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 am buying a leasehold flat. The lease requires the freeholder to issue a certificate of compliance before the assignment cannot be registered. The seller's Solicitor thinks that the buyer should pay for this. Under the Standard Conditions, it is the seller's responsibility to pay for any permissions to assign. However, this is not a permission to assign, but a restriction on registering the assignment. By analogy, is it reasonable to insist that the seller pays for the Certificate? Or does this normally fall to the buyer?
There is no rule of law in this respect but it is generally accepted conveyancing practice that the buyer will pay for a certificate of compliance. There are a number of possible "assignment requirements" when a leasehold property is sold which involve paying fees to the landlord and the following rationale might help clear this up:
Licence/consent to assign - where the lease requires the landlord's consent to be obtained before the lease is assigned then the seller should expect to pay because it is he who needs the consent to sell (if consent is sought after the assignment then the covenant has already been breached)
Buyer to enter into a deed of covenant - the deed is between the buyer and the landlord and the obligation to enter into it is on the buyer, so the buyer should expect to pay
Obligation to serve notice of the assignment on the landlord - the obligation here is to give the landlord notification that the property has been sold within a reasonable period AFTER completion (usually one month). The obligation is on the tenant for the time being, so in other words the buyer, so the buyer should expect to pay the fee
Certificate of compliance with a restriction on the title - the restriction does not prevent an assignment but rather the registration of the assignment, without the appropriate certificate. It is the buyer who wants to be registered and so the buyer who would pay the fee
Fee for issuing a share/membership certificate - the certificate is in the name of the buyer so the buyer should pay
Remember though though that whilst the above is normal practice it is not binding in any way and buyers and sellers are entitled to negotiate