We have experience in all aspects of residential property and can act for you in any conveyancing matters including:
- sales and/or purchases of freehold property
- sales and/or purchases of leasehold property
- re-mortgages of a property
- transfer of equity
- grant of an easement
- declaration of trust
- power of attorney
Sale and Purchase Procedure
Most sales and purchases follow a similar procedure and this is summarised below -
Once you have chosen the property you would like to buy and agreed (usually via an estate agent) the purchase price then you will instruct a conveyancer to act for you. The estate agent would normally write to the conveyancers acting for the Seller and for the Buyer confirming the details
The Seller's conveyancer will obtain details of the title from the Land Registry and based on this, will prepare a draft contract and send it to the Buyer's conveyancer. Commonly a set of general information forms called Property Information Forms are also supplied along with a list of what fixtures and fittings are included in the price.
The Buyer's conveyancer will check the draft contract and other papers and, based on these will apply for various searches against the property. There are a number of different searches but the main one is a search in the registers held by the Local Authority. The length of time that it takes to process the search depends on which Local Authority is involved - most take between two and three weeks - remember that the search cannot be applied for until the contract and other papers have been received from the Seller's conveyancer. Also the Buyer's conveyancer will raise, with the Seller's conveyancer, any queries he may have on the paperwork supplied. If the Buyer has questions about the property these can be raised as well.
Whilst the searches and enquiries are being dealt with the Buyer will, if needed, be applying for a mortgage and may also be having a survey carried out.
Once the Buyer's offer of mortgage has been issued and the results of the searches are to hand then the Buyer's conveyancer will report to the Buyer on the documentation. If the Buyer is happy with everything then the Buyer will sign the contract and leave this undated with his conveyancer in readiness for exchange of contracts taking place. The Buyer will also provide his conveyancer with the deposit. Exchange of contracts is the point when everyone becomes legally committed to proceed with the sale and purchase - until contracts have been exchanged either party can withdraw without penalty.
Contracts will be exchanged when both the Seller and the Buyer are ready. This needs to be carefully co-ordinated when there is a chain of properties being bought and sold. When contracts are exchanged a completion date will be set. Completion is the day when the money changes hands and you can move house. Completion is generally around two weeks after contracts have been exchanged - but within reason can be whatever date the parties to the transaction wish - when a mortgage is being obtained then the mortgage lender will usually need at least a week to ensure the funds are transferred on the correct day.
The Buyer's conveyancer will get the mortgage funds from the lender and will prepare the documents which will transfer ownership of the property. Generally speaking the funds will be requested to arrive the day before completion to ensure there are no delays on the day. Arrangements will be made to sign the final papers.
On the completion day the Buyer's conveyancer will instruct his bank to transfer the purchase monies to the Seller's conveyancers bank and the seller's conveyancer will hand over the title deeds in return. The keys can be handed over once the seller's conveyancers have received the sale money.
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After completion the Buyer's conveyancer will arrange to submit a tax return to HM Revenue and Customs to notify them of the transaction and so that any necessary Stamp Duty Land Tax can be paid and then they can be registered at the Land Registry. This process can take a few weeks and after it is done the title deeds will be sent to your lender for safekeeping - if you do not have a lender they can be sent to you or stored by us. Stamp Duty is a tax charged when the purchase price of a residential property exceeds £125,000 . The rates charged are presently as follows
- Purchase price £0 to £125,000 - 0%
- Purchase price £125,001 to £250,000 - 1%
- Purchase price £250,001 to £500,000 - 3%
- Purchase price £500,001 and above - 4%
From April 2011 a rate of 5% will be applied to transactions where the value is in excess of £1,000,000
