Buying a home is not going to be something you do very often. So even if you like the first property that you see, property experts advise that you view several properties so you can develop a better sense of what is available, what you like and what you do not like.

According to research by Which?, 60% of British homebuyers looked at five or more properties before deciding to buy.

Property prices add an extra hurdle when buying your own home. You may see a home you like, but the price may be more than you can afford. Staying within your budget and finding the right home can often mean looking at several properties to find the one that ticks the most boxes on your checklist.

An alternative to traipsing around several properties to buy the right home is to build your own. With the government’s new Help to Build scheme, building your own home could be a possibility for first-time buyers as well.

How easy is it to buy land?

If you want to build your own home, the first thing you need is land to build on.

You can find out about land for sale in several places. You can contact estate agents in the area you want to live in, or architects or surveyors. You can also use online land sale portals such as Rightmove or OnTheMarket. There will be a mixture of empty plots and land with an existing building that needs to be demolished.

As with buying a ready-made home, you should always visit the plot before making an offer. In addition to giving you an idea of the possibilities for what you can build, a visual inspection could help identify any potential problems.

You can also find some useful and important information online, such as whether the land appears in contaminated land databases or whether existing planning permission is attached to the land. Even if there is no existing planning permission, you can find out whether you are likely to be granted planning permission to build a residential property by contacting the local authority. After all, the last thing you want is to buy the land only to discover that you are not allowed to build the property you want.

The conveyancing process for buying land is more or less the same as buying an existing property; after all, every property is situated on a piece of land. A conveyancing solicitor or licensed conveyancer can help you navigate the process and advise on what checks should be done.

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After all, what you pay for electricity and gas will be one of the largest regular household expenses. Even if you are buying the property as an investment for buy-to-let purposes, potential tenants will be looking for whatever savings they can make.

On top of that, as more people become aware of the impact of climate change, energy efficiency can add value to your property.

Fortunately, if you are buying a property, you can get a good idea of the energy efficiency of a property from the energy performance certificate (EPC). The seller is legally obliged to provide an EPC and you should receive it with any other information and documents sent through their solicitor.

In summary, the EPC will state:

• the efficiency rating of the property (A-F, with A for the most efficient building)
• an estimate of the current costs for lighting, heating and hot water
• a list of ways you can improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs once you buy the property

You can also find out how to improve the energy efficiency of the property by answering this questionnaire at GOV.UK.

Here are our energy-saving tips for now and in the longer term.

Switch off lights and appliances when not in use.

This one probably seems a bit obvious, but £4.4 billion a year is wasted by people leaving the lights on unnecessarily.

The same applies to electrical appliances such as computers, TVs and hair dryers being plugged in and left on standby. You could save up to £25 a year. Leaving an appliance on standby does reduce the amount of energy used compared to if it was fully on. Why should you pay for energy used while on standby when you pay nothing at all if you switch it off at the plug or shut it down completely?

Change to energy-saving light bulbs.

If you still have old-style incandescent light bulbs, then you are burning money. Only 10% of the electricity required to power these light bulbs goes into producing light.

By switching to low-energy light bulbs such as fluorescent or LED, you can have the same or more light in a room for a lot less electricity.

Turn down your thermostat.

Turning your thermostat down by 1º Celsius while you are at home could save you up to £100 a year.

However, there is a limit to how far you can turn down the thermostat.

According to the NHS, the ideal temperature range for both your health and your home is 18-21º Celsius. Of course, you can set your thermostat outside this range.

If your setting is too cold, the symptoms of colds and respiratory illnesses could be made worse. It could also cause dampness, mould, frozen pipes and boiler breakdowns, which are costly to remedy.

Turning down your thermostat or turning your heating off could help save money if your home is still comfortably warm. Otherwise, the cost could easily outweigh any savings you make on your energy bills.

Close radiators.

When you do turn your heating on, you can reduce your bills by closing any radiators that are not needed at the time.

For example, if the family is relaxing in the living room watching a movie, there is no point in heating other rooms of the house.

A smart radiator valve could be helpful here. You can then open and close radiators in different rooms using your phone, laptop or virtual assistant device without needing to go to every room.

However, closing radiator valves only works if you have a modern condensing boiler (sold after 2005).

If you still have the old G-rated and non-condensing boiler, then closing the radiator valves could end up increasing your heating bills.

It is easy to find out whether you have a modern or older boiler. If there is a white pipe coming from the bottom of your boiler, it is a modern condensing boiler.

