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 have a legal task which I need someone to perform concerning the purchase of a flat. The property is being purchased by a close friend of mine for around £140,000. The bulk of the money for the purchase, around £110,000, is coming from her own resources, primarily from the proceeds of the sale of her existing flat. She is in her 70s and hence the £30,000 difference cannot come from more conventional sources, like a residential mortgage from a financial institution. I have agreed to provide the £30,000 shortfall but without giving her the money absolutely - she will merely have the use of the money for as long as she lives at the new flat. She has three sons who are equal beneficiaries under her current Will. It is not my intention to effectively gift her sons my £30,000 on her death, or when she ceases to live at the new flat but for the money to then return to me, or to my beneficiaries if I am dead at the time. I would add here, although it is probably not relevant, that I have no intention of ever living at the property or acquiring any other rights of this nature. My actions are purely those of a dear friend with no ulterior motive.
There is the conundrum of how best to achieve this. I do not feel that her merely adding a clause in her Will, gifting me £30,000 would suffice, as the Will could clearly be changed, in a variety of circumstances, in the future. Some form of charge on the property springs to mind - like a mortgage, with a 0% interest rate and no capital repayment until it was redeemed perhaps, if such a vehicle could be structured.
I should be pleased to hear anyone's thoughts here, both as to the above suggestion and any alternatives that there may be to achieve the required end. Also, where might I best go to obtain professional help here, as the drafting of the appropriate documentation, whatever it was, would be beyond me personally, even though I have some knowledge of the conveyancing process and, indeed, have done several registered land transfers without professional help.
Hi,
Registering a legal charge is probably the best option. Your friend could also hold the property on trust for herself and you on terms that on sale you receive £30,000. A trust deed is simpler but a legal charge gives you greater security. You could also be a joint legal owner (again, a trust would be required. Speak to a conveyancing solicitor (high street, not one of the large volume firms). The fees shouldn't be to high
Thank you