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How to find a good conveyancing solicitor – communication is key

Communication is without doubt the key that will help you find a good conveyancing solicitor. But why?

Conveyancers in the UK as a whole tend to attract a bad reputation. Often though, this reputation is not the fault of the individual.

Because the conveyancing process can be long and complex. Issues can arise. Timeframes can get stretched as any one of dozens of different organisations fails to respond in a timely fashion.

What lets many conveyancing solicitors down is that they fail to communicate the reason for these delays to their clients.

To find a solicitor near you contact us on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

How To Find A Good Conveyancing Solicitor

1) Get A Direct Line To Your Actual Solicitor

Large law firms that have a specialist conveyancing team are all very well. Ideally though, you will want a specific named solicitor who is handling your case.

Having a named contact means you have someone who will always be up-to-date on the details of your particular case. If you have a question, they can answer it.

Medium and larger firms may delegate “admin” work like communicating the status of cases to a paralegal or assistant. This might be acceptable in a small office where a personal link can be maintained.

In the largest conveyancing firms (these are sometimes called “conveyancing factories”) though, it often leads to a situation where an assistant can only check details on a screen that you can check yourself, leaving you none-the-wiser.

2) Test Their Communication

Once you’ve got a name, it’s time to get a sense of how well they communicate with you. Get in touch with them. Try emailing. Give them a call. See what happens. Have a couple of questions ready. Then you can ask yourself:

Do they respond in a timely fashion?
Do they call you back if they can’t answer immediately?
Are they ready to discuss your case?
Are they across the detail?
Do they seem eager to help and answer questions?

This may come down to your “gut reaction” to any rapport you seem to have. But this is an important part of working with a solicitor for any reason – trust. If you don’t have it, it’s difficult to believe your conveyancing solicitor is any good at all.

3) Ask What Happens In An Emergency

It’s not always necessary in conveyancing, but knowing what they will do if something unexpected happens can be a useful barometer.

One – hopefully unlikely – scenario is that you have some sort of legal problem with the property arise outside of business hours.

A slightly lower-key but more likely issue is that your regular solicitor goes on holiday. What would happen then? Is there a replacement? Who are they?

You don’t want to risk your communications getting interrupted.

Should I Use A Conveyancer Recommended By My Estate Agent?

One “easy” solution to finding a conveyancer is to use the one recommended by your estate agent. It’s rarely a good idea to go down this route though.

Most estate agents have deals with at least one conveyancing firm. These kinds of deals come with some pretty exciting referral fees (for the estate agent, not for you) that tend to make them more expensive than other options.

There’s also at least one major UK chain of estate agents that owns its own conveyancing firm.

In short, it’s not guaranteed that using a conveyancer recommended by your estate agent is a good deal for them and a bad one for you. But it’s definitely worth seriously investigating any recommendation before you go ahead.

What If I Have No Choice In My Conveyancer?

Some mortgage lenders have “approved panels” of conveyancers. These may be wide-ranging or quite limited. This may restrict (or entirely remove) your choice as to which solicitor you are able to use.

In these cases, if you think you need to use that lender but are also less than confident about the quality of service their conveyancer will deliver, you are – unfortunately – a little bit stuck.

Unless you can go with another lender, you’ll just have to stick with the slightly less-than-perfect service.

Find A Good Conveyancing Solicitor

The best tip to help you find a good conveyancing solicitor is to start your search as soon as possible. Don’t wait until you have an offer accepted. Start reaching out and judging the responses you get.

Get In Touch Today.

Let us know a little about your situation on 0845 1391399 or by completing a Free Online Enquiry today and we can connect you with a legal specialist who can give you the kind of advice you’re looking for.

What Does A Residential Property Solicitor Do?

Ask a residential property solicitor – why does conveyancing take so long?

A residential property solicitor takes care of everything you need to do to buy or sell a property on the legal side of things.

This is a process called “conveyancing”. For this reason, you’ll often see them referred to as “conveyancing solicitors”.

If you’ve never bought a property before, it can be a stressful time. Because the conveyancing process can take anywhere from eight to twelve weeks to complete.

It’s often difficult to understand why this is. After all, how hard it can be?

Let’s take a look at some of the key tasks your residential property solicitor will need to undertake on your behalf. And how they can end up taking longer than you might expect…

Let us know a little about your situation on 0845 1391399 or by completing a Free Online Enquiry

What Does A Residential Property Solicitor Do?

The following is by no means an exhaustive list of all the jobs your solicitor handles during the conveyancing process. These are merely some of those that can end up taking more time:

1) Complete Property Searches When You’re Buying

Conveyancing searches are fact-finding enquiries to the Local Authority, water authority, and sometimes dozens of other organisations. The aim is to find out more about the property you want to purchase.

