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An easy guide to property conveyancing

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Conveyancing is the legal part of transferring a property from one owner to another. In the UK, it’s quite a lengthy process.

There are legal differences between a conveyancer and a solicitor but these terms are often used interchangeably during this process.

Choosing a conveyancer

Friends and family may offer recommendations but they are unlikely to have used a firm more than once or even recently. Your estate agent will have a bird’s eye view of the local firms and be able to advise you on who has the staff and specialism to deal with your property.

BONUS TIP: Don’t base your decision on price. There’s no standard way to quote fees, which can be bamboozling. Don’t take the risk.

What do solicitors do?

There’s simply not enough space here to explain the whole legal process but here are some brief details to give you an overview.

  1. Draft contract and supporting documents received.

  2. Enquiries raised by the buyers’ side. These are questions about the paperwork. Act quickly with your questions and replies to keep the legal teams motivated to act quickly, too.

  3. Property searches. These can take quite some time. Local authorities, for example, can have a backed-up workload, particularly due to the pandemic.

Other searches might include:

  • Water authority

  • Flood risk

  • Title register and title plan

  • Environmental search

  • Mining

These searches will cost extra so be sure to budget for them.

  1. Sign contracts and transfer deposits. A completion date will be agreed.

  2. Completion usually happens a few weeks after exchange of contracts so be prepared to continue to be patient.

If you’d like to chat more about the details of this process and how we can help to get you “sale ready” in advance, or you’d simply like a recommendation for a conveyancer, give us a call on 01344 860121.

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