Conveyancing Explained

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, what time can I move in?

Unfortunately, the answer is not usually what my clients want to hear!

The difficulty is that technically, keys should not be handed over until the seller’s solicitor has received the purchase monies into their client account. Your solicitor needs to have the mortgage monies and any balance from you, together with the monies on any property you might be selling at the same time. Only then can he send a payment request to his bank for the purchase monies to be sent to the seller’s solicitors.

Once your solicitor’s bankers have received the request, it will usually be processed electronically in a queuing system. At this point, the time it takes is out of your solicitor’s hands, it is solely down to how busy the bank are, how many other payments are going through on that day and whereabouts your payment request is in the queue.

This always causes problems for buyers, because they don’t want to hire a removal van for longer than absolutely necessary. As a general rule, if your solicitor has got the mortgage monies in his client account the day before, which I like to do as a matter of good practice but in fairness not every mortgage lender will allow this, then you can probably expect the monies to go through early in the morning from 11am onwards. If you’re also selling a property though, bear in mind that your buyer’s solicitor has to go through the same process to get the money to you, hence the usual delays.

Its best to ask your solicitor whether or not he can get the mortgage money the day before, because at least then, you’re not waiting for this to come through as well as any sale money on your existing property. Also, if you want to complete early, avoid popular days such as the Friday before any bank holiday, because the banking system is always manic!

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.

You probably know all these things already, but I’ve compiled a list of reminders for you to use in what can be a very stressful time!

On the day of completion;-

• Make sure the seller has taken meter readings for the electricity and gas supplies and has telephoned the relevant company. It’s prudent to get the details of the companies concerned and do the readings yourself just to make sure.
• Make sure the seller has given you all the keys, including for window locks, the shed, garage etc.
• Make sure the seller has provided you with the alarm code for the burglar alarm.
• Make sure that the seller has left any manuals relevant for items left in the property such as the boiler/burglar alarm/cooker etc, together with any original documents that they agreed to leave in the property rather than send through solicitors.
• Check the property thoroughly to make sure that no items that were supposed to be included in the sale have been removed.
• Check that no damage has been caused in the removal of the seller’s items.
• Ensure that your buildings insurance is in place because the seller is no longer responsible for insuring the property.

In the following days;-

• Make sure the utility companies know that the seller has vacated the property and has your new details.
• Visit www.uswitch.com to make sure you’re getting a good deal from the current provider. If not, switch! Personally, in the Teesside area, I’ve found that Atlantic Electric & Gas are pretty cheap.
• Notify the Council that the seller has vacated the property and you have moved in to make sure you receive council tax bills (a pain I know, but better this than a backlog of fees!).
• Notify the Water Company that the seller has vacated the property and you have moved in. Check whether the water is metered if you don’t already know.
• Make sure you apply for a TV licence.
• Change your address with all the relevant companies/clubs/banks etc. See my Change of Address document, which you can download for free.