First time homebuyers face a challenging yet exciting time when agreeing to buy their first property.
You may have heard the term “conveyancing” but be unsure what it actually means.
Here, we explain what conveyancing involves and how you can ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible.
What is conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the process of legally transferring home ownership from the seller to you, the buyer.
It typically takes around 12 to 16 weeks – it will start when the seller accepts your offer and end when you get the keys to your new home.
Buyers must always take professional legal advice to ensure that their new home is legally and safely transferred to them through conveyancing.
Instructing a solicitor
You will need to instruct a qualified solicitor to carry out the conveyancing process.
At Palmers, we will always explain the work that we will be undertaking and agree on costs beforehand.
Make sure you are satisfied that you will receive the service you are expecting for the conveyancing fee being charged. You can discuss any areas of uncertainty with us.
Providing information
You will need to provide your solicitor with relevant information, including the estate agent’s details, the seller’s details, the property’s details (for example, the address and purchase price), the length of the house-buying “chain,” your plans for use of the property, your mortgage details, and details of your deposit and from where you are providing the balance of purchase funds.
A monetary deposit from any source is subject to strict due diligence checks as to the source of funds and how the money has been accrued.
You will also be asked to complete a questionnaire about the proposed purchase and supply original evidence of identity, proof of address and evidence as to the source of funds (as referred to above).
It is a good idea to gather all the relevant documents and information before instructing a solicitor, as this will help speed up the conveyancing process.
What your solicitor will do
During the process of conveyancing, your solicitor will carry out a wide range of tasks on your behalf.
This includes checking the seller’s title deeds, communicating with the seller’s solicitor to answer any relevant legal questions which seem to be needed from looking at the papers supplied, and report to you on the papers to explain what is in them.
Your solicitor will advise you on issues that come up, such as legal defects that will either delay or prevent you from buying the property, or whether the property is subject to any pre-existing rules that might affect you.
Your solicitor will also handle exchange of contracts with the seller’s solicitor and order your mortgage money, usually to be available for the day before moving.
If a solicitor cannot – or may not – provide assistance on any particular matter, they will refer you to a qualified, trusted professional. An example of this is surveying, because this lies outside the expertise of solicitors.
Why you need a survey
A survey is carried out to assess a property’s condition, identify structural defects and determine whether more tests are needed to consider the condition and performance of internal systems, such as plumbing and electrical wiring.
All of these things could cost time and money to resolve and might lead to you seeking to reduce the purchase price if you did not know about them when making an offer to buy the property. If you fail to have a survey carried out, any defects in the building will be for you to put right, at your own cost.
Although a mortgage lender will employ a property surveyor, this is only to undertake a basic inspection known as a Lender’s Valuation to ensure the property value properly supports the amount which the lender is being asked to lend. The Lender’s Valuation is not a survey, nor is it carried out for your benefit.
You will not be able to rely upon it, even though you have paid for it to be done.
Therefore, you will need to commission your own survey. We typically advise that this be a full building (or “structural”) survey. There is a lesser survey available, known as a “Homebuyer’s Report” but this will not be as comprehensive or detailed as a building survey.
We will be able to recommend a suitable local surveyor.
What you need to do
Not all conveyancing matters are a solicitor’s responsibility.
Tasks that you will need to do independently include:
- Confirming that a Title Plan matches a property’s physical boundaries.
- Inspecting the property to see if there are any occupiers who are not named on the contract – this must be communicated immediately to your solicitor.
- Visually inspecting a property to identify issues for a lawyer’s or surveyor’s attention and then communicating those items to the relevant professional.
- Approaching the local authority’s planning department for advice on any plans for development.
If checks and visits reveal issues which worry you, we will advise you on how to act and what to do next.
Completion
Once you have provided all the necessary paperwork to your solicitor, they will contact the seller’s lawyer to arrange the legal transfer of the property. You will need to ensure that your deposit, if you have one, is ready at the time it is needed – on exchange of contracts – and that you have provided the necessary evidence as to the source of those funds well in advance. Up to ten per cent of the purchase price is usually paid over on exchange of contracts.
Completion Day is the day upon which the rest of the purchase money is transferred from the buyer’s solicitor to your solicitor. On that day, the title to the property will transfer to you and you will be entitled to receive the keys to your new home.
Post completion
Following completion, your solicitor will submit your Stamp Duty Land Tax return form, apply to the Land Registry for the title deeds (“register”) to be updated to show that you are the property’s owner, and apply to register your mortgage (if you have one) as a “charge” on the Register.
This process can take up to three months to complete (and sometimes longer), depending on the speed of the seller’s solicitor, the length of the chain, and any issues that may need resolving.
Get peace of mind with Palmers Solicitors
Choosing the right solicitors to trust with buying your new home is a crucial decision.
All homebuyers who instruct Palmers Solicitors to carry out their conveyancing will be looked after by an expert member of our residential conveyancing team.
Our professional conveyancing staff are here to offer to you practical and clear advice on the legal aspects and confusing procedures that need to be negotiated from the point of offer to moving house.
A combination of professional experience and use of sophisticated systems enables us to offer a speedy and economic conveyancing service.
We are also on the panels of the major mortgage lenders, enabling savings to be made in the majority of purchases and re-mortgages.
The knowledge and client care skills our team offers will provide reassurance and instil confidence at every stage of the process.
Contact our residential conveyancing team today to buy your first home with ease.