Conveyancing is the legal transaction for transferring the ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer. This is usually done through a solicitor, or a licensed conveyancer, as it is a complicated and time-consuming process. The following section will guide you through the process. |
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Topics covered within this section include:
Things to Consider
- Conveyancing takes, on average, two to three months.
- The amount charged for conveyancing varies, starting from around £400 up to £1,500.
- It usually takes around seven weeks from having an offer accepted to the exchange of contracts. The timescale, from exchange of contracts to completion of the sale, is - on average - four weeks.
- The system of conveyancing is designed to ensure that the buyer gets the land together with all the rights that go with it and knows about any restrictions in advance.
The Process
Once the buyer and the seller have agreed on a price for the property, the conveyance procedure starts.
If you are selling a property your solicitor will draw up the contract for the sale, apply for the title deeds from your lender and deal with enquiries from the buyer’s solicitor.
If you are buying a property your solicitor will organise searches, send a list of questions about the property to the seller’s solicitor and liaise with your mortgage lender.
Before the contracts are signed and exchanged, the buyer’s solicitor will undertake a series of enquiries and searches to ensure there are no problems in the sale.