Conveyancing - what do you need to know?

Although we already have a section dedicated to conveyancing on our website, we have decided to introduce you to this topic in a little more detail. From today’s article you will learn:

• What is conveyancing

• How much it costs

• Who does conveyancing

• What the whole process looks like

If you are planning to buy a home in the UK or are at the stage of looking for a mortgage, this guide explains the key steps.

What is conveyancing?

Conveyancing is the series of legal steps involved in transferring ownership of a property. In England and Wales, conveyancing is carried out by solicitors or licensed conveyancers. This article describes the process in England and Wales; the rules and procedures in Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.

Source: MyHomeMove

In other words, it covers the legal steps needed to transfer the property into your name. You will also usually need a conveyancer (a solicitor or licensed conveyancer) if you remortgage to a new lender – many lenders offer free legal work through their chosen conveyancer – or if you transfer a share of the property to someone else (a transfer of equity), particularly where there is a mortgage, as the lender will normally need to consent and insist on professional conveyancing.

Conveyancing is a fairly complex process and the components can vary, but the most common are:

• Preparation of the purchase or sale contract

• Negotiation of contract terms

• Verification of the legal status, especially relevant for a property purchased under Leasehold

• Checking any issues raised by your survey (the survey itself is arranged separately with a surveyor)

• Verification of the local development plan

• Analysis of the mortgage agreement

• Taking care of insurance matters

• Exchange of contracts and transfer of money with completion of transaction

• Registering the property with HM Land Registry and, in England, paying Stamp Duty Land Tax on your behalf

Source: hoa

How long does conveyancing take?

Conveyancing involves several stages, so it takes time. The timescales below are indicative only – every transaction is different.

Preparatory activities

Your solicitor’s work begins as soon as you accept the offer to purchase the property. Your cooperation with the lawyer will begin by informing him or her of all the important details of the transaction. Subsequently, your chosen law firm should contact the seller’s solicitor and deal with the analysis of the legal status of the property and its surroundings.

How long local authority searches take depends on the council: local authority searches often take around two weeks, but some councils take considerably longer.

Contract

Once the law firm has completed the preliminary procedures, your lawyer will work on the contract for the purchase of the property. This task requires cooperation between the parties to the transaction, as there will usually be some points of disagreement and negotiation, for example due to circumstances discovered during the local search.

How long this stage takes varies from one transaction to another, depending on how quickly enquiries are answered and whether any issues need to be negotiated.

Exchange of contracts and completion

At this stage, your solicitor or conveyancer will take care of the final formalities and arrange a specific date for the handover of the keys to the property (completion). Completion takes place on a date agreed between the parties at exchange, often around a week later; there is no fixed legal period. At this point, your solicitor or conveyancer will transfer the money to the selling party.

The gap between exchange and completion can be longer, for example if the seller needs more time to move.

There is no fixed conveyancing timescale. Straightforward transactions may complete within 12–16 weeks, but chains, leasehold enquiries, searches and mortgage arrangements can make the process considerably longer. Ask your conveyancer for an estimate for your transaction.

What can delay conveyancing?

There are also a number of problems that can prolong conveyancing. Among the most common are:

• Problems with the legal title of the previous owner

• Problems detected during the building survey

• The seller not returning the TA6 property information form or other documents promptly

• Problems obtaining a mortgage

• Delayed purchase of a new property to which the seller is to move

• Slow response by authorities to requests for documents

Source: hoa

Who deals with conveyancing?

In England and Wales, conveyancing can be handled by a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer. Solicitors are lawyers who give legal advice, draft documents, conduct negotiations and verify documents; licensed conveyancers are specialist property lawyers.

How to find a solicitor or conveyancer

There are several ways to find a lawyer:

• Ask your friends who have recently bought a house for their opinion on the law firm they used. If it is positive, it is worth considering this company

• Ask your broker and estate agent to recommend a law firm. They can usually suggest a few firms

• Use the internet and Google Maps to find law firms in your area. You will probably get the most options this way

• You can view the conveyancing quote tools on our Find a solicitor page. Availability, scope and final fees must be confirmed with the legal provider.

We believe that the best solution is to combine all the above methods. The more sources of information you use, the greater the chance that you will be satisfied with your choice of law firm.

What should guide you when choosing a solicitor?

Let’s assume that you already have a list of law firms and are wondering which one will be the best. Consider first and foremost:

• Reviews about the firm, for example from Google Maps

• Check that the firm is regulated: in England and Wales, solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and licensed conveyancers by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), and you can check both on their online registers.

• Price of services

• Location of the firm

• If your language skills are not good enough, look for a law firm whose lawyers communicate in your native language.

For many buyers, price is an important factor. Remember, however, that larger firms may offer a less personalised service than smaller ones, so if personal contact matters to you, a smaller firm may suit you better.

How much does solicitor assistance cost?

The cost of conveyancing depends on many variables, including the purchase price, whether the property is freehold or leasehold, where it is, the number of buyers and how the purchase is funded.

Fees vary considerably between firms, so ask several solicitors or licensed conveyancers for an itemised quote. Check that it includes the legal fee, VAT and disbursements – such as search fees and the HM Land Registry fee – and whether any extra charges apply.

Conveyancing of leasehold properties

For leasehold properties, the legal handling of the transaction is a little more complicated and your solicitor will have to deal with additional issues.

Source: hoa

Leasehold means that you own the property for a set period under a lease, usually between 90 and 999 years, rather than owning the building and land outright. When a leasehold property is sold, the lease passes to the buyer, so the landlord (freeholder) may need to be involved.

For the purposes of this article, let us just point out that:

• When buying a property, check whether it is freehold or leasehold. In England and Wales, most flats are leasehold. Houses can be leasehold too, especially if bought through a shared ownership scheme.

• In addition to the extra conveyancing work, leasehold can carry further costs, such as service charges and, depending on the lease, ground rent (for most leases granted on or after 30 June 2022 you usually cannot be charged more than a “peppercorn” ground rent)

• If you want to buy a leasehold property, it is essential to check how much is left on the lease

Remaining lease term

If you are considering a leasehold property, it is essential to check how long is left on the lease. Most lenders won’t lend on a leasehold property with less than 70 years left on the lease, and some want more than 80 years.

The fewer years the lease has left, the less the property tends to be worth, and once 80 years or fewer remain, the cost of extending the lease increases significantly. The cost of extending a lease depends on several factors, but it can run into thousands of pounds. For this reason, check the lease length carefully before you buy. Since 31 January 2025, in England and Wales you no longer need to have owned a leasehold property for two years before using your statutory right to extend the lease. You will usually also need a solicitor for a lease extension, so factor their fees into the overall cost.

Summary

Conveyancing is a very complex subject and the amount of procedures stresses even those who have had to deal with them several times each. Do you feel this way too? If so, head on over! Our advisers will be happy to answer all your questions and help you with all your problems. If you’re planning to buy a property in the UK and are looking for a broker, don’t wait and sign up today for a free, no-obligation consultation where you’ll see that owning your own home doesn’t have to be difficult at all!

Want to find out more? Read other articles from our blog:

• What to ask a mortgage advisor?

• Why do I need income protection insurance?

• How to buy a house in the UK

• Stamp Duty Land Tax explained