To celebrate National Conveyancing Week, two of our Residential Property paralegals,
Megan Cockcroft
and
Zoe Mcconville
, did a weeklong takeover on our Facebook page and provided incredible insight into the work that goes on when conveyancers assist you with purchasing a property.
Here, you can read each stage and learn more about the fantastic work conveyancers do to help you get moved in to your new home!
You’ve found your dream home, how exciting! To move forward, you have instructed a conveyancer to manage the legal process for you. So what happens next?
- Before opening your file, you will receive a quote for our fees. This quote will need to be accepted in order for the file to be opened. and Once the file has been opened further documents will be sent to you to be completed.
- At Jackson Lees, our initial purchase documents include a Letter of Engagement, Terms of Business, Client Questionnaire, Source of Funds questionnaire and an online ID check. We also request ￡350 to cover initial searches and any further disbursements needed.
- Once you’ve completed your forms, your file gets transferred to a lawyer within the conveyancing team who will begin the work for you. They will work alongside a paralegal or assistant, sometimes both!
- Our legal team will await the Memorandum of Sale if there’s an estate agent dealing with the sale, or we will wait for the seller and their conveyancer’s details. We’ll also review all the documents you provided and may follow up with any questions we have.
Next step, searches and legal investigations!
STEP 2 – LEGAL INVESTIGATIONS
Congratulations! All your initial forms and checks have been approved and your conveyancing team are ready to get to work on legal investigations. So, what are they working on?
- When the Memorandum of Sale is received, we’ll confirm our instructions to the seller’s conveyancer and ask for all relevant documents, this is referred to as the contract pack. We will then obtain your authority to order searches on the property.
- Standard searches include: Local Authority Search, Water and Drainage Search, Environmental search, we also take out an insurance against Chancel Liability. Further searches may be needed based on the area, for example flood searches.
- Your lawyer will review the contract documents and report to you on the legal title you are purchasing and raise any queries to the seller if needed. They will also report back on results of the searches, and let you know of any issues. We may need to report certain issues to your lender (if applicable) as they are also our client.
- Enquiries will then be raised with the seller’s solicitor based upon the information received, this is so we can tell you as much as possible about the property before exchange.
- If you’re obtaining a mortgage, we’ll prepare your Mortgage Deed for signature, and draft your Stamp Duty Return (SDLT) or Land Transaction Tax Return (LTT) advising of the tax amount payable on completion.
- We will also send all drafted documentation to you for signature at this point, including the contract drafted by the seller and the transfer deed drafted by us. There may be additional documents needed for signing depending on your individual transaction, for example if you are purchasing with another person. This should be ‘for example a Joint Ownership Form if you are purchasing with another person.
It’s worth keeping in mind that signing documents promptly will help avoid delays down the line. These documents will only become legally binding when we exchange contracts. Some documents will need witnessing, so it is a good idea to have someone in mind (that is not a relative or involved in the transaction) available to do this for you.
Once these documents and checks are completed, we’re on the road to exchange!
STEP 3 – LEADING UP TO EXCHANGE
We’re getting closer! You’ve provided the relevant signed documents and your conveyancing team is preparing for exchange.
- Once we have all of your signed documentation, we will hold them on file awaiting your instructions on a completion date and your authority to exchange contracts. We will also take your instructions on the amount you have available for the deposit. You may be involved in a chain and this will need taking into account when agreeing the exchange and completion dates. A property chain is created when there are more than two linked sale and purchase property transactions. For example, where the buyers of a property have their own house to sell to fund their purchase, a chain is created.
- When a completion date is agreed and we get closer to the exchange of contracts, the file will be peer reviewed. We will then begin to make arrangement for exchange of contracts.
- We advise all of our clients to view the property again before the exchange of contracts, and we also recommend that you have the gas and electrics within the property tested by a competent person. This is because as soon as contracts are exchanged, you are legally bound to proceed and will take the property ‘as is’.
- We’ll usually need you to transfer money for the deposit a few days before exchange to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. If there are only a few days between exchange of contracts and completion, then we will need the full balance identified on the completion statement. If you’re buying with a mortgage, we will request the money from your lender by providing them with a certificate of title.
- Before we exchange contracts, we’ll contact you for your authority to do so. We will then call the seller’s conveyancer to exchange contracts, and you will receive a formal letter confirming the exchange. We will also remind you to start making any removal arrangements and, if necessary, to put the buildings insurance in place.
We’re nearly there! Next step, completion!
STEP 4 – LEADING UP TO COMPLETION
Contracts have been exchanged, your removal van has been booked, and you’re eagerly awaiting the keys to your new home! What are your conveyancing team doing to get you moving?
- Both practical and legal completion needs to take place. Practical completion involves ensuring the property has vacant possession and making arrangement for key collection. For legal completion, your conveyancing team will send the balance of money required for the purchase to the seller’s conveyancer. Once they have confirmed receipt of the money, completion has taken place!
- Practical and legal completion rarely happen at the same time, but your conveyancer will confirm when final completion has taken place.
- The seller’s conveyancer will then confirm that the keys have been released to you. Keys are usually held at the estate agent’s office, but you can make alternative arrangements to collect your keys with the seller.
Congratulations, you now have the keys to your new home! But while you’re opening a bottle of bubbly and unpacking boxes, your conveyancing team still has some work to do. Up next, post completion!
You’re now proud homeowners, you’re settling into your new place, but your conveyancing team still has some post completion work to do to finalise the sale.
- After completion, we will date the transfer and mortgage deed together with any other documentation required by the Land Registry. We will provide either originals or copies to the relevant party.
- We will also submit the Stamp Duty Land Tax / Land Transaction Tax form to HMRC or the Welsh Revenue Authority and pay any appropriate tax.
- We will then register your transaction with HM Land Registry. At this time, HM Land Registry is tackling a substantial back log in applications resulting in them taking longer to process than normal.
- Once the Land Registry has completed the registration, it will provide a Title Information Document which will show yourself as the new proprietor of the property. Your ownership and the Property will hold its own unique title number. A member of our post completion team will send you the Title Information Document for your records. You can also check it – online – by accessing the land register - https://search-property-information.service.gov.uk/
Once post completion tasks are finalised, our work is done and you can sit back, relax and enjoy your new home!
Thank you for buying a house with us! If you'd like to learn more about how our Residential Property Team can help you, you can get in touch here: https://bit.ly/3l3aQEL
