The search is undertaken in order to check that the company exists, is not subject to insolvency and has not been struck off the Register at Companies House.

If you are buying unregistered land from a company, the search is also undertaken to ensure that there are no adverse entries that may affect you as buyer i.e. fixed or floating charges or the appointment of a receiver or liquidator.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/rates/rates-mar08-sep08.htm

You can also find the HMRC Stamp Duty Land Tax online calculator here;-

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/new-sdlt-calculators.htm

Generally speaking, you need to meet the following requirements in order to qualify for HomeBuy;-

1. Buyers must be a tenant of a Registered Provider or Local Authority, or on their waiting list, or;
2. Be a Key Worker.
3. Be a Priority First Time Buyer; and
4. Have an annual household income of less than 60k.

Some property developers also offer shared equity schemes – I know that Miller Homes offer several Shared Equity property developments in my area. I’m not sure whether all mortgage lenders offer Shared Equity Mortgages, but I do know that most of the big ones, Halifax, Royal Bank of Scotland, The Cooperative Bank do have particular Shared Equity Mortgages.

There are two different schemes introduced in respect of property ownership – SHARED OWNERSHIP and SHARED EQUITY. Both are marketed under the “Homebuy” branding.

Dealing with Shared Ownership – the main points are as follows;-

1. You must be a qualifying person, usually a Housing Association or Local Authority tenant, those on Housing waiting listings, or key workers (i.e. Police Officers, Nurses etc).

2. The Shared Ownership is dealt with in legal terms by means of a Shared Ownership Lease. You can find sample leases currently in use on the Housing Corporation’s website at http://www.housingcorp.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.8720

3. Some Shared Ownership Leases offer the right to buy further shares in the property at a later date, sometimes with a right to eventually buy the freehold. Many New Build HomeBuy Schemes are likely to be granted in this way.

4. STAIRCASING is the ability to buy additional equity in the property in the future. Some leases restrict the amount of equity that can be purchased via staircasing, in particular those intended for the elderly, which may also have a minimum age limit for the owners.

5. General rules contained in Shared Ownership Leases are absolute prevention of the buyer subsequently letting the whole or part of the property to another person, a requirement to notify the Housing Association of an intention to sell the property to obtain their consent or their nomination for another person to buy, a requirement to pay a service charge (particularly for a flat), and an annual review of rent.

SHARED EQUITY is explained in a separate article, as this is another type of marketed HOMEBUY SCHEME.

Before going any further, you need to contact your conveyancing solicitor and ask that he explain why. There might be issues that you’re not aware of because they are complex legal issues or standard practice. You need to give the person time to explain before you make a complaint.

If after hearing the full explanation, you’re still not satisfied, then you need to find out who the firm’s Complaints Partner is. Ask for a copy of the firm’s Complaints Procedure and follow it. Unless you do this, you cannot proceed any further and it may be that negotiations can resolve this issue before things become unpleasant.

If the Complaints Partner still doesn’t deal with the issue satisfactorily, then you can contact the Legal Complaints Service for advice. They deal with solicitors’ negligence and will listen to what you and your conveyancing solicitor have to say. If they believe that your solicitor was negligent, then they will order the solicitor to resolve it.

You can contact the Legal Complaints Service (and not the Law Society, who no longer deal with client complaints) at http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/home.page.

The most common complaints relate to “poor service” i.e. that you were either given incorrect information or not told something that you should have been, or that you were charged much more than you originally expected without being told in advance. All such issues can be investigated fairly by the Legal Complaints Service, but you must go through the Complaints Procedure first.

Don’t be too quick to make an accusation of solicitor negligence – make sure you have the fullest information first.

Are you going to get this from the cheapest conveyancing company? You might, but on balance of probability, it’s not likely. I would be more inclined to see what I thought of the conveyancing firm when I rang them. Did they seem knowledgeable when you asked them questions? Would they explain what the disbursements were and what the process was? Did they offer to let you have the conveyancing quote in writing so that you can see the breakdown of what they are including for you? If the answer to all these questions is yes, then I think you’ve found your conveyancer, provided the price isn’t astronomical!

