When it comes to the legalities of buying a place, nobody knows the ropes better than a property solicitor. Their role is crucial to ensure all of the transactions around the buying and selling of property are legally sound and protect the interests of their client — whether their client is a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, or even an investor!
Property solicitors really are top of the pile. Their services will require you to dig slightly deeper into your pockets, but the payoff is more than worthwhile. When you consider that buying property is likely to be the single biggest purchase of your life, that little bit of extra spend on legal arrangements can go a long, long way.
A property solicitor will take care of a number of details for you, however the key responsibilities of a property solicitor are:
Before a property can be sold, someone first needs to determine if it’s legally allowed to be sold. Your property solicitor will conduct property title checks to verify the ownership of the property, and ensure the seller has the legal right to put it on the market.
They will also check for any restrictions or encumbrances on the property. For the record, an encumbrance is a claim or legal interest that limits how a property owner can use or transfer the ownership of their property. An easement is one of the most common types of encumbrances. It grants a third party the legal right to use a portion of the property for a specific purpose, even though they don’t own it, which is something you would definitely want to know before you buy.
Another solution a property solicitor can offer is to conduct local authority searches and check for planning permissions, building regulations compliances, and any pending developments nearby that could impact the property.
Environmental searches are also something they deal with to ensure the property isn’t at risk of flooding, contamination, or subsidence (think sliding off into the ocean or being swallowed by a sinkhole). The same goes for utility searches as they can confirm there is access to essential services like water, gas, and electricity.
Most people shudder at the thought of this type of legal paperwork, but the drafting and reviewing of contracts is exactly where your property solicitor excels. They prepare and review the sale and purchase agreements to ensure all terms are clear, accurate, and favourable to you, their client.
They will also address and negotiate any problematic clauses to protect their client’s interests. An example of this would be negotiating a quick settlement if you need one, or maybe the property has an ‘as is’ clause, meaning you should take possession of it in the same state as it was at the time of sale. If the condition of the property has deteriorated since this, then it’s your property solicitor who will step in to make sure the vacating owner adheres to the relevant clause.
Having someone to handle all of the financial aspects is well worth the investment, as your property solicitor will distribute your deposit payments, which are typically held by a neutral third party until the transaction is complete.
And forget your online stamp duty calculators — just get a professional like a property solicitor to do it and they’ll ensure it’s paid directly to the relevant authority.
Finally, in regards to the contract, your property solicitor will liaise with the lender to coordinate the final transfer of mortgage funds and facilitate the exchange of contracts as they confirm all of the conditions of the transaction have been met. They will then oversee the formal exchange of contracts, which makes the transaction legally binding.
After handling the transfer of ownership (through registration with the relevant land registry office) and making sure all the legal documents (e.g. deeds) are correctly filed and stored, your property solicitor will verify that the buyer receives legal ownership of the property title.
And finally, after all the red tape is packed away and you officially own the property, the solicitor will continue to offer guidance on property taxes, lease agreements, and landlord-tenant laws, among other things.
If you’re thinking that’s a heck of a lot for one person to contribute to your property-buying goal, you’re not wrong! A property solicitor is the linchpin in your home buying success.
You may have seen these terms being used interchangeably and there’s good reason. A property solicitor is the jacked-up version of your standard conveyancer and, as the name suggests, the property-specific version of anyone who’s trained as a solicitor. They’ve spent more hours in the legal weights room and are ready to flex these muscles for you during your home buying process.
Having said that, it might be perfectly suitable for you to use a conveyancer. If you’re left unsure of where to start after all of this, ask someone you trust what type of professional they used. No doubt the recommendations will come in thick and fast if you put the word out. People like to help, and in this particular field, the best help you’ll get will be from a vetted professional.
