Conveyancing is the legal process involved when the ownership of a property is transferred from one party to another, normally a seller and a buyer. This sounds simple but the average timescale for buying or selling a property has now reached approximately 122 days, which is over 4 months. This is frustrating for all parties involved as the longer the transaction takes, the greater the uncertainty as any party can withdraw without financial penalty until contracts are exchanged.
There is no simple solution to improve timescales as there are many factors involved, too many to include in this article. However, if you are planning on selling or buying a property, we would suggest taking one simple step to try and speed up your transaction: Instruct a Solicitor at the same time as you market your property to sell or start looking for a property to buy.
There are various factors to consider when instructing a solicitor. Preferably instruct a solicitor local to you. Remember the cheapest quote does not mean the best service. Having a direct line of communication with the person dealing with your transaction is invaluable. If the solicitor recommend to you by the Estate Agent is located outside of the local area, it is probably because the Agent will receive a referral payment from the firm.
If selling, instructing a solicitor at the time of marketing your property is going to become very important soon due to the (possible) introduction of a new version of the Property Information form in January 2025. The new form will contain a section relating to ‘’Upfront Information’’, which is meant to be made available to buyers when viewing a property. You will need to advice from a solicitor before completing the new form.
A lot of groundwork can be done between your property going on the market and an offer being accepted, which is normally several weeks. We believe it would be possible for a property to be ‘’nearly exchange’’ ready when an offer is accepted, and the contract documents are sent to the buyers. Your solicitor will have time to investigate the legal title, rectify any errors, review your completed forms and obtain copies of planning permissions, buildings regulations, installation certificates etc from you. This however will involve paying a reduced fee to the solicitor if the property does not sell.
If buying, obtain some quotes from solicitors using your budget for a property. Fees and disbursements can be agreed, subject to the final purchase price being confirmed. You can complete ID verification and funding compliance checks. A solicitor will need to know where the deposit funds for the purchase are currently held (e.g. your bank, invested in shares, etc) and where these funds have originated from (savings, inheritance, work bonus etc) so collated the evidence required. This will be required by the Estate Agents, Mortgage Brokers and Solicitor so having all necessary evidence readily available will save time.
Once an offer is accepted, the solicitor can provide a revised quote and Letter of Engagement and then the purchase can proceed quickly.
There is no easy solution to all the delays affecting selling and buying properties but instructing your solicitor early in the transaction can save several weeks.