Whether you're a layman looking to understand your own transaction or a lawyer needing assistance with a client's conveyancing our step by step sale and purchase guides will lead you through the process while our mini guides will break the whole thing into manageable chunks and give a deep insight into the key issues and stages. Leasehold, freehold, unregistered, registered – we've got it all covered.
Need help with a remortgage or transfer of equity / deed of gift? Our guides will walk you through the process and highlight some of the common pitfalls. Mortgages and transfers can be very simple procedures but complex issues can sometimes arise and mistakes are easily made. These guides will help you deal with them.
So you want to have a go at your own conveyancing? First you should read about the risks, then if you're still happy to proceed, our guides will take you through each stage of the process telling you what to look out for and helping you avoid falling into expensive traps. Our subscription service will give you access to all of the documents you should need for your conveyancing and we can even supply you with the Land Registry Official Copies you'll need. Our general guides will cover all the obstacles you are likely to face and offer a practical solution. Have a look at our sale and purchase guides too.
A big part of the conveyancing process is the conveyancing searches. This section tells you all about them. What they are, how and when to order them and how to interpret the results. Each search has its own guide and you'll see they are separated into Standard (should be done in every case), Regional (area specific) and Optional (not essential but often useful tools for the would be purchaser). All buyers should beware that when you buy a property, the law assumes that you have seen the information that would have been revealed by searches whether or not you have actually carried them out, so you buy the property subject to the results.
Using a conveyancer to handle your conveyancing will greatly reduce the risk to you and sometimes, particularly if you are taking out a new mortgage, you will have no choice but to instruct a conveyancer. The good news is it doesn't have to break the bank. Get a free, instant quote here. We can also help with quick easy quotes for other moving related services.
Are you looking for the documents you'll need for your conveyancing transaction? Or official copies of the title or other documents from Land Registry. We can help you. Follow the links below.
I live on the ground floor of a “one up one down” and purchased the freehold with the owner of the first floor flat so we both have 50% ownership. The owner of the first floor now has a buyer for his flat and said his solicitor told him he must have a new lease of 125 years on his property in order to sell. Is this new lease necessary and if I agree for him to go ahead will I still have 50% ownership?
As the remaining term of a lease diminishes, the leasehold interest (in other words, the property) becomes less valuable. In the circumstances you describe it makes no real difference that your neighbour owns a share of the freehold. Eventually, usually when there are less than 70 years remaining of the lease term, mortgage lenders will be reluctant to lend on the security of the lease. This makes the property less marketable. Indeed, even cash buyers will pay a lot less for a 69 year lease than they would for a 125 year one.
If you do agree, you will still own 50% of the freehold. You may even be able to have your own lease extended at the same time and if it will probably cost you less than it would to do it independently.