Whether you’re buying a residential property, a BTL investment property, or a Commercial Property, you’ll need someone qualified to handle the legal and administrative work required to buy the house or property.
You’re not legally obligated to use a Solicitor when buying or selling property. In theory, you can do your own conveyancing, but in practice, if you’re not suitably qualified to do so, it’s usually a terrible idea, which can lead to significant delays to the process of buying a house. It can often result in a complete collapse.
Generally, there are two types of qualified professionals who take care of the legalities regarding the transfer of property ownership, a Conveyance Solicitor or a Licensed Conveyor.
Conveyancing is the legal term for transferring ownership of property, whether you are buying or selling. It usually includes the following:
Handle contracts
Give legal advice
Carry out local council searches
Deal with the Land Registry, and
Transfer the funds to pay for your property
How Much will Conveyancing Solicitors charge me for buying or selling my property?
It varies, but it’s usually between £500 – £2500.
The price generally depends on the complexity of the purchase. For example, purchasing a leasehold property requires more paperwork than buying a freehold, so conveyancing fees can cost more.
You can go to www.theconveyancingteam.co.uk for expert SRA or CLC regulated Conveyancing Solicitors and Licensed Conveyancers who will give the best online competitive quotes.
How do I find a Professionally Qualified Conveyancer to help with buying a property?
- Ask for recommendations from friends and family.
- Use theconveyancingteam.co.uk to receive competitive quotes from Licensed Conveyancer and Solicitors;
- Search for local companies that specialise in Conveyancing;
- If you’re dealing with an estate agent to assist with your purchase, they usually recommend their own in-house Licensed Conveyancer or a preferred supplier. Be warned though, it’s usually an expensive option.
Important to note: if you decide to use a Licensed Conveyancer, they must be a member of the Council for licensed Conveyancers.
If you decide to use a Solicitor, make sure they are a member of the Law Society of England and Wales / Law Society of Scotland and a member of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme.
What if I don’t use a solicitor
If you are considering doing some DIY conveyancing, it’s very important to be aware of a few things.
There is a lot more to the conveyancing process than just completing and sending us forms. Very often, there are also searches and other formal enquiries to be carried out before a transaction can take place safely. If these aren’t done properly, or if they’re not done at all, then big problems can arise after a transaction has happened. For example, someone other than the current owner might have an existing interest in the property that might only come to light afterward.
Also, depending on the type of transaction, there can be quite a lot of legal and financial aspects that will need to be covered in the preparation of the documents. These may not be part of the standard forms.
If you’re a DIY conveyancer, all parties involved may have to get their identities verified before an application can be made to us to register the transaction. If you’re using a solicitor, they will take care of this.
If the transaction involves a mortgage, it’s almost certain that the lender will insist that a solicitor is used for the conveyancing.
If you do your own conveyancing and something goes wrong, then normally you’ll have no cover. If you use a professional conveyancer, you’ll be covered by their professional insurance.
This is why the vast majority of land transactions are handled by professional conveyancers, like solicitors. HM Land Registry is no substitute for the professional advice and support they can give. We can only give advice about our processes.