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Do they have online case tracking so you can see how far things have progressed when you want to and not just when they’re open? Do they write to clients via email, speeding up the rate at which you can get information about what’s happening? Can they explain a basic outline of what the process is? How quickly can you see or talk to your conveyancing solicitor direct once you’ve instructed them? All these issues can help you make your decision. Don’t just go on price. If you ring a conveyancing firm and they’re unhelpful when they’re trying to get your business, what will they be like when they’ve actually got it?

Make a considered choice with more information than just the cost!

I know everyone nowadays wants the cheapest deal and that people think solicitors are grossly overpriced in what they charge for fees. That may be true of some solicitors, I’m sure, but if you actually saw the amount of work that your conveyancing solicitor actually does, then I believe you’d be more agreeable to paying a proper fee and not just using a cheap conveyancing service.

I would expect to pay from £300.00 upwards for a conveyancing solicitor’s fees alone. That being said, for a single transaction freehold purchase, I would not expect to pay more than £500.00 for the solicitors’ fees.

Remember that your conveyancing solicitor’s total quotation will also include third party fees, known as “disbursements”. You need to ask when getting a quote what the solicitor’s actual fee is.

On average, I would estimate that a conveyancing solicitor on a freehold purchase transaction, is likely to send and receive at least 40 letters and telephone calls and would spend at least 2 ½ hours working on your file throughout the whole of the transaction. When you look at the amount of work that should be done, you can see that really, conveyancing solicitors don’t actually charge that much in terms of their fee!

I do understand that people want to save money, I’m no different, but if you want a proper job to be done, then you need to pay a reasonable fee to your conveyancing solicitor and not just pick the cheap conveyancing quote. If your solicitor reduces his price too much, then it’s simply not cost effective for him to spend time on your file making sure everything is done properly and you’re more likely to be passed to an unqualified unsupervised fee earner. Corners can be cut, and you could simply end up with more problems in the future.

Obviously there is nothing wrong with wanting to get a good deal but cheap conveyancing companies are not likely to give you all the information you need about your new house because it takes too much time. Ring around your local solicitors by all means but see my separate article on “What to look for when getting a conveyancing quote” before you decide who to go with.

Whether contained in the Home Information Pack or whether undertaken independently, the Local Land Charge Search will reveal any planning permissions and building regulation approvals granted in relation to the property. Your solicitor needs to check that there have been no breaches of any permissions or approvals that might leave you open to enforcement action in the future

If the permissions are dated within the last four years, then the terms of them are still enforceable by the Council if a breach has taken place; however, if a period of four years has elapsed, then breach of planning permission is no longer enforceable. This is because after this period of time, any action by the Council is statute barred.

So, if you’re buying a property and you’re asked to pay for copy planning permissions to be obtained, they only need to be provided if they’re dated less than four years ago and usually, they would be provided by the seller. That’s assuming of course that the seller hasn’t refused to pay for them, which does happen.

The time period may not apply in relation to building regulation approvals and completion certificates however. Due to the findings of a case called Cottingham v Attey Bower & Jones (2000), solicitors should always ask for and obtain copies of the building regulation approvals and completion certificates (if cc’s were granted by that Council at that time). Breaches of building regulations can be enforced via an injunction under Section 36(6) of the Building Act 1984 and therefore, the Council can take action at any time, (although usually a period in excess of ten years expired is seen as satisfactory by mortgage lenders if no action has been taken), for works undertaken since 1985.  Prior to that, building regulation breaches cannot be enforced.

If the building regulation approvals cannot be provided by the seller, then they should be obtained through the local Council. Depending on the age of the documents, you might be able to get copies via the Planning Portal, which now enables people to access planning permissions and building regulation approvals relating to any property, online. You can’t always get them if they’re older documents though.

Please note that a building regulation approval is issued at the start of the building works when plans etc have been checked. A completion certificate is a more recent document that is issued by the building control officer once the work has been completed satisfactorily following his inspection.

