Solicitors role in property purchase

I am often asked about the role of a solicitor in the process of purchasing a property in the UK and this article aims to explain just that.

Conveyancing

The legal process involved in the purchase of a property is called Conveyancing and this is usually carried out by a solicitor or sometimes a licenced conveyancer. As soon as your offer on a property is agreed by the estate agent / seller of the property you would be asked for the contact details of your solicitor so it is a good to identify your solicitor even before you finalise the offer with the estate agent / seller.

Once the contact details are given to the other side your solicitor will get in touch with the seller solicitor and start the Conveyancing process. The usual first steps involve getting proof of identity and proof of address for you the buyer to comply with the money laundering regulations and its also usual for them to collect a small payment of say about £100 or so on account for them to spend on your behalf to collect more information about the property. Once this is all set up they will approach the seller solicitors to get more details from the about the property and also collect the draft contract.

A conveyancer's job is to take care of all legal aspects of moving house and they also become your channel of communication with the sellers their job includes:

Local search with the local council to make sure all their requirements are met

Land charges search

Environmental search (if applicable)

Land registry which maintains the names and addresses of owners of the property and other interested parties such as mortgage lender

Stamp duty that is payable to HMRC

Home information packs (HIP)

They do a detailed title investigation to make sure the property you are buying has no legal problems and there is no one else apart from the seller who has a claim on the property

Raise questions about the property and seek answers from the seller side

Deal with the leaseholder of the property (if applicable – applicable for flats / maisonette)

Collect information about what is included and not included in the sale of the property (furniture and fittings) so if you assume the sale includes something then make sure it is mentioned in this list, if it is not mentioned in the list then the chances are the property will not be sold with it.

Give you contact details of the utility service providers and usually their contact details as well

They also act as a trusted source for the mortgage lender to hand over the mortgage money at an appropriate time to ensure that this money is used only for the purchase of the property and for no other purpose.

They would also act to ensure that the interest of the mortgage lender and the conditions mentioned in the mortgage offer are complied with

They would discuss with you, the seller and other interested parties to arrive at a date in which you can exchange contracts (the date in which you are legally bound to buy the property ) and date of completion ( the date at which you get the keys to the property and from where the mortgage payments begin)

Do you always need a solicitor?

In theory you don’t need to have a solicitor or a licenced conveyancer to act for you in the purchase of the property however in reality for most of us buying a property we would need to appoint one simply because of the complex nature of the work they under take and the fact that any mistake could be absolutely expensive and also the other parties involved such as the sellers, estate agent, mortgage lender would not be happy to deal with you directly instead of your solicitor.

Solicitor fees

The fees payable to the solicitor would depend upon a lot of things such as the property price, the property type (leasehold / freehold) etc. Apart from the fees that you directly pay to the solicitor for their services, solicitors are you window to a lot of other payments such as stamp duty, land registry charges, search fees etc (called disbursements)

So it is always best to get a quote from the solicitor and carefully go through it to understand what is involved and what are the other likely extra costs.

Ideally a solicitor should give you a transparent fee structure and explain the disbursements in full. However sometimes you come across solicitors who don’t give you the full picture at the beginning and come up with surprises that upset your financial planning.

From my personal point of view, whilst the fees for the solicitor is a very important consideration you must select a solicitor based on his performance levels, transparency and trust. Don’t forget that the solicitor will be your point of contact for the entire transaction and choosing an inefficient solicitor simply because he is a few pounds cheaper could prove to be a disaster.

ArticleSource: ArticlesAlley.com

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About the author

Sekkappan Alagu, the sole trader trading as Nachu Finance has 10 years of professional experience. Nachu Finance is the trading name of Sekkappan Alagu who is an independent mortgage advisor based in North West London (Harrow) and happy to service clients in a 50 mile radius. For more information visit http://www.nachu.co.uk

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Solicitors role in property purchase