. In fact, I am grateful that she eventually managed to bring the matter to completion.

However, the fact that one solicitor had to come in at the final stage and work extremely hard to get everything resolved does not erase the problems I experienced during the previous months.

I did not receive an apology for the delays, the repeated changes, the additional expenses or the stress caused throughout the transaction.

### What I will do next

I intend to **report my experience to the appropriate regulatory and complaints bodies** so that the handling of my case can be properly reviewed.

My advice to anyone considering using this firm for conveyancing is simple:

**Pay a little more and choose another firm.**

In my personal experience, the money I might have saved by using this firm was absolutely not worth the stress, delays, financial costs and frustration I experienced.

The sale is finally completed, and I am extremely relieved that it is over. But after almost nine months of dealing with this transaction, I would **not recommend Gardner Champion Solicitors for conveyancing** and I would personally never use them again.

This review reflects my personal experience and the way I experienced the handling of my property sale.

I requested a quote for their services from them. I have been constantly hounded with calls from an AI voice with no option to opt out.

I would strongly advise anyone considering using Gardner Champion to think carefully. Anis, Zahid (useless trainee), Justin, Julie and resto of the team - pretty much I had to deal with the transaction, and chase everything mystelf (including checking documentations!?

My experience with this firm has been extremely stressful and disappointing. I instructed them to handle my Transfer of Equity and Remortgage, but the process was delayed significantly and the level of communication throughout was unacceptable.

I was initially quoted £489, but additional fees of over £800 were added later, despite no clear explanation being provided to me at the time and no prior warning that costs would increase so substantially.

Completion took place in March, but when I chased the matter myself in July, I discovered that the TR1 application had still not been submitted to HM Land Registry. I was also informed that there were outstanding prior applications preventing registration, meaning that despite the Transfer of Equity being completed and the mortgage being solely in my name, my former partner remains registered as an owner of the property.

I find this extremely concerning and believe this matter requires proper investigation.

I have raised a formal complaint regarding the delays, communication issues, additional charges, and failure to progress post-completion matters, but my complaint has still not been responded to.

My experience involved repeated chasing, unnecessary stress, and a lack of confidence that my matter was being handled properly.

Unfortunately, this has been the worst experience I have had with a professional service provider. I would not recommend this firm based on my personal experience.

Very stressful.
The online forms were dreadful in that they kept freezing and some were not relevant. When I phoned response times were long. I was given a case handler who was on long term leave. I was repeatedly told I needed to complete forms only relevant to the purchase of a house eg stamp duty and nothing could proceed until we did. As we only instructed for a sale these forms were not relevant. Eventually it was agreed we would disinstruct them and our deposit would be refunded. This is now proving difficult. Emails are not replied to. Very disappointing customer service

Gardner Champion Solicitors helped with my house sales . Hawa was my solicitor and I must say she was exceptional and outstanding from beginning to end. In all my years of buying and selling I have never met someone so efficient. She was professional, friendly, and always responsive to my questions almost immediately you emailed her. The clear communication and regular updates kept me informed at every stage, making what can often be a stressful process feel straightforward and hassle-free. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for efficient conveyancing team. If I could give her 10*** rating, I would.

Had a terrible experience with my last solicitors. Its the first time i have used gardener champion on recommendation and I was pleasantly surprised by the service and professionalism of DR Nahal Allahhi who has been dealing with my instructions. Everything was completed quickly and the the communication was fantastic. A long time since someone actually returned a call when promised. Thank you for everything.

Dr. Nahal allahi handled our flat purchase from auction we had a very short time for completion.
Nahal dealt with it all even tho sellers solicitor wasn’t responding fast enough but Nahal sorted it all and completed everything on time , we couldn’t have asked for a better faster service.
would highly recommend to everyone.

Huge thank you to Anis and his team at Gardner Champions for their support and service. Everything went smoothly. I would have no hesitation in recommending Gardner Champion to individuals, property investors and anyone who is seeking legal advisers who genuinely care about delivering excellent results and going above and beyond. Many thanks

Recommended to use Gardner by mortgage broker. Very unresponsive and don't feel that they where helping at all. 10+ emails sent in the last week with no answers. When I did finally get an answer, question wasn't answered.

Final email said - if you are happy with the service, please leave a review.