If the documents cannot be provided, then indemnity insurance should be obtained by the solicitor to protect both you and if relevant, your mortgage lender.

Whether contained in the Home Information Pack or whether undertaken independently, the Local Land Charge Search will reveal any planning permissions granted in relation to the property.

If the permissions are dated within the last four years, then the terms of them are still enforceable by the Council if a breach has taken place; however, if a period of four years has elapsed, then breach of planning permission is no longer enforceable. This is because after this period of time, any action by the Council is statute barred.

So, if you’re selling a property and you’re asked to pay for copy planning permissions to be obtained, they only need to be provided if they’re dated less than four years ago.

The time period does not apply in relation to building regulation approvals and completion certificates however. Due to the findings of a case called Cottingham v Attey Bower & Jones (2000), solicitors should always ask for and obtain copies of the building regulation approvals and completion certificates (if cc’s were granted by that Council at that time). Breaches of building regulations can be enforced via an injunction under Section 36(6) of the Building Act 1984 and therefore, the Council can take action at any time, (although usually a period in excess of ten years expired is seen as satisfactory by mortgage lenders if no action has been taken) where works were undertaken from 1985 onwards in breach of the regulations.  Prior to that, such breaches cannot be enforced.

If the building regulation approvals cannot be provided by you, then they should be obtained through the local Council. Depending on the age of the documents, you might be able to get copies via the Planning Portal, which now enables people to access planning permissions and building regulation approvals relating to any property, online. You can’t always get them if they’re older documents though.

Please note that a building regulation approval is issued at the start of the building works when plans etc have been checked. A completion certificate is a more recent document, that is issued by the building control officer once the work has been completed satisfactorily following his inspection.

If the documents cannot be provided, then indemnity insurance should be obtained by the buyer’s conveyancing solicitor to protect both the buyer and if relevant, the mortgage lender. You will be asked to pay for this if you cannot provide the documents to prove that the permissions or approvals haven’t been breached.

1) He is protecting your interests if you are buying without a mortgage.

2) He is protecting both the interests of you and your mortgage lender, if you are buying with a mortgage.

If option 2) is relevant to you, then it’s unlikely that you have any choice in the matter. The mortgage lender will not allow the conveyancing solicitor to proceed to get your mortgage monies without the relevant policy is in place, protecting the mortgage lender’s security.

It is unlikely that your conveyancing solicitor benefits in any way by recommending policies to you. To my knowledge, it’s not something that the solicitor makes any money from, the money is just a third party fee (known as a disbursement) paid direct to the insurance company on completion.  Solicitors usually use the cheapest insurers offering the best cover, or they should do if they want to offer a good service to their clients.  Some I suppose may receive an incentive from the insurer for passing clients to them but if this is the case, then the solicitor is duty bound to inform you, so check the small print.  If this is the case, then ask for alternative quotes, because you may find a cheaper supplier.

If your seller refuses to provide a policy for something that’s wrong at the property, then you can either pull out of the transaction, threaten to do so and see what the result is, or bite the bullet and pay for the policy yourself. Unfortunately, some sellers point blank refuse to pay for policies, even though those policies are required due to something that the seller has done. In my view, this is completely unreasonable but as explained above, your conveyancing solicitor can’t actually proceed if you’re getting a mortgage without the policy is in place. It’s therefore up to you as to how you want to proceed.

It’s worth asking your conveyancing solicitor whether or not they obtain their indemnity insurance policies online. I get mine through a company called Legal & Contingency Limited. Their online policies are actually quite a bit cheaper than the paper ones, I recently managed to save my client over £50.00 on two policies by getting them online. Otherwise, the conveyancing solicitor basically has a file of sample policies, called “instant issue policies” which they just write out, and then send the cheque to the insurance company.

Before issuing the policy however, you should see a copy of the proposed policy, its terms and the quotation as to cost.  I always provide these documents to my clients for them to look through before we go ahead and instruct Legal & Contingency.  GCS and Norwich Union also offer such policies; however in my experience, they are more expensive, even when obtained online.