Are there any major developments planned in the local area? Is it connected to the local mains water supply? Is there a sewage main under the property? Was historic mining work done in the area? Are there any disputes relating to the property?

All of these questions and many more will be answered by a successful round of property searches.

As you might imagine though, liaising with potentially dozens of different organisations takes time. Some don’t respond as quickly as we all might like. Local Authorities, for instance, are often overworked and can take a solid two months to respond in the worst cases.

There are also many times when the results of searches indicate major issues. What if the local council are building a new bypass near the property? What if the land is contaminated? These need to be resolved before the sale proceeds.

2) Deal With The Land Registry

The Land Registry is responsible for maintaining lists of who owns what property in Wales and England. If your name is on a property title and registered with the Land Registry, your proof of ownership is automatic as far as the UK government is concerned.

Your solicitor liaises with the Land Registry many times as part of the conveyancing process. Not only does this potentially take time, but they may also find there is a problem with the property title when they do.

Perhaps the title was previously a bunch of paper documents and hasn’t yet been officially registered (this has only happened automatically since 1990). Perhaps the name of the owner doesn’t match the name of the seller for some reason.

Any issues like this can cause the conveyancing process to take longer than expected.

3) Leasehold Property Checks

It was estimated a few years ago that around 20% of UK properties are owned on a leasehold basis. This means a person (the leaseholder) owns usually a part of a property (for example, a flat) in a larger building owned by someone else (called the freeholder).

In recent years though, ownership of leasehold properties has skyrocketed as more flats have been built and more developers have spotted a way to extract more value from their investment (leaseholders pay certain fees to their freeholder as part of their lease).

Because more parties are involved, checks and searches on a leasehold property take longer. You don’t want your conveyancing solicitor to skip these though. What if there is an outstanding sum owed to the freeholder by the previous leaseholder of your intended property, for example?

The details of the lease also need to be investigated in detail and their ramifications understood and explained to you. For instance, are the service charges unreasonable? Is your freeholder planning property improvements next year that they expect you to chip in for?

This can all extend the conveyancing process. If you’re not happy with what your solicitor finds, it can extend it further.

4) Negotiate Contracts

Another key role your solicitor plays is negotiating the contract with the solicitor representing the buyer or seller.

There are many individual steps involved in this. Checking the contract and supporting documentation as the buyer’s solicitor. Creating the contract pack and answering any pre-contract enquiries as the seller’s solicitor.

If there are any issues to work through, this can obviously add to the conveyancing process.

5) Deal With The Unexpected

Finally, some things are outside of your residential property solicitor’s control. However, they may still have to handle:

Common problems relating to a “chain” of property sales all relying on each other
Problems with the buyer failing to get a mortgage on time
The seller’s property being a new build that isn’t finished on time
It being a probate property (that can’t be sold until probate is granted)
Difficulty agreeing on a final price or completion or move dates

Find Good Residential Property Solicitors Near Me

This is all to show why the best residential property solicitors are the ones who keep in touch with you throughout the process.

Get In Touch Today.

Is A Conveyancer A Solicitor?

This is a common question among people wanting to buy or sell property. So, is a conveyancer a solicitor?

Well, the answer can be confusing. The short version is “usually, but not always”.

A conveyancer can actually be a legal executive, a paralegal, or a solicitor. These are legal terms that sound very similar but they do have key things that separate them.

To be connected to a specialist conveyancing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Here is what you need to know about the differences between them and why you might want to make sure which you are using before you choose your conveyancer:

Is A Conveyancer A Solicitor?

There are broadly three types of legal professionals who can provide conveyancing services:

What Is A Legal Executive?

You can think of legal executives as solicitors who specialise in only one or two fields of law.

A legal executive is normally qualified to the same level as a solicitor in their chosen field. They do the same kind of work in it and can work in legal offices. They often have their own clients and are allowed to represent them in court if necessary. They can even become partners in law firms.

Technically speaking though, a legal executive is not a solicitor. The work they do every day might be much the same as a solicitor working in the same field, such as conveyancing (a common field for legal executives to specialise in).

However, a legal executive will not have completed the study of wider legal practice that is mandatory for solicitors. If they choose to become chartered (specialising in only a single field), they can continue training and aim to qualify as a solicitor though.

What Is A Paralegal?

Paralegals are more commonly found in US legal practices but have recently started to have a growing role in UK law.

Paralegals are often thought of as legal assistants – a large part of the work of most paralegals will be assisting a solicitor. They may draft legal documents, work on financial documents, do research, or help prepare a case.

