What is Conveyancing?

In this age of easy credit, buying a house remains the largest single purchase most people will ever make. Unfortunately, it is also one of the longest as well!

This is not just because buying a house depends on factors beyond your control, such as onward chains, but also because of the process of conveyancing.

So just what is conveyancing? Well, it refers to the basic process of transferring ownership of a house, specifically, the property's "title deeds" from a seller who is legally entitled to sell (i.e. owns the property) to a willing and able buyer.
Now, it seems fairly straightforward right? Well, not quite

Consider the typical process involved and normally takes between two to three months to complete. In addition, different solicitors approach the task differently so it pays to choose a solicitor carefully. A buyer’s solicitor gets in touch with the sellers solicitor to draw up and complete all the legal documentation required. You can expect a solicitor to cover the following steps:

Exchange of draft contract
The contract is a legal document that sets out the terms of the sale process.

Preliminary enquiries
If chosen well, the buyer’s solicitor will send to the seller’s solicitor a list of preliminary questions about the property, such as what will be included in the sale, who holds the freehold, the property boundaries, who is responsible for maintaining fences and hedges and so on.

Land and registry searches
This is generally undertaken to ensure that the seller actually owns the property and can legally sell it

Local authority searches
These are typically undertaken to find out whether any developments are planned in the vicinity of the property.

Draft contract approval
Once both parties (with their solicitors advice) are satisfied that the draft contract details are accurate, the draft contract is approved and sent to both parties for signature.

Official mortgage offer
This is a required step.

Completion
The final exchange of contracts and keys. This is it - the end of a usually longish process.

This is not a definitive list as every solicitor will have their own preferred actions, however, you can expect these points to be covered, As you can see, it is a fairly involving process.

The conveyancing process typically begins when a seller hires a solicitor and an offer has been made and accepted by both parties and solicitor details exchanged. Many sellers make the mistake of only hiring a solicitor at this stage, however, canny sellers hire a solicitor before this stage and get them to begin the process as this shortens delays down the line.

Because of the length and nature of the task, many sellers attempt to undertake the conveyancing themselves. This is not advisable for two reasons. One, most lenders will not agree to this and two, you require a licensed conveyor to undertake the job.

Yes, someone could possibly get licensed themselves to do the task but remember, there is a large amount of detailed work involved that has to be got right. Moving property is already stressful enough as it is, why add to that stress by attempting to do the conveyancing yourself?

The best advice is to hire a specialist who comes with good recommendations and testimonials.