Unlike the situation that prevailed a few years ago, conveyancing for residential transactions is now detailed and strictly regulated. These steps or Protocols have been laid down under the Conveyancing Quality Scheme. And it is advisable that conveyancers follow them even if the client does not formally ask them to do so as there are several important details that are relevant to a conveyancing transaction.
Conveyancing transactions can be divided into 3 stages:
The pre-contract stage,
The post-contract stage, and
The post-completion stage
It takes about 6 to 8 weeks to complete the entire conveyancing transaction process from start to finish. But this is subject to the condition that there are no delays caused by parties to the conveyancing, or other issues over which conveyancing solicitors have no control. For instance, sometimes there may be a situation where local authorities may delay the process of returning a search application, or a delay may be caused by the lender in processing the mortgage application.
All things remaining constant, it may take about 4 to 6 weeks (from the date when instructions are received) to clear the pre-contract stage. This stage is the longest of the 3 because almost all legal work pertaining to the conveyancing is done here. The next stage, viz. the post-contract (also called the pre-completion) takes about two weeks. And once these two stages are complete, the final part, i.e. the post-completion lasts until the conveyancing solicitor takes care of the all aspects involved in the process after the buyer has bought the property.
Photo courtesy: anemoneprojectors (Peter O)
