Once the buyer’s solicitor receives a copy of the property information forms and a draft contract, the buyer needs to review the terms, clauses, and conditions that both parties agreed upon. After reviewing, the buyer and the lawyer have to confirm that they agree to the contract they received. The buyer along with their solicitor can ask for the changes if required.

Finally, the buyer should make sure the property forms are correct and the contract includes what they understand to be included in the purchase.

The stamp duty on the property is estimated at the beginning of the transaction considering the basic tax rate since at that point we are not aware of a client’s personal tax liability. Hence, we provide all clients with the tax declaration, so we show the exact estimate of the stamp duty on receipt of formal instructions.

The CLC (Commercial Law Chamber) lawyer is subject to robust regulation and is well-versed with the UK laws. These lawyers ensure your best interests are served and they protect you if something goes wrong.

The Code of Conduct of CLC has guidelines based on six principles on how Licensed Conveyancers should work and behave. These principles provide you the rights when you hire a Licensed Conveyancer. Under these rights, your conveyancer is supposed to treat you fairly, talk clearly about the costs of the legal work. You also get the right to complain if something goes wrong.

An ideal time to book your removals is after contracts have been exchanged. The reason is, there is no binding agreement between the seller/buyer to proceed with the transaction until contracts have been exchanged. In this scenario, either party can pull out, otherwise decide to change the moving date. For example, you may have agreed on a completion date with the other party, then the previously agreed dates may change at the last minute.

A survey is necessary as it entails what you are purchasing. Some properties may look well managed but may have hidden repairs underneath. If you do not have enough information about the problem before signing the contract, you may incur the cost yourself. 

Typically, mortgage facilitators carry out their survey just to be sure of the condition of the property. If you are working with a mortgage company, they will typically carry out a valuation. 

However, the valuation is limited to protecting the lender only. Therefore, it is not recommended that you entirely rely on the valuation report. Instead, it’s advisable to carry out your survey. We highly recommend carrying out a detailed inspection which we can help you do.

Exchange of contracts happens at any time you may want. However, we highly recommend doing this in the presence of a conveyancing lawyer. We always ensure to counter-check every document received before giving you the go-ahead. Once our searches prove that this is a clean and transparent deal, you can hand over the contracts.  We will initially give you reports to check and then advise accordingly on when to exchange the contracts. This is an essential point as both parties become legally binding.

If you are buying a property through a mortgage company, the lender will most probably insist you have an insurance plan in place. In some properties, insurance is there already at the time of purchase, while others may not be insured. 

While it is not a requirement, it is wise to have building insurance, as it safeguards the new owners from structural damages in the future. 

Your mortgage company will insist on having a conveyancer lawyer to carry out the process. If you are using your own money to buy the property, you would need assistance in handling the legalities involved. 

It is difficult for an individual to carry out the process since any minor mistake can lead to huge monetary loss. For example, in the completion form, there are more than seventy questions, and each one has to be answered carefully or else you can attract a penalty.

Other than that, the Land Registry may also refuse to accept information from you without verification.

The seller’s solicitor prepares the draft, but the buyer’s solicitor has the right to review it and ask for changes if required. They work together to set out the terms on which the seller is selling the property to the buyer. In the process, the solicitors may negotiate until both sides are happy with it. Hence, both the parties equally participate in drafting the contract. 

Drafting a contract is quite straightforward and is usually done in one to two hours depending on the length of the document. But before drafting a contract, the conveyancer needs time to determine which document needs to be put in the contract. Hence, the time is consumed after collecting, comparing, and reviewing all of the paperwork about the property. The process may take a week or two, or longer in some cases.

If drafting a contract takes longer than one to two weeks after the sales memo has been released, this could be because of the time taken by the seller to fill up the legal property information forms and place the supporting documents. The seller’s solicitor may also take a longer time to collect the legal information required to prepare the contract. 

The best idea to follow up with the seller and their solicitor is through the estate agent, who can ask when the buyer’s solicitor will receive the draft contracts. You need to chase the seller because until the seller’s solicitor sends these documents, the buyer’s solicitor cannot raise formal legal enquiries.