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Do I get the deeds? How do I get a copy of my deeds?
After completion, your conveyancing solicitor should provide you with a receipted bill (you should have already paid in full by this stage really and if not, he’ll be asking you for the balance) and should account to you for any balance due.
When buying a house and completion has taken place, obviously, the house will need to be registered in your name. The conveyancing solicitor will need a few documents in order to be able to do this.
If your seller had a mortgage on the house, then your conveyancing solicitor needs a written notice confirming that it has been paid off. In practice, the seller’s conveyancing solicitor will give an undertaking (legally binding promise) to your conveyancing solicitor do this on completion and to provide the written notice, it’s not something you need to worry about.
Your conveyancing solicitor will also need a Transfer Deed (TR1 or TP1) signed by you and the seller, and duly witnessed.
Your conveyancing solicitor will usually file the Stamp Duty Land Tax Return Form on your behalf following completion and make any stamp duty payment on your behalf. He’ll get a certificate to confirm that this has been done.
Once all these documents are ready, your conveyancing solicitor will apply to the HM District Land Registry to have the property registered in your name. The Land Registry will note the discharge of the seller’s mortgage, the transfer of the property to you and the new mortgage in favour of your mortgage lender (if any) on the electronic register. Once the register has been updated, your conveyancing solicitor will get a copy and he’ll send it to you, together with any guarantees, sundry title deeds and searches not required by HM Land Registry, indemnity insurance policies etc. He’ll also send a copy to your mortgage lender, if you have one.
Since the implementation of the Land Registration Act 2002, all paper deeds have been “dematerialised”. All this means is that instead of being kept on paper, which can easily be lost, the deeds are recorded electronically at HM Land Registry on a register. This means that you might not actually get any deeds after completion, you might just get a copy of the new register showing you as owner. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your conveyancing solicitor is holding anything else, he may just have no other relevant papers to give to you, sundry title deeds and searches may not be available nor do you really need them for anything other than historical interest.
The electronic register can be accessed by anyone, it is a public register. If your neighbours want to get a copy of your deeds to see how much you paid when buying your house, (and vice versa) then they can do. If you want to get a copy of your deeds, (or anyone else’s for whatever reason) visit www.hmlr.gov.uk and click on Land Register Online, coloured blue on the right hand side of the home page. The service costs from 3 pounds.
2 Responses to “Buying a house – What does my conveyancing solicitor do after completion?”
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December 15th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Hi, I love your website, it’s been really useful.
How long should I expect to wait for the completion documentation you refer to above? We completed in mid October, it’s now December, I still haven’t got a copy of the Indemnity policy our sellers were supposed to buy, nor a copy of the Chancel Repair Insurance policy we were advised to buy (and were charged for in the completion statement), and as far as I know, our purchase hasn’t been registered with the Land Registry. (I subscribe to a property site which uses Land Registry data, I can see our sale was registered, but not the purchase.) I have chased my solicitor a couple of times but she hasn’t responded to my emails. What should I do? Should I be worried?
Thanks!
December 15th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for your email – I’m glad you found the site useful!
I would be concerned that she has not registered your purchase by now, nor supplied your indemnity insurance policies. The indemnity insurance policies should be put in place on the day of completion and there should therefore be no difficulties in supplying these to you.
You haven’t said whether or not you have a mortgage on the property. If you do, then the solicitor owes a duty not only to you but also to the lender to deal with the registration of your purchase. It should be possible for the solicitor to explain to you why the process has not been completed and you are entitled to know the position. I would therefore suggest that you either telephone her office and ask to speak to her secretary, explaining that your emails have gone unanswered, or try putting your enquiry in writing via post. If this still elicits no response, ask to speak to the Complaints Manager, explaining that your correspondence is repeatedly ignored. My clients often ring after a week if their purchase is not registered and it is not unusual for documents to take time to come through to complete registration; that being said, you are entitled to know what is happening and when it will be completed.
Hope this helps!
Gemma