If you do have an older, non-condensing boiler, it may be time to think about upgrading it. You can upgrade to a condensing gas boiler. However, you may be able to apply for a government grant if you upgrade to a heating pump or biomass boiler.

Install curtains, double-glazing and insulation.

The difficulty with maintaining a comfortable temperature in your home is that so much heat can be lost through the windows, walls and roof. You are not paying to heat the house, just everything else.

The easiest way to stop heat from escaping at night is to draw the curtains and close the blinds, but make sure you open them again during the day so that any free heat from sunlight is captured.

Double and triple glazing will also help to reduce heat loss through windows and doors and could save you up to £200 a year in energy costs.

According to the magazine Which? loft insulation, which reduces heat loss through the roof, could save you up to £315 a year. Meanwhile, cavity wall insulation can reduce heat loss through walls by 33%, although properties built after 1990 already come with wall insulation.

Both double and triple glazing and insulation come with a large upfront cost, although you should see the benefits straight away in terms of lower energy bills. These should also be seen as investments as they add value to the property.

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If it were a mortgage lender, the Bank of Mum and Dad would be the ninth biggest lender, with 84% of parents helping their children to buy a property. According to the latest research, the Bank of Mum and Dad is expected to support almost half of all first-time buyers with gifts and loans worth £25 billion over the next three years.

Although we call it the Bank of Mum and Dad, not only parents are helping their children. Research from Aviva shows a growing trend towards grandparents helping out with house buying too.

Parents and grandparents can help the younger generation with buying a property in several ways, each of which has benefits and legal risks. A good conveyancing solicitor will be able to explain the legal risks involved.

Giving money to your child to buy a property

The easiest way to help your son or daughter is simply to give them the money. This is known as a gift.

Unlike loans, mortgage lenders will generally be happy for parents or other relatives to gift money to buyers, because it means the donor will not have a legal interest in the property being bought. However, the lender (via your conveyancing solicitor) will want to see a signed declaration (also known as a deed of gift) from you that the money is a gift and that you do not expect it to be paid back. Your lender will also require a declaration of solvency to be completed to confirm that you are solvent at the time of making the gift and that no creditors are expected to pursue your child for the money you are gifting. Your conveyancing solicitor will draft the declaration of solvency and the declaration of gift.

You have an annual exemption of £3,000, which means that you can give up to £3,000 in one year to your son or daughter without tax being payable. If you do not use your annual exemption in one year, HMRC allows you to roll it over to the next year, so you could give as much as £6,000 as a gift tax-free. However, an annual exemption can only be rolled over once.

For you, a gift is also a good way to pass your money to your children and reduce your inheritance tax bill. However, you will need to make sure you live for at least seven years after making the gift. If you pass away within seven years, then the gift will still be considered part of your estate when the inheritance tax is calculated. You should obtain tax advice before proceeding with any gifts. Your conveyancing lawyer is unlikely to be an expert in this area of tax law. You should contact a probate solicitor, a tax lawyer or an accountant for tax advice.

The other risk with a gift occurs if your child later breaks up with the partner with whom they bought the property. The ex-partner may be able to claim half of the gift, on the basis that the money was given to both jointly.

To protect your child in case their relationship breaks down, you can request that a declaration of trust or a deed of trust be drawn up by a conveyancing solicitor at the time of making the gift. This should state that money has been given to your child only.

If your child and their partner are not married, it is easier for them to split up without having to go through the legal process of a divorce. It may be a good idea for a Living Together Agreement (also known as a Cohabitation Agreement) in the form of a deed to be drawn up so that details of all financial contributions can be recorded and how the money will be divided in case the relationship comes to an end.

Lending money to your child to buy a property

An alternative to gifting money to your child is to lend them money. The advantage to you of course is that you will receive the money back.

Lenders, however, are often not keen on loans from parents to help buy a property, as it means the borrower will have additional debt and you may obtain an interest in the property being bought. If your child is unable to keep up the mortgage payments and the lender repossesses the property, they must make sure that the money you lent and any other creditors are paid back from the net (i.e., after the lender’s money and all expenses) sale proceeds on a pro-rata basis.

Also, with a loan, the money is technically still part of your estate, which will affect the amount of inheritance tax payable when you die. It does not matter if you live more than seven years after giving the loan. The only way you can avoid inheritance tax being paid concerning the loan is if you later choose to dismiss the loan, thereby turning the loan into a gift.

