Conveyancing Knowledge Base

These days, most properties are now registered at the Land Registry and the legal documents are held electronically by them.  We will send you copies of the documents, and any other supporting documents once the application for registration has been completed. Any old deeds that are no longer needed to prove title to the property, would normally be sent to you.

The deposit must be sent to the seller’s conveyancers when contracts are exchanged. If there is an onward chain, the seller’s conveyancers may use the deposit for their related purchase. The deposit gives the seller some security that you will complete the purchase. The deposit is usually held by the seller’s solicitor in their account and is not released to the seller.

This is the amount of money (usually 10% of the purchase price) that a buyer is obliged to pay to the seller at the point of exchange of contracts. This is a part-payment of the purchase price. If the buyer then fails to honour and complete the contract after the completion date, the part-payment can be forfeited as the minimum amount the seller can take from the buyer for breach of contract. This amount of money is called the ‘deposit’.

These are expenses which are incurred during the conveyancing process. These range from third party payments such as searches on the property you are buying to fees such as telegraphic transfer charges which banks charge to transfer the money for a transaction from one party to another on the day of completion. You will also need to pay a fee to have ownership of the property transferred into your name at the Land Registry.

Stamp duty is a tax payable by the buyer to the Government when the ownership of land transfers. The amount payable is calculated as a percentage of the purchase price and varies depending on whether the property is to be lived in by the buyer, or bought as an investment. Concessions are available to first home buyers under certain eligibility rules and other reliefs may be available to a buyer depending on the property being purchased.

No you won’t, these days you don’t have to take time off work to visit your solicitor. Every aspect of the process can be completed remotely, including verification of your identity. Thomas Legal even offer the use of a mobile app which allows you to complete paperwork from your phone or tablet. This will often reduce the time it takes to complete on your transaction.

Usually, no. This would be a conflict of interest. The firm has a legal obligation to adhere to their parties’ best interests and this would make it difficult to do so. There are some rare exceptions, however.

Gazumping is when a seller accepts a higher bid for the property from a different buyer after having accepted an offer from another. Unfortunately, little can be done to prevent this, although a “Lock out” or “exclusivity” agreement can often ensure this doesn’t happen.

Conveyancing enquiries are the questions raised by the conveyancer acting for the buyer in a transaction. These are asked to help the buyer’s conveyancer to understand any potential legal issues that may affect the property that the buyer and or their mortgage lender may need to be aware of before committing to the purchase.

If you buy a leasehold, you are buying the property for a period, hence the ‘lease’. Unlike a freehold, you are not buying ownership of the property or the land the property stands on. Most flats in England and Wales are leasehold. They are subject to ground rent and service charges, which are payable to the freeholder. In general terms a leasehold property is a wasting asset as the value will decrease as the term of the lease also decreases over time.