This will differ depending on the practices of individual law firms. Each sets different expectations for its paralegals. In some firms, a paralegal might have completed the same legal practice course as a full solicitor. In others, they might be a non-law graduate with a graduate diploma in law.

In an increasing number of larger firms, responsibility for a great deal of conveyancing is handed over to paralegals (who must be licensed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers).

That said, paralegals cannot do all the work a solicitor or even a legal executive can. They are not allowed to give legal advice, cannot sign documents on behalf of clients, and cannot represent a client in court (unless they have special discretion from a judge).

What Is A Solicitor?

A solicitor is a legal professional qualified to give specialist advice on a wide range of fields of law. They will have passed that key legal practice course (covering 24 fields of law) and are also able to represent their clients in most courts.

A solicitor is “instructed” by their client. That is to say, they follow their clients’ wishes. But they can advise their clients on the best way to proceed based on their in-depth knowledge. A solicitor will be:

Qualified in many different fields of law – such as conveyancing, wills and probate, family law, commercial law, and litigation. Many specialise in certain fields, but they will have passed that important legal practice qualification covering them all.
Able to offer expert legal advice – unlike a paralegal, for example, a qualified solicitor can offer legal advice as to your rights or the best legal remedy or way to proceed in a wide range of circumstances.
Permitted to represent clients in court – in Magistrates’ Courts and County Courts, solicitors can represent their clients in person. They can do so in what are often called the “higher courts” too (Crown Court or High Court, for example) if they have additional training.

Is My Conveyancer A Solicitor?

In terms of conveyancing, there should – in theory – be little to choose between the quality of service offered by licensed conveyancers or conveyancing solicitors.

The only added advantage of using a full solicitor is that they are qualified to advise you on other fields of law – and they can represent you if any legal problems do arise too.

The best approach is usually to speak with several good options and see if you feel confident in their knowledge and their approach to communication. But where to start?

Why not let Solicitors Near Me do all the hard work? Founded by a former solicitor, we find you friendly and approachable legal experts near you for FREE and with no commitment to use them.

To be connected to a specialist conveyancing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Residential Property Solicitor

Commercial vs residential property solicitor – the differences

On the surface, the differences between a commercial and residential property solicitor sound like they will be obvious.

One deals with the kind of property we live in. One deals with the kind of property we do business in.

To be connected to a specialist conveyancing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

But – while the conveyancing process is very similar for residential and commercial properties – there are actually a few subtle yet important differences between the two:

What Does Conveyancing Mean?

The conveyancing process is the means by which ownership of a property is transferred. This involves changing the names on the property title via a legal document known as a transfer deed.

Not everyone knows that there is actually no requirement that you use a professional conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor to handle the legal aspects of this transfer. However, because all mortgage lenders insist that all parties get professional representation, it’s essentially a must.

There’s also the size of the transaction and the potential for legal issues to consider. Unless you are deeply familiar with the relevant regulations, it’s very risky indeed to try to sell or buy any property without legal advice of any kind.

The conveyancing process itself involves property searches and surveys that inform you of the condition of a property you are buying. It also includes the negotiation of contracts between buyer and seller, registering the new owner with the Land Registry, and a variety of other tasks.

What Is The Difference Between Commercial And Residential Conveyancing?

There are only a small number of differences between commercial and residential conveyancing, but they are important:

1) Property Use Type

This is the most obvious difference. Residential property conveyancing deals with sales and purchases of property intended for human habitation. This is ordinarily a single house or flat. So far, so simple.

Commercial property is a little different though. Not just because this is property intended for business use but because the person buying the property frequently wants an entire area not just “a shop”.

There is also the common circumstance of a commercial property being purchased as part of a larger business.

2) Goodwill Payments (When Buying A Whole Business)

Sometimes, a commercial property is purchased as part of the business that is already operating out of the premises. In these circumstances, the buyer may make what is known as “goodwill payments” if they want to do things like:

Use the existing business’s name
Access their client base or contact lists
Keep trading under the same business name
Retain or re-hire the same staff
Take ownership of the stock or use the existing processes

There isn’t really an equivalent to this in residential property purchases.

3) Leaseholds And Freeholds

These are the two different ways to own property in the UK. In a freehold, you own the property, the land it sits on, and even the airspace directly above. In a leasehold, you lease often part of the property (e.g. a flat in a larger building) from the freeholder.

As of around 2005, roughly 1 in 5 residential properties in the UK were owned as leaseholds. As of 2015, this figure had shot up to around 43%.