It is up to you whether you charge your child interest on the loan. If you do, the interest payments will be considered a part of your income and you will have to pay income tax on it. If you are lending money to fund someone’s purchase, it is good practice to enter into a secured loan agreement and have it registered against the property as a secured charge.

If you are planning to make a loan, ensure that your child has obtained consent from the lender and that the conveyancing solicitor is informed of this upfront.

Other ways to help your child buy a property

Even if you do not have the cash to help your child, there are other ways in which you can help them buy a property.

Equity as security

If you own your home, then you may be able to use it as additional security against a mortgage, depending on how much of your mortgage you have already paid off. This is particularly useful if your child and their partner are unable to obtain a mortgage that is big enough to help buy the property they want.

The big risk with using your own home as security against your child’s mortgage is that, if they are unable to keep up the repayments on the mortgage, you could lose your home.

Family Offset Mortgages

If you have savings, instead of giving a loan or a gift to your child, the savings could be used as security against a mortgage. This is known as a family offset mortgage and can help to reduce the interest that your child pays. The main disadvantage of a family offset mortgage is that you cannot access your savings for the term of the mortgage (usually around 25 years) or until it is paid off. So, if you think you will need to use the savings before that, then a family offset mortgage may not be right for you.

Guarantor mortgages

A less common option is for the parent or a relative to guarantee 100% of the mortgage debt. This means that, if your child is unable to keep up repayments on the mortgage, you become responsible for paying the mortgage. As with putting up your savings or the equity in your home as security, the big risk is that you could end up losing your savings or your home.

Buying a property with your child

If you and your child agree to buy a property jointly and obtain a joint mortgage, then your combined incomes would help them to obtain a bigger mortgage.

However, if you already own your home, then this new property will count as a second home. Not only will your child be unable to take advantage of options available to first-time buyers but the property will also be subject to the additional stamp duty rate of 3%, thereby pushing up the cost of buying the property.

On top of that, if the property is a second home, then capital gains tax may have to be paid on the increase in value if the property is sold in the future. You may be able to sidestep this if your child’s lender allows for a joint mortgage without your name being added to the title deeds. This is known as a joint borrower, sole proprietor mortgage. It is a mortgage where your child can add your income onto their mortgage application to help increase their affordability.

Source of wealth on gifts and loans from parents and others

It is important to remember that conveyancing solicitors and lawyers are required to conduct anti-money laundering checks on any person giving or loaning monies, irrespective of the amount of money involved. What may vary is the depth of the checks. There are two limbs to the checks. Firstly, the rules require your conveyancer to conduct Know Your Client (KYC) checks, which will require identity documents to identify the persons involved. This usually requires a valid passport or driving licence and for proof of address, a utility bill or bank statement from within the last three months to be provided. These documents will be used to run an electronic identity check against numerous databases within the UK and international databases to verify your identity. Secondly, the conveyancer is required to conduct a source of wealth check on each of the persons involved. The source of wealth check in conveyancing has become intrusive, complicated, and time-consuming due to the requirements of the regulators that govern the conveyancing sector. This is also because conveyancing has large amounts of money changing hands regularly, which increases the risk of money laundering.

Your conveyancing solicitor would usually require six months of bank statements and payslips and other documents to help establish a link between the monies involved and the legitimate source of the funds.

House buying is becoming more expensive, and more people are having to rely on help from the Bank of Mum and Dad. The friendly and expert team of conveyancing solicitors and lawyers at Phew Conveyancing will be able to advise you on the legal risks, to enable you to make an informed decision.

Example of a Declaration of a Gift (Deed of Gift) and Declaration of Solvency

DEED OF GIFT and DECLARATION OF SOLVENCY

Mortgage account number:

Name of borrower(s):

Name of donor(s):

Amount of gift: £

Property to be purchased: 

—————————————————————————————————————–

We,John Smith of 1 Acacia Avenue, London SE25 3RR and Joe Smith of

18 Bishops Street, London SW34 3EE confirm that we have gifted the sum of £…………………….

to our son to help him towards his purchase of 1 John Road, London, E28 1PP.

We understand that he is purchasing with a mortgage from Coventry Building Society.

