FAQs about Residential Conveyancing
Property conveyancing common questions & answers from North London conveyancers
North London Conveyancing FAQs
What is conveyancing?
Conveyancing is a rather archaic term used to describe the processes involved in the transaction of property rights and interests, typically the leasehold and/or the freehold.
What does a general conveyancing transaction of a freehold look like?
To make it easier for readers to picture, a general conveyancing transaction can be divided into four stages:
- Pre-contractual stage – pre-contractual enquires are made, draft contracts are drawn up and searches are made.
- Exchange – contracts are exchanged, a completion date is agreed on and a deposit is paid (generally 10%).
- Completion – the transaction is complete. The buyer is given possession of the property. All monies due are transferred to the appropriate place.
- Post-completion – the buyer’s title and other property interests are registered at the Land Registry.
Please bear in mind that this is a very simple overview of what is involved. For more detail, please get in touch to talk to a member of our conveyancing team.
How much will a typical conveyancing transaction cost?
No two transactions are exactly the same; the property could be subject to a whole multitude of different rights and interests; the efficiency of the other side’s solicitors will vary and time the transaction takes to complete is not set in stone. With that said, relatively straight-forward transactions might be capable of being tackled on a fixed-fee basis.
How long would a transaction of the freehold take?
How long is a piece of string? Joking aside, it is difficult to determine exactly how long a transaction will take as a whole multitude of factors will determine this, including how complex the web of rights and interests affecting the property are; the outcome of searches; whether a mortgage lender is involved and the speed and efficiency of the other party’s solicitors. As a rough estimate, you can expect a transaction to take approximately 7 to 10 weeks.
Can you complete on the weekend?
At the completion stage, the monies due under the transaction need to be transferred to the appropriate bank accounts. As banks are not open on weekends, conveyancing transactions cannot be completed on weekends.
What are searches?
Searches describes the process of searching for certain types of information about a property depending on the type of search that is being conducted. Types of searches includes Local Authority, Sewage and Drainage, Mining, Environmental and Chancery Searches.