When it comes to buying and selling property, conveyancing is the central part of the process, where everything is checked and the property is legally handed over.
It is an involved and complex process, but understanding how it works can help avoid delays in buying and selling your property.
This has been of particular importance for residential properties to avoid missing the stamp duty holidaybut is also important for commercial property to avoid delays.
The best way to understand it from the perspective of commercial property solicitors is to see conveyancing as a three-step process.
Step One – Investigation
The first step for buyers and their legal team is to investigate the title and organise pre-contract searches.
These include checking the rights of ownership with the Land Registry, the Local Authority, seeing if there are any flood risks and other investigations to ensure that when a buyer purchases a property they own it outright with no hidden catches.
Once this is received, your solicitor should look over and approve in principle the seller’s draft contract, as well as raise any enquiries caused by the searches and contract terms.
Step Two – Contract Exchange
Once the buyer and their solicitors are happy with the response to search results and other enquiries, they will exchange contracts and the buyer will pay the deposit. At this point, it is a legally binding deal.
Step Three – Transfer of Deeds
The third and final step is that the buyer and their solicitor will prepare the transfer deed for approval and raise any pre-completion searches.
At this point, the buyer must be ready to transfer the money across, likely through their mortgage provider. Once this is done, and any tax and Land Registry transfers are undertaken, the purchase is complete.