We confirm that:

1. the gift is not refundable, and
2. that we will have no interest whatsoever in the property he is purchasing, whether legal, beneficial or financial, and
3. that we do not intend to reside at the property at any time after completion (but limited to the duration of the mortgage), and
4. that we are fully solvent, and
5. that we are not aware of any circumstances that could lead to bankruptcy proceedings being brought against us, nor of any pending proceedings against us which might lead to an act of bankruptcy, and
6. that this transfer is not being made to avoid any creditors.

STATEMENT OF TRUTH

We believe the statements above to be true.

Signed:…………………………………………            Dated: ……………………………

Name: John Smith

Signed:…………………………………………            Dated: ……………………………

Name: Joe Smith

Please note that nothing on this page may be taken as providing you with legal advice. You must contact a solicitor or conveyancer to obtain advice specific to your needs and circumstances. The information is correct at the time of publication.

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Conveyancing is a service, not a product. Consequently, the cost of conveyancing will be affected by the property price, the area, the conveyancer or solicitor and the amount of work required.    

In a sample of 46 firms across the UK by Compare My Move, the average cost of conveyancing is £2,239 for buying a house and £1,690 for selling a home.

On the other hand, research by Reallymoving puts the average conveyancing fee for buyers at around £500-£1,150 plus at least £700 for disbursements. For a seller, the average conveyancing fee was found to be £610-£950.

Conveyancers at the bottom end of the range may not be able to provide the same standard of service as firms that charge higher fees. It is prudent to check reliable reviews and listen to recommendations.

Disbursements are fees on top of legal fees that are paid by the conveyancing firm to other organisations. The main disbursements are:

Where a disbursement includes fees for the benefit of the conveyancing firm, the rules require the firm to charge it as supplemental fees, and such fees must not be classified as a disbursement. Also, the fee should make clear that it includes administrative fees and management fees.

Of course, depending on your situation, you will not have to pay for all the above disbursements. On the other hand, other searches may be required depending on the location of the property you are buying, which will be an additional cost.

There is no fixed range within which the cost of conveyancing sits. Shopping around is always a good idea. A good rule of thumb is to obtain quotations from at least three different conveyancing or law firms. A good firm or conveyancing lawyer should be able to provide an itemised estimate of the cost, although it is important to note that this figure may change depending on the results of searches and the need to make additional enquiries.

Conveyancing firms are under a legal obligation to display their prices on their website.

The cost of conveyancing can seem overwhelming. At Phew Conveyancing, we can provide you with a free online quote and offer fixed-fee conveyancing. That means that what we quote as our legal fee at the start will be what you pay. Our legal fee does not include disbursements, but we will give as much advance notice as possible of any disbursements so that you do not have any nasty surprises.

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Between Christmas Day and New Year, conveyancing firms and estate agents tend to wind down, with many of them closing altogether. There is unlikely to be much going on in terms of conveyancing or viewings with many people taking time off. For this reason, Phew Conveyancing, like most other conveyancing firms, also closes between Christmas Day and New Year.

So, the question arises whether you can complete the conveyancing process before Christmas and move to your new property before Christmas or New Year.

Will I be able to complete my sale or purchase before Christmas?

At Phew, where we are instructed by a seller at the time of marketing the property and depending on the time when an offer on a property is made and accepted, we would say that it is quite possible to complete most sales and purchases within 30 days. This means that even if an offer is accepted in the last week of November, you could still complete on the sale or purchase before Christmas Eve.

If you are a seller, you need not wait until you accept an offer to instruct a solicitor. The main part of the conveyancing process will always involve disclosing information about the property to the buyer’s conveyancing solicitor and replying to enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitor. This is always the longest part of the process. But, by instructing a solicitor before a buyer is even found, you can complete all of the paperwork in advance so that they are ready to be sent to the buyer’s solicitor. Your solicitor can also anticipate many of the enquiries that the buyer’s solicitor might raise and make sure this information proactively provided.   

If you are a buyer, then it is a good idea to speak to a few conveyancing solicitors early on and choose a preferred solicitor to understand what is required from you. It shows estate agents that you are serious about buying and that you are ready to proceed once an offer is accepted.

For both sellers and buyers, conveyancing solicitors are also legally required to conduct compliance checks to make sure that the persons and the transactions involved are unlikely to cause identity theft and money laundering. These steps can be completed before you conclude a deal which can save you time.

Will my sale or purchase get delayed if I do not complete it by Christmas?

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to complete in time for Christmas. Moreover, most good firms do not allow completion to be set for the last working day before they close for the year, just in case there are delays to completion, which cannot be addressed until the firm reopens after New Year.

