Conveyancing
This article applies to England & Wales only.
Conveyancing is the process of transferring the ownership of
property from one person to another. It involves a mixture of administrative
and legal work, none of which is exceptionally complex. Conveyancing for the
buyer of a property is a more involved than it is for the seller.
It’s possible to do this work yourself, but it is
time-consuming, detail-oriented and the price for mistakes is potentially very
high, so understandably the majority of people instruct a solicitor or licensed
conveyancer to carry out the work on their behalf. Also if there is a mortgage
involved the mortgagee is unlikely to be happy with a layperson carrying out
the work and will insist on a professional.
This post-offer process tends to be the most frustrating
time for home movers, with complaints about having to regularly chase
conveyancers to get them to do anything being at the forefront of their issues.
The public perception of harassed conveyancers with a phone on each ear, their desk
groaning under the weight of files needing their attention, was not that far
from the truth. Solicitors in our experience are loathe to turn down work even
if they are busy, leading to backlogs and bottlenecks. Modern systems have made
it harder for them to miss something and mark milestones in the process that
are outstanding, meaning you shouldn’t have to chase them anywhere near as
much.
So what is the process?
For sellers:
After being instructed your conveyancer will give you
questionnaires to fill out. These go into a fair amount of detail regarding the
property, the land it’s on, anything that will be included in the sale and any
relevant issues (i.e. disputes with neighbours, a proposed bypass at the end of
the garden etc.) The information you supply will be used to draw up the draft
contract for the sale of the property, so it’s important that you answer the
questions in the forms honestly or you could find yourself in trouble later on.
For Buyers:
Your conveyancer will send copies of the questionnaire forms
that the seller has completed for you to check that you agree with the content
and see if the information that the seller has supplied raises any issues for
you.
He or she will then carry out due diligence work. This
consists of:
Local Authority
Searches:
Local Land Charges Register
Part 1 - General Financial Charges
This part will contain any financial charges, for example if
the council passes a resolution to adopt a private road a charge may be
registered against the properties which front on to it to cover any works
required to bring it up to standard.
Part 2 - Specific Financial Charges
If the authority has carried out chargeable works, such as the
boarding up of a window, and the cost is actually known, a specific financial
charge may be registered.
Part 3 - Planning Charges
Lists any planning applications (and their statuses), planning
enforcement notices or tree preservation orders.
Part 4 - Miscellaneous Charges
This is self-explanatory.
Part 5 - Fenland Way Maintenance Charges
The is self-explanatory and is clearly a rare occurrence.
Part 6 - Land Compensation Charges
These relate to prospective compensation claims under the
Land Compensation Act 1973, where land has been acquired under compulsory
purchase procedures.
Part 7 - New Towns Charges
This relates to those charges covered by the New Towns Act
1981.
Part 8 - Civil Aviation Charges
This relates to those charges covered by the Civil Aviation
Act 1982.
Part 9 - Opencast Coal Charges
This relates to those charges covered by the Opencast Coal
Act 1958.
Part 10 - Listed Buildings
If the property has been declared a listed building it will
be revealed here.
Part 11 - Light Obstruction Notices
This relates to those charges covered by the Rights of Light
Act 1959. Such a notice might be registered where something on the property,
such as a building or a tree, obstructs light from neighbouring land.
Part 12 - Land Drainage Schemes
This covers land drainage schemes made by the Environment
Agency or the local authority for the drainage of a small area. The expenses
incurred in implementing the scheme are recoverable from the various owners of
the land covered by the scheme.
Enquiries of Local
Authority
1.1 relates to Planning and Building Regulations
Points 1.1a - d are covered by part 3 of the LLC1. Points
1.1e - g will reveal whether any applications for building regulations approval
for any work done to the property have been granted or refused. Point g deals
specifically with certificates of compliance relating to replacement windows,
roof lights or glazed doors.
1.2 relates to Planning Designations and Proposals
The local council will often have a development plan for
their area. This section will reveal the existence of such a plan, where it can
be inspected and how, if at all, any proposals will affect the land searched.
2. Roads:
On the search application form the roads giving access to
the property should be listed. Where none are listed the highway fronting the
property will be automatically searched. The information revealed will be as
follows:-
a) - Highways maintainable at public expense.
b) - Highways subject to an agreement for adoption
c) - Roads to be adopted at the cost of the frontagers
d) - Roads to be
adopted without cost to the frontagers
3. Other Matters:
3.01 - 3.08 are self-explanatory.
3.09 relates to notices served against the property, such as
planning and building regulations enforcement notices, notices of breaches of
planning and building regulations and stop notices (which prevent the property
from being used).
3.10 states whether the property is in a conservation area.
3.11 asks whether the property is the subject of a
Compulsory Purchase Order.
3.12 relates to Contaminated Land. Each local authority is
now under a duty to survey land within its district or borough and compile a
register of sites which are classed as contaminated
3.13 states if the property is in a Radon Affected Area
Radon gas is a potentially deadly gas which rises through
the ground and can enter
a property.