What will a conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer do for you?

The thought of saving money on conveyancing or Home Information Packs fees by doing it yourself is undoubtedly an attractive idea. DIY conveyancing can be an ideal way to save conveyancing cost. You can do it yourself if you have endless patience, a lot of time, the ability to understand legalese, a passion for form-filling, access to office equipment and a copy of Which? Guide to Conveyancing.

However, you may find that your lender charges you several hundred pounds to have your work checked by their own conveyancing lawyer and that the seller’s conveyancing  solicitor is reluctant to deal with you. Consider the DIY conveyancing  route only if the house is a vacant, freehold property.

Below are some of the potential advantages of engaging a conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer .

Advice on Property Transactions
CONVEYANCING is the legal term for the small mountain of legal and  administrative procedures involved in buying and selling property. It is usual to get a conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer ( also known as property lawyer s ) to work through this paper mountain for you, but it is worth knowing the hoops he or she will have to go through.

Conveyancing law is complex and there are often several factors which, whilst crucial to a valid transaction, would not necessarily occur to a non-legally qualified person. Conveyancing solicitors or licensed conveyancers should be able to provide their clients with expert advice on a wide range of areas including mortgage finance, joint ownership of property and the meaning and likely consequences of the property survey. Although your conveyancing solicitor should be competent, he or she is not a clairvoyant and it is worth discussing any worries you have or problems you foresee.

Many conveyancing solicitors or property law firms can also assist in the preparation of a Home Information Pack or Property Information Questionnaire.

Negotiations
Liaising and negotiating with the other party’s conveyancing solicitor is an important aspect of conveyancing. Soon after an offer has been accepted on a property the conveyancing solicitor acting for the buyer will raise enquiries of the seller’s conveyancing solicitor  with a series of conveyancing questions relating to the property itself and the land around it. Conveyancing solicitors should know all the right conveyancing questions to ask and the answers to these questions may be crucial to the final contract agreed between the parties.

Negotiating can be stressful and not everyone is good at it. Having a third party, like a conveyancing solicitor, to do the negotiating helps them to protect their clients position and avoid being bullied by the other side.

Local Authority and Land Registry Searches
Conveyancing solicitors or property lawyer s carry out searches at the local authority which should reveal whether or not there are any planning applications on the building or surrounding land. These searches should also give notice whether the property has consent for residential use,.

Conveyancing solicitors and property lawyer s will also carry out searches of the information held by the Land Registry about the property being sold. Whilst these entries are accessible to the public ( on line ) a conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer should fully understand the possible implications of any cautions, notices, charges or restrictions that may be registered.

The Contract
The seller’s conveyancing solicitor  will prepare an initial draft conveyancing contract which will then be sent to the buyer’s conveyancing solicitor for their consideration. Most  contracts are based on the Standard Condition of  Sale and as such lay person doing their own conveyancing could possibly draft a conveyancing contract. However, a conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer   will inevitably have a better idea of what is required for a particular conveyancing transaction  and what to look out for before the final version of the contract is agreed.

Conveyancing  Undertakings
Conveyancing solicitors and property lawyer s are able to give binding and enforceable undertakings that a particular thing will be done. This is a crucial part of a conveyancing transaction as undertakings are central to the exchange and completion events.

Contracts for sale of land are almost always exchanged over the telephone. Instead of either having to exchange contracts in person or waiting for a contract to be received in the post, the conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer   simply agree that contracts have exchanged. The conveyancing solicitor  acting for the buyer and the conveyancing lawyer for the seller will both give undertakings ( binding promises )  that the practical steps required for exchange of contracts will then follow. There is no value in non-legally qualified person giving conveyancing undertakings and as such they are not acceptable to conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer .

Exchange Deposits
The safety of a deposit payable by the buyer upon exchange of contracts is an important issue. If the deposit is paid directly to the seller, and they subsequently pull out of the sale, the buyer may find it difficult to get their deposit back. If the parties have conveyancing solicitors acting for them, the seller’s conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer should be required to hold the deposit until the sale completes.

Conveyancing After Completion – Stamp Duty
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) currently has to be paid by buyers on most residential sales. An SDLT return will probably have to be sent to HM Revenue and Customs following the sale even if the price paid falls below the Stamp Duty threshold. The SDLT return and any payment due must be sent to HM Revenue and Customs within 30 days of the sale. Penalties are generally payable on late returns or payments.

Where a buyer has a conveyancing solicitor or property lawyer acting for them complying with the SDLT requirements, and advising on any exemptions, would usually be part of the service they provide.