Buying and selling a property in December can be a stressful process. Contact our friendly, understanding and efficient team of conveyancing lawyers at Phew Conveyancing to see how we can help to speed up things so that you can start a new chapter of your life while approaching the end of the year.

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If you are looking to buy a property in England or Northern Ireland, you will not have to pay stamp duty on the first £250,000. That means, you will not have to pay any stamp duty if the property costs £250,000 or less. If the property costs more than £250,000, you will only have to pay stamp duty on the difference between the purchase price and £250,000.

That is a maximum of £2,500 you do not need to pay in stamp duty, which is paid after completion of a property purchase.

If you are a first-time buyer, the good news is that the stamp duty threshold is up from £300,000 to £425,000. Read our previous article to find out whether you qualify as a first-time buyer. The value of a property on which first-time buyers can claim stamp duty relief is also increased from £500,000 to £625,000.

So, for first-time buyers, that is a further £8,750 that could be saved.

When the government announced a stamp duty holiday during the pandemic, temporarily increasing the stamp duty threshold to £250,000, there was a surge in house buying. This happened even though a lot of households would have seen incomes affected by loss of work due to Covid.

So, despite the current cost of living crisis, the increased stamp duty thresholds could – at least that is what the government hopes – see another increase in house buying.

And perhaps the money that is saved in stamp duty could be redirected to help with other costs.

Unfortunately, the Bank of England has already increased its base rate to 2.25% and it is expected to increase it again to over 3%. If you are buying a new property – or remortgaging – an increase in the Bank of England base rate will only push up the cost of mortgages. A recent study has found that five million households could see their annual mortgage bills increase by over £5,000.  

So, the question is whether the money saved in stamp duty is enough to cover the mortgage payments.

If you are looking to buy property, the conveyancing solicitors at Phew Conveyancing will be able to advise you on how much you are likely to have to pay in stamp duty.

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If the owner left a will, they should have stated in the will the name of an executor to whom they have given the responsibility to make sure their estate is distributed amongst the correct beneficiaries.

If there is no will, or the deceased owner omitted to name a suitable or willing executor, then the job of distributing the estate falls to the deceased owner’s next of kin. (There is no one definition for next of kin but, in the context of dealing with a deceased’s estate, identifying the next of kin follows the intestacy rules.) 

However, a will naming you as the executor or documents showing that you are the next of kin (such as a marriage or birth certificate) do not automatically give you the right to sell a property on behalf of the deceased owner.

You need to apply to the Probate Registry to for a grant of representation. In a nutshell, a grant of representation is a document that gives you the legal right to deal with a deceased person’s estate, including transferring property to the correct beneficiary.

There are two types of grant of representation. An executor has to apply for a grant of probate, providing the original will. If there is no will or no executor, the next of kin has to apply for letters of administration – the next of kin is called the administrator of the estate.

Despite the different names, a grant of probate and letters of administration do the same thing – give the executor or administrator the power to transfer a deceased owner’s property.   

Acting as the executor or administrator of a deceased person’s estate is a great responsibility, and it can also be quite stressful, especially if the deceased was a loved one. Our friendly and impartial team of conveyancing lawyers at Phew Conveyancing can help you with the transfer of properties. Please contact us for free initial legal guidance.

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Can I be a first-time homebuyer? does it matter? Who qualifies?

With house prices rising faster than ever, first-time homebuyers are finding it increasingly difficult to buy their own homes and get on the property ladder.

The average house price is more than nine times the average annual full-time salary (£31,980). The last time the gap was this wide was more than 140 years ago. Various schemes that first-time buyers can use make buying a home a little easier.

Just because you have never bought a residential property before does not mean that you qualify as a first-time buyer.

The term “first-time buyer” is a bit of a misnomer.

A first-time homebuyer is not someone who has never bought a residential property before, but someone who has never owned their own home before.

When is a first-time homebuyer not a first-time buyer?

Various restrictions on buyers exclude them from being first-time buyers. Therefore it is important to check whether you qualify for first-time buyer benefits and reliefs before embarking on your house hunt.

Can I be a first-time homebuyer if I have only inherited a property?

No. You are not a first-time buyer if you have inherited a house or it was transferred to you as a gift.

Can I be a first-time buyer if I have only owned a house abroad?

No. You do not qualify as a first-time buyer if you own residential property in another country, even if you have never owned property in the United Kingdom.