I would strongly advise caution when considering Gardiner Champion for conveyancing services.
I chose this firm through a comparison website due to their lower pricing, but in hindsight, I wish I had paid more for a higher standard of service. My purchase involved no chain, so I expected a relatively straightforward process. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
At the outset, I was assigned a solicitor who was extremely difficult to contact. Communication was minimal, and after several months of chasing, I eventually had my case reassigned. While I initially hoped this would resolve the issues, the problems largely continued. Responses remained slow, and I ultimately had to submit a formal complaint before seeing any improvement.
Although communication improved slightly after this point, it was still far from satisfactory. I frequently had to chase for updates, and it was very difficult to reach anyone by phone. As the transaction progressed and we approached exchange, the situation became increasingly stressful. There were long periods with little to no communication, and important matters—such as searches—were only progressed after I followed up. When I finally received the search results, it appeared they had only just been completed, very close to the exchange date. This raised concerns that these steps may not have been carried out in a timely manner without my intervention.
Most concerning was the lack of coordination on the day of exchange and completion. The solicitor handling my case did not appear to be aware that the transaction was taking place that day, which was extremely worrying at such a critical stage.
There were also issues with basic administrative tasks. I had to request corrections to the payment schedule multiple times, and after several attempts, I was sent a simple document rather than a properly prepared statement. It felt highly unprofessional to have to repeatedly correct documentation as a client.
I understand that conveyancing firms can have high caseloads, but a minimum standard of communication, organisation, and accuracy should still be expected. Based on my experience, this standard was not met.
Overall, this was a frustrating and unnecessarily stressful process. I would not use this firm again and would recommend others consider alternative providers.

Exceptional customer service from the start..
We were given updates regularly & it was a very smooth process..
Would definitely recommend!!!

I had a extremely frustating experience with Gardner Champion Solicitors.

They have been instructed to do a cash sale conveyance and I gave them a month to complete.

In the middle of the month as we have not exchanged contracts and I did not received any updates from the instructed solicitor N.h.l,
I sent several, and I mean several chaser emails to her and she never ever replied.

I also called several times at her extension and she never picked up the phone.

At the end of the month when she eventually decided to respond to my email she asked which property I was talking about, which it means she didn't
even started looking at my file, which is completely unacceptable!!!

Also, literally after 30 days she said, she did not have the details of the buyer solicitors, how come if she constantly deal with this buyer? This just show her level of incompetence.

I also contacted my bank asking if Gardner Champion Solicitors, contacted them asking for a redemption statement, they have never been contacted by
her during the month period showing again her lack of competence!

The buyer was purchasing my property in cash which is a quite straight forward transaction and I had to deal with unnecessary frustration by dealing with incompetence at its finest.

I will never instruct Gardner Champion ever again to deal with any of my affairs, they should be ashamed to run and conduct a business in such manner!!

Excellent service! I have completed my house purchase today. Saskia was supportive and clarified all my queries on time. Friendly and helpful. Recommend them for sure.

At first when I took on this company it seemed professional, how wrong was I! Started of with a solicitor then get given a trainee solicitor Hawabibi Modan, who grant you is a trainee, but being overlooked by 2 others Faizal Lunat & 1 other.
It was just a sale of my property (no onward chain what so ever) so should be simple (you think)!
I was practically doing the run around for this & that because the slowness of them getting back to me like others have stated email/phone is appalling, and when you did speak to them, there's no update (seriously) also they were trying to make me pay £750 for something that I ACTUALLY SORTED FREE!!
The completion date had always been set from the beginning, gets to days before completion and im deliberately being ignored! On the completion date at the 11th hour was told its not going to happen 🤬 so im not happy, the day after I had Faizal call me and he is ranting & shouting at me (January 9th 2026, I am sure their is a recording of this)? To which I asked him twice not to shout, how unprofessional is that? So I had to remain calm to get my sale done, finally 4 days later it did (3.5 months)!! Buyers were cash buyers so should have sailed through quicker.
This company is a joke.

Answer to your reply:
That's even a headache trying to speak to the person you want as you only get the reception who then puts you on to a different person! I rang to speak to Julie Ashley at the time but they wouldn't put me through or even give me her email? You have my phone number on record so it would be nice if one of the Directors rang me