WHAT IS CONVEYANCING?
Conveyancing is the whole process that a solicitor attends to when you decide to buy or sell your home. Conveyancing is not easy and is best dealt with by a professional, such as a solicitor who is an expert. Part of it can be extremely complex but in straight - forward language here is a brief description of what is usually involved.

Work done before contract - Draft Contract
The solicitor for the vendor (i.e. the seller) will send to the solicitor for the Purchaser a draft contract. He sends this in duplicate as one will be signed by the Vendor and one will be signed by the Purchaser. The Purchaser's solicitor examines the contract carefully and if it is acceptable, approves it. The Purchaser's solicitors may however require amendments to the contract or other Clauses to be inserted in order to protect the Purchaser's interests and the solicitors will then negotiate with each other and eventually they will agree on a form of contract acceptable to both parties.

Office copy entries
If the land is registered land (which is most common these days) the vendor's solicitors will send to the Purchaser's solicitors "Office Copy Entries". This is a copy of the Land Register at the Land Registry relating to the particular property which the Purchaser wishes to buy. The Purchaser's solicitor will examine this very carefully and make sure there are no defects in the title or any adverse rights (such as rights of way) which could be enforced against the Purchaser which he does not know about. If the Purchaser's solicitor is not entirely satisfied on this document he will make further investigations and see if anything can be done to remove any adverse rights. The Purchaser's solicitor will be able to advise his client fully on such matters and also the possibility of taking out specialised insurance policies where there may be adverse rights that cannot be removed by any other means. Of course the Purchaser would be kept fully informed throughout.

Enquiries before contract
After having received the above documents from the vendor's solicitors, the Purchaser's solicitors will raise preliminary enquiries with the Vendor. This is a special document consisting of questions which the Vendor is required to answer and deals with such matters as adverse rights of way, other interests in the property, responsibility for fences etc. It is important that the Vendor replies to this enquiry as soon as possible in order not to delay the conveyancing process.

Local Authority search
This consists of a special document which is lodged with the Local Authority where the property is situated. It is also in a question and answer form and the Local Authority is required to disclose matters such as outstanding Land Charges, Road Proposals for the area, matters relating to Planning Permission, drainage etc. It is a very important document for the Purchaser's solicitors to see and examine thoroughly. The search may disclose matters which are adverse to the property and the Purchaser's solicitor will then wish to make further enquiries with the Local Authority and with the Vendor. It usually takes the Local Authority between three and six weeks to reply and when delays do occur in the conveyancing process, this is very often the reason why. Sometimes it may be possible to carry out what is known as a Personal Local Authority search, which is much quicker although more expensive. Local Search insurance may also be available.

Lease
If the Purchaser is buying a Leasehold (such as a flat or maisonette) the Vendor's solicitors will deliver to the Purchaser's solicitors a copy of the Lease. This is a very important document and has to be considered thoroughly by the Purchaser's solicitors. If there are defects in the Lease the Purchaser may find it difficult to sell the property at a later stage. Where there are defects it is sometimes necessary to enter into a Deed of Variation, i.e. a document in which the Freeholder and Lessee agree to amend the Lease. If the Leasehold should be purchased as a brand new Lease then it will be possible for the Purchaser's solicitors to negotiate at the outset with the Freeholder's solicitors regarding the terms and conditions to go in the Lease.

Mortgage
Most Purchasers are not able to purchase property for cash and have to borrow money from a Building Society or Bank. When the loan has been approved by the Lender and has been accepted in principle by the Purchaser, the lender will then usually instruct the Purchaser's solicitors with regard to the mortgage. Sometimes the Lender will instruct its own solicitor but usually if the Purchaser is borrowing the money from one of the High Street Building Societies or Banks the Purchaser's own solicitor will be instructed. The Solicitor has to check the mortgage conditions very carefully and make sure that the property gives adequate security to the Lender in respect of the loan. The Mortgage may have special conditions relating to retention of monies and undertakings to carry out works and all these have to be carefully examined by the solicitor so that he is certain that on the completion day there will be no problem in getting the money from the Lender.

Exchange of contracts
When all the pre-contract work referred to above has been completed and is satisfactory, the Purchaser's solicitor will report to his client on the matter and arrange for his client to sign the contract. On exchange of contracts the Purchaser is required to put down a deposit to be held by the Vendor's solicitors. The deposit is usually 10% of the purchase price. The purpose of the deposit is to ensure that the purchaser proceeds to completion as otherwise he is liable to forfeit his deposit. If the Purchaser cannot afford a full 10% deposit, it is sometimes possible to get the Vendor to agree to accept a reduced deposit. The Purchaser should tell his solicitor as soon as possible if he will require to pay a reduced deposit so that this can be negotiated with the Vendor's solicitors. It may also be possible to proceed under the "Deposit Guarantee Scheme". If the Purchaser thinks he may have difficulty in getting a deposit he should speak to his solicitor about this. Sometimes it is possible to use the purchaser's deposit on ones own purchase. When contracts are exchanged, a completion date is agreed, i.e. the date that the sale will be completed and the purchaser will get possession of the property and the Vendor will receive the purchase price.

After contract
The period between exchange of contracts and completion is usually two to four weeks. We do not recommend a period of less than two weeks. During this period the Purchaser's solicitor carries out final searches at the Land Registry, prepares the final Transfer documents for signature and the mortgage documents, reports on the matter to the Lender in order to obtain the mortgage money and ties up all the financial loose ends. At this stage the Purchaser will receive a Financial Statement from his solicitor dealing with all the financial aspects of the transaction. If there is any balance payable by the Purchaser, it will be payable at this stage, i.e. before completion.

On the completion day the Purchaser's solicitors will pay the money over to the Vendor's solicitors and receive the Title Deeds and other documents. The keys of the property will be handed over to the Purchaser and possession of the property given.

After completion as far as the Purchaser himself is concerned the matter is concluded although there is still much further work for the solicitor. Stamp Duty (if applicable) has to be paid and the documents prepared for, and sent to the Land Registry in order to register the property into the Purchaser's name. After registration the Deeds are sent direct to the Purchaser's Lender.

It is hoped that this brief outline of the Conveyancing process will help you to understand precisely what the solicitors are doing on behalf of the parties, but if you have any queries you should not hesitate to discuss matters with your solicitor who will always be only too pleased to assist you.

A word on "chains"
When a person buys a home, more often than not his Vendor is at the same time buying his own home and the person his Vendor is buying from is himself probably buying a home - and so on. This chain of transactions (or "Chain") can very often be quite long, with easily 7 or 8 (or more!) people in the chain. All these people are financing their own purchases by selling their own homes - so this means all in the chain will need to exchange contracts and arrange completion dates for the same date. And it is the need to have to wait for everyone in the chain to be ready to exchange contracts that can cause so much delay in conveyancing. Just as a metal chain is only as strong as its weakest link so a conveyancing chain is only as fast as the slowest person in it. So even though your own solicitor may be ready to exchange contracts, you may find that he will tell you that he is not able to do so until some other person in the chain is also ready and the whole matter will have to wait until that other person is ready. Your solicitor will inform you when the chain is complete and ready. If you are fortunate, you will only be one of a very short chain, or you may be really lucky and be a first time purchaser buying an empty property!

For a free quotation, email us at: conveyancing@truepennys.com