This restriction exists because first-time homebuyers are widely seen as having difficulty with obtaining mortgages and saving for a deposit. If someone already owns property, even if they did not buy it, it is assumed that they can sell the property or borrow on it to raise money to buy another property.

Can I take advantage of first-time buyer schemes or reliefs for a buy-to-let purchase?

No. You are not considered a first-time buyer if the first residential property you are buying is for buy-to-let purposes. It must be purchased for you to live in.

Does owning a commercial property exclude me from being a first-time homebuyer?

No. It does not stop you from being a first-time buyer, buying your own home.

I own property through a limited company. Does this prevent me from being a first-time homebuyer?

No. If a limited company owns the property, it is owned by a separate legal entity, and you are therefore not the owner of that property. You only own shares in the limited company that owns the property. Consequently, you can still be classified as a first-time buyer.

Can I be a first-time buyer even if my spouse is not?

Even if you are a first-time buyer, you will not be able to use first-time buyer schemes or take advantage of first-time buyer reliefs if you are buying jointly with someone else (such as a spouse or civil partner) who is not a first-time buyer. The same applies even if you are buying in only your name but the person you are married to owns a residential property.

I am a first-time buyer. What schemes can I use to buy my first home?

Several different schemes that have been designed to help first-time buyers purchase their own homes are clearly explained on the Government’s Own Your Home website. Each scheme has its eligibility criteria. A licensed conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor can provide advice on how each can affect your position as a homeowner and the conveyancing process.

Below we offer a summary of the main first-time buyer schemes available:

These are not the only opportunities available to first-time buyers. Lenders, housebuilders and local councils may operate their own schemes and products, so it is a good idea to shop around.

The government has already recently announced other proposals for schemes that could help first-time buyers on low incomes, such as saving housing benefit payments to get a mortgage.

Final catch

Even if you can use first-time buyer schemes, you need to live in the UK for at least 183 days (roughly six months) in the 12 months before completion of your purchase to get the full benefit. If not, you will have to pay an additional 2% stamp duty across all bands:

Whether you are a first-time buyer or not, buying your own home is a stressful and expensive process. The friendly and expert team of conveyancers and solicitors at Phew Conveyancing can help you navigate around the various first-time buyer schemes and advise on how they may affect your legal rights.

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The last time you heard about radon gas may have been in high school chemistry, where you learnt that it was one of the noble or inert gases that did not react with any other element. This makes radon gas sound harmless.

Science has advanced since then: it turns out that radon is a radioactive gas that is formed from the decay of uranium. As a radioactive element, it produces radiation that is harmful to health.

This may raise questions in your mind about whether the property you are interested in is worth buying.

Knowing about the risk to health from radon gas will be important whether you are going to live in the property yourself or rent it out to tenants.

How dangerous is radon gas at home?

The risk to health from radon gas depends on how much has been measured at the site.

There is always some natural background radiation. The average level of radon gas in UK homes is 20 becquerels per cubic metre (Bq m^-3). At low levels – below 100 Bq m^-3 – radon gas is not considered a cause for concern. The Government advises that remedial action should be taken in any house with an average national radon gas level of 200 Bq/m3 or more. This level is called the Action Level.

It is also important to remember that we are exposed to radiation from a variety of sources, including things we use every day, such as microwave ovens, mobile phones and laptops. Of the radiation we are exposed to, 60% comes from radon gas in the ground.

When the amount of radon gas measured at the property is more than 100 Bq m^-3, it can start to pose a risk to human health. The higher the volume, the greater the risk. Studies show that increased exposure to radon gas can cause lung cancer. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that exposure to radon gas is the second biggest cause of lung cancer – only smoking kills more people.

Is it safe to buy a house that has higher than normal radon gas level?

Just because the property is in an area contaminated by radon gas, does not mean that you should automatically pull out of the property purchase. Even where the radon levels are high, it can be reduced at a reasonable cost.

What conveyancing search reveals information about radon gas levels?

This is revealed by the environmental search. However, unfortunately, the information in the environmental search is not enough to know the real risk to health from radon gas at your property.

The environmental search will usually say something like “the property is located within 25 metres of the centre of a search in a radon-affected area” or “the property is in ‘Radon-Affected Areas’ as identified by the UK Health Security Agency”.

What should my conveyancing solicitor do if searches reveal high radon levels at the house I am buying?

