Property Law Specialists and Conveyancing Solicitors

If you are considering investing in property, be it commercial property, residential buy to let property, property for redevelopment or even overseas property then getting good professional advice and support from trained property law specialists and expert conveyancing solicitors will certainly make the process far easier, and help protect your interests for the longer term.

Property investment is a complicated area, and one in which the advice of professional advisors is often invaluable if you are to avoid making serious and costly mistakes.

There are a range of property professionals and specialist advisors covering many different property, legal and financial disciplines that any aspiring property investor should be aware of, even if you choose not to call on their expertise.

In this short article we consider property law specialists and conveyancing solicitors and their role of in the property buying and selling cycle.

Property Law Professionals & Conveyancing Solicitors

Conveyancing is the term given to the legal process of buying and selling property, when legal title transfers from one party or person to another.

Conveyancing is a well-established area of property law and describes the property transfer process and helps to ensure that everything is done correctly and complies with all the relevant legal and financial requirements.

Qualified property law professionals and conveyancing solicitors can act for both property buyers and sellers.

There are also many licensed conveyancers who are not qualified solicitors but are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers to carry out the conveyancing of property.

If you are searching for a property law professional, conveyancing solicitor or licensed conveyancer we recommend you visit the Law Society or the Council for Licensed Conveyancers website.

Additionally, lists the names of licensed conveyancers are usually held by the Local Authority in the UK.

The Role of the Conveyancer

Typically, the property buyer and seller will have their own conveyancer, but sometimes they employ the same one to reduce costs.

The conveyancers main role is to ensure that the seller has the legal right to sell the property, and that there are no debts attached to the property… this is especially important when buying abroad.

Searches must also be carried out with the Local Authority to ensure that any new buildings, extensions or alterations to the property or site have the required planning permission and building regulation consents, that the street paving and drains are maintained, that parking is available, and the position with neighbours on boundary fences is clarified.

Any plans to build houses or roads nearby must be ascertained.

The cost of any stamp duty payable to the government, which is dependent on the price of the property, will also be determined by the conveyancer.

One of the first tasks for the conveyancer or solicitor is to obtain a copy of the land register record of the property being sold, or the title deeds if the property has not been registered.

These registry or title deeds are important legal documents and need to be examined to ensure that there are no onerous conditions on the use of the property.

Leasehold properties are normally more complex, e.g. apartments, and the maintenance costs, ground rents, and costs of service charges must be determined.

The buyer’s and seller’s conveyancers then draw up contracts setting out the conditions of sale.

These contracts must be scrutinised and a period of negotiation may take place until both contracts are agreed.

The buyer and seller then sign the contracts, (exchange of contracts) at which time in England and Wales the sale is binding, and a 10% deposit is paid by the buyer.

Completion is when all fees have been agreed and contracts exchanged, and the final amount is paid to the various parties involved.

Property Investment Solutions

As a leading independent property and land investment specialists Investment Property Partners offer expert advice and support to clients across our specialist areas of expertise helping them to achieve their investment objectives.

If you are a property investor searching for commercial property, residential buy to let or overseas property investment opportunities please contact us today to discuss how Investment Property Partners can help you.