This is likely because potential for additional profit was identified. A leasehold arrangement frequently means paying things like ground rent and service charges to your freeholder, though the laws on this are changing “to cut unfair and abusive practices” (according to the UK government).

Despite this, while there are huge numbers of leasehold residential property owners in the UK, the majority remain freeholders. This situation is reversed in commercial property.

The majority of commercial property owners are leaseholders. This situation is more beneficial in commercial situations because a business may wish to do things like expand into adjacent properties if demand increases.

4) Commercial Lease Negotiation

Because of all of the above, solicitors specialising in commercial property frequently need to negotiate a detailed lease with the freeholder of the property.

There are different kinds of commercial leases covering different types of commercial property use.

5) Property Searches And Price

Property searches are a vital way of confirming you know everything about the condition of the property you are buying. If you are buying a residential property, they aren’t usually very expensive.

Commercial property searches tend to cost a little more. This is partly because the properties themselves tend to be larger. There is also a need to conduct additional Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSEs).

Find The Right Commercial Or Residential Property Solicitor

If you are looking to buy or sell commercial or residential property, Solicitors Near Me can help.

We find you the most suitable commercial or residential property solicitor – for FREE and with no obligation to use them.

To be connected to a specialist conveyancing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Good Conveyancing Solicitors Near Me

How to find good conveyancing solicitors near me

The solicitors you use to buy and sell property don’t always have the best reputation. So how do you find “good conveyancing solicitors near me”? It’s one of the most common search queries for legal services!

To be connected to a specialist conveyancing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Here are some of the best ways you can ensure that you get the kind of positive experience you want from your conveyancers when you are buying or selling a house:

How To Find Good Conveyancing Solicitors Near Me

1) Check The Basics

This is the groundwork you would do with any legal service to confirm that they’re legitimate and qualified to do the job you need them to.

You can confirm this legitimacy with several of the legal sector’s independent bodies. Check the name of either your individual solicitor or the law firm they work for with:

The Solicitors Regulation Authority – the SRA is the industry regulator for England and Wales. It offers the best register of details of individual solicitors in the UK and who they work for. Solicitors have to be listed with the SRA to remain on the roll.
The Law Society – this is the professional association that represents solicitors in the UK. Their original Regulation Board split off and became independent, forming the SRA. The Law Society still exists though.
The Council of Licensed Conveyancers – is the specialist industry regulator for property law. You can search for lawyers that are signed up with the CLC on their website.

2) Check Reviews, Testimonials, And Word Of Mouth

Online reviews and testimonials are an easy place to start if you want to get some idea of the quality you can expect from a law firm. Be wary though.

Because the image online reviews project isn’t perfect. For example, people who are happy with a service don’t tend to take the time to leave a review. People who are unhappy often will.

Word of mouth can be a good source of more personal reviews if you go with a local conveyancer. This is often a good choice because of their knowledge of the local property market and relationships with the necessary local authorities.

Again though, while word of mouth can be a useful weathervane, it’s no guarantee that a person’s perception of a conveyancer’s quality isn’t influenced by things outside of that conveyancer’s control…

3) Communication, Communication, Communication

The conveyancing process is a long one. It’s also one in which unexpected events can and do regularly crop up. Here is just a taste of the many tasks your conveyancing solicitor will be taking care of for you and what can take up more time than planned:

Carry out property searches – relying on anywhere up to a dozen different organisations to respond in a timely manner.
Raise issues – if any of those conveyancing searches turn up problems with the property, if you are buying, your solicitor will need to raise the issues and get further information.
Negotiate contract terms – everything from a completion date that works for everyone to changes in asking price to deciding who has responsibility for making-good works relating to issues raised by the searches.

Unfortunately, if you’re buying or selling a property for the first time, all of this isn’t always obvious or made clear to you.

This is often the reason that conveyancing as a whole attracts a not-always-positive reputation. It’s not always that a conveyancing solicitor is doing their job poorly. It’s that many conveyancing tasks can become more time-consuming than expected.

Problems occur when a solicitor fails to update their client on how things are going. This means the ability to communicate clearly and regularly and to respond to your queries is perhaps the most vital quality any conveyancing solicitor can have.

This can be difficult to judge at the outset. It can be good to run some tests. Email them. Call them. See how quickly they respond or call you back and how helpful they are when they do.

Get A Little Help Finding Good Conveyancing Solicitors Near You

Of course, there is an easier solution. Solicitors Near Me was created by a former solicitor who realised how difficult it was for people to find a legal expert they could trust without a lengthy search.

Why not let us do the hard work for you? We’ll find you a good conveyancing solicitor near you for FREE and with no obligation to use their services if you don’t want to.

To be connected to a specialist conveyancing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.