The first thing your conveyancing solicitor should do is to raise an enquiry with the seller’s solicitor to find out whether they are aware of the presence of radon gas and whether the seller has done a radon test. If the seller has done a radon test, then your solicitor or conveyancer should request a copy of the test report, which should provide the information required to make a decision.

However, research shows that the average length of time people stay in their homes is 21 years. In parts of the country, including Kensington and Chelsea, it could be as high as 35 years. This means the seller could have bought the property at a time before environmental searches became standard or mandatory or included information on radon gas. The seller may also have inherited the property or be the executor or administrator of the deceased owner’s estate, so they may not have done any searches.

If the seller has not done a radon test, the first thing you or your solicitor or conveyancer can do is obtain an address search report from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). At £3.90, this report is cheap and available straightaway online – you just need to provide the address of the property you are looking to buy.

The address search report will not tell you how much radon gas is at the property, but it will tell you the likelihood that the property is in a radon-affected area, defined as an area where the radon level in at least one in every 100 properties exceeds the level at which some form of remedial action is required.

It is important to note that the government-advised Action Level is double the level at which radon exposure can start to affect human health.

So, the address search report will not tell you the amount of radon gas at the property, but it will give you an indication of the likelihood that the property you hope to buy will need work to protect against radon gas.

Hopefully, the address search report from the Health Security Agency will be enough to reassure you that it is safe to live in the property or convince you that it is not.

I want to know the exact risk from radon gas at the property before proceeding.

Of course, given the dangers posed by exposure to a high level of radon gas, you may feel that it is not enough simply to know that a certain number of properties in the area needed remediation work.

On the one hand, you may move into a property, or let tenants move in, assuming that it is safe to do so. On the other hand, you do not want to spend money on any remediation work to protect against radon gas when you do not need to. Even more, you may end up giving up on your dream property out of unnecessary fear.

At any rate, if the property is more than 25 metres long or has any rooms below ground level, such as a basement, then an address search report may not be enough. Public Health England advised that a house with a basement, regardless of whether it is located in an Affected Area or not, will have a higher chance of containing high level of radon gas due to there being larger surface area in contact with the soil through which radon gas could permeate.

What can I do if the house I am purchasing has not been tested for radon?

You can have the house tested. UKHSA provides a Home Measurement Pack that costs around £50. It involves two detectors being placed at the property for three months. It can then be sent back to the UKHSA for analysis.

While the Home Measurement Pack is relatively cheap, it does have disadvantages.

As the buyer, you will not have access to the property, so using the pack requires the cooperation of the seller. This may not be a problem if the seller is living in the property, but you need to trust that the seller will follow the instructions exactly and return the detectors on time to the UKHSA. Even if you set up the detectors and send them for analysis yourself, you still need the seller’s cooperation to access the property.

Will a radon test delay my house purchase?

Using the Home Measurement Pack would also delay your purchase (and the seller’s sale) by four to five months.

Furthermore, the Home Measurement Pack cannot be used if building work is going on at the property or if the property is empty for more than two weeks.

Private-sector alternatives to the UKHSA’s Home Measurement Pack may offer more detectors. These could provide a more precise result but, obviously, they are more expensive, and the detectors still need to be in place for three months. If you choose one of these options, you need to make sure that the product is designed for the UK market and that the provider is UK-based.

Digital radon tests available from retailers such as Wickes or Currys can provide results within 24 hours. However, a cursory review shows a wide price range from £90 to £250, and it is not clear how precise these digital tests are.

You need to judge for yourself which option is right for you, taking time, price, ease and potential accuracy into account. This is not a legal decision.

Can I proceed to purchase the property with high radon levels, without a radon test?

You can choose to take the risk and do a test once you have bought the property. It is also worth bearing in mind that the seller may not be willing to wait while you test for radon gas, so you may have to wait until you move in. However, if there is a lender involved, your conveyancing solicitor will need to notify the lender.

The test shows a high level of radon gas. What do I do?

You could purchase the property and deal with it afterwards, you could ask the seller to take steps to reduce the radon level or you could request a radon retention for you to sort out after completion. If the result of the test shows that remediation work is required to reduce radon levels, the main problems are the cost of the work (anything up to £2,000) and when the work is done.

Can I ask the seller to do remediation work to reduce the radon level before the purchase?

It is unlikely that the seller would agree for the work to be done before the completion of the purchase. If the seller did agree to this, you might have to pay a proportion of the purchase price as an advance to cover the cost of the work.

What is a radon retention?

Where remediation work is required, the most likely solution is that your conveyancing solicitor will ask for a radon retention. This is a sum of money that is held back from the proceeds of sale to help with remediation work. The money would be held either by your solicitor or the seller’s solicitor. The contract between the buyer and the seller would have a clause added to it, to deal with the retention; detailing how much is to be held, who is to hold the funds and for how long.

If the radon test is not done before completion of the purchase, then the retention will be between nine and twelve months to allow for testing and analysis. If the test shows that the level of radon gas is below the Action Level, then the money should be released to the seller.

If not all the retention was used for remediation work, then the balance should be paid to the seller.

How much money should be held back as a radon retention?

This depends on the radon level but generally, your conveyancing solicitor should request £2000 as radon retention. Whatever monies not used will be returned to the seller.

Do new houses have to have radon protection?

Since 1999 guidance was published by the government to require radon protection measures to be in place for all new houses. Houses either have Basic Radon Protection or Full Radon Protection. The level of protection depends on the level of radon gas detected.

What does it mean when the house I am buying has Full Radon Protection?

It means the area has high enough levels of radon gas to warrant a full radon protection measure for all new houses. This involves the installation of a gas-tight barrier (radon membrane) across the entire footprint of the house site (this is a Basic Radon Protection) and in addition to this, there is either a ventilated subfloor void or the provision of a standby sump which can be activated if and when required.

You can find out more about radon gas, including what to do if your property is a radon-affected area, from the UKHSA’s website https://www.ukradon.org/.

The various searches that are done during the conveyancing process can raise concerns about the property, and it can be difficult to know how to proceed. Our friendly and understanding team of conveyancing lawyers at Phew Conveyancing can help you figure out what is important. We will not rush you into a decision or push for you to continue reluctantly with the purchase.

The post Should I be worried about radon gas at the house I want to buy? appeared first on Phew!.

If someone has possessions, particularly property or items of value, they should make a will clearly stating to whom they want their possessions to go after they die. A will should also say whom they want to manage their estate (the executor) and make sure their various possessions are transferred to the correct people.

Unfortunately, research has shown that two-thirds of adults in the UK have not made a will.

Even where the deceased has made a will, they have often forgotten to name an executor, or they have appointed executors who either are not allowed or are unwilling to assume the responsibility.

Such a situation can make dealing with the deceased’s estate even more complicated.

In these cases, the deceased’s closest living relative, or next of kin, must apply for a letter of administration to be the administrator of the estate.

A letter of administration has the same purpose as a grant of probate, and both are collectively called grants of representation. An executor named in a will has to apply for a grant of probate. When there is no executor, the next of kin must apply for a letter of administration, so that they can carry out the job of an executor.

Who is the next of kin to the deceased?

If the deceased was married, the next of kin will be the husband, wife, or civil partner. This is the case even if the couple was separated when the deceased died.

If the husband, wife, or civil partner has also died, then the next of kin will be any surviving adult children, including adopted children.

Unfortunately, unmarried partners cannot apply to be an administrator, no matter how long they have been with the deceased.

If there are no surviving adult children, then the responsibility for applying to be the administrator goes to the parents, then siblings and so on, according to the intestacy rules. (Please note: the intestacy rules in Scotland are different from in England and Wales.)

If you are in doubt as to whether you qualify to be the next of kin, a solicitor specializing in probate can help you. Alternatively, the government has created a useful inheritance calculator that can offer guidance.

Applying for a letter of administration

You cannot apply for a letter of administration until the death has been registered and the correct amount of inheritance tax has been paid on the estate. Calculating inheritance tax can be complicated, so it would be a good idea to speak to a specialist solicitor for help. Some licensed conveyancers and conveyancing solicitors may be able to advise on inheritance tax. The legal costs can be paid out of the deceased’s estate rather than your own money.

You can then apply for a letter of administration online once you have the original death certificate, or an interim death certificate where a coroner is conducting a post-mortem, and the completed inheritance tax return.

In cases where an executor was not named in the will, or where the named executors were unable or unwilling to assume the role, you will also need to provide the original will. The probate registry will keep the will as it becomes a public document. The contents of a will could be challenged by anyone who is disappointed that they are not beneficiaries. It would be up to a court to decide whether their claim was justified.

As the administrator of the estate, you are also required to put a notice in The Gazette, which is the official public record, and in