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.
Hi if my sister is buying out her ex boyfriend from their main residence, the property is valued at £270,000 but she also has just inherited a 50:50 split of a second property from her late father, does she need to still pay the higher rate sdlt? There are no mortgages on either property
No she shouldn't. Firstly, properties inherited in the last 3 years, where the share inherited is 50% or less, don't count when considering if other properties are owned and secondly, there is an exception from the higher rate surcharge introduced in Sch 11 Finance Act 2018 so that a person acquiring further shares in his or home doesn't pay the higher rate, though they do have to have owned and lived at the property for at least the last 3 years
Thank you so much for your reply. Her solicitor said she would need to put this information in writing in order to apply for an exemption. They have said they are not able to find it from Sch 11 Finance Act 2018. Is there somewhere else we can get this information from?
Hi,
I'm sorry - I've only just seen your reply. It may be that the transaction has completed now and the tax has been paid but this is the relevant section of schedule 11 of the Finance Act 2018 (it's paragraph 3): Exception where purchaser has prior interest in purchased dwelling
3After paragraph 7 insert—
“Exception where purchaser has prior interest in purchased dwelling
7A(1)A chargeable transaction which would (but for this paragraph) fall within paragraph 3 or paragraph 6 does not fall within that paragraph if—
(a)the purchaser had a major interest (“the prior interest”) in the relevant purchased dwelling immediately before the effective date of the transaction, and
(b)the relevant purchased dwelling had been the purchaser’s only or main residence throughout the period of three years ending with the effective date of the transaction.
You can also look at paragraph 7A of Schedule 4ZA Finance act 2003. If the tax has bene paid your sister can still claim a rebate (which has to be done within 12 months of completion). She should call HMRC's stamp taxes helpline in the first instance.