Con­veyanc­ing is the legal trans­fer of a prop­er­ty from the Sell­er to the Buy­er. Con­veyanc­ing cov­ers all the legal admin­is­tra­tive work to ensure a house pur­chase is valid in the eyes of the law. The Con­veyanc­ing process is usu­al­ly car­ried out by a Solic­i­tor who acts on the behalf of the Buy­er to ensure their client receives all the appro­pri­ate legal doc­u­men­ta­tion need­ed in order to val­i­date the sale. This includes the title deeds to the prop­er­ty and the land it sits on.

Why Hire a Con­veyanc­ing Solicitor?

Con­veyanc­ing is a long and com­pli­cat­ed legal process and we would always rec­om­mend using a qual­i­fied legal pro­fes­sion­al for all your Con­veyanc­ing needs to make sure you are pro­tect­ed from a legal per­spec­tive. If you are using a mort­gage, then your mort­gage lender will insist on a Solic­i­tor being used. Your Con­veyanc­ing Solic­i­tor will car­ry out a num­ber of admin­is­tra­tive tasks on your behalf such as…

  • Liais­ing with the Seller’s Solic­i­tor to obtain the con­tract pack 
  • Obtain­ing a copy of your mort­gage offer 
  • Con­duct­ing required search­es in rela­tion to the property 
  • Check­ing the legal title and rais­ing for­mal enquires 
  • Trans­fer­ring the deposit to the Seller’s Conveyancer 
  • Prepar­ing the com­ple­tion state­ment and trans­fer deeds for you to complete 
  • Request­ing pay­ment of the mort­gage advance from your lender 
  • Sub­mit­ting tax returns and pay­ing the required Stamp Duty Land Tax 
  • Send­ing the required doc­u­men­ta­tion to the Land Registry

Exchange of Contracts

The exchange of con­tracts is some­times con­sid­ered the most impor­tant part of the Con­veyanc­ing process. In order to exchange con­tracts all par­ties need to agree on a com­ple­tion date. Once this has been agreed, con­tracts are exchanged and both Buy­er and Sell­er enter into a legal­ly bind­ing com­mit­ment with a set com­ple­tion date, mak­ing it impos­si­ble to back out with­out incur­ring legal penal­ties. The Seller’s signed con­tract is sent to your Solic­i­tor and your part of the con­tract, along with pay­ment of the agreed deposit, is sent to the Seller’s Solic­i­tor. Your Solic­i­tor will also pre­pare the Trans­fer Deed to trans­fer own­er­ship of the prop­er­ty to you once it has been signed by the Seller’s Solicitor.

How Long Does the Con­veyanc­ing Process Take?

Con­veyanc­ing Solic­i­tors are often unable to give a spe­cif­ic answer to this ques­tion. In most cas­es, it will take between 8 and 12 weeks but it could take less time or longer depend­ing upon your indi­vid­ual circumstances. 

Fac­tors that can draw out the Con­veyanc­ing process include delays in get­ting a mort­gage offer; delays in gain­ing access to the prop­er­ty for a sur­vey; and prob­lems with the sur­vey results that require atten­tion. We always rec­om­mend dis­cussing any pos­si­ble caus­es of delay with your Con­veyanc­ing Solic­i­tor before­hand as they may be able to advise on alter­na­tive routes or solutions.

Whether you’re buy­ing res­i­den­tial or com­mer­cial, we here at Jack­son Bar­rett and Gass offer expert Con­veyanc­ing ser­vices for all your prop­er­ty buy­ing needs. Get in touch today at mail@​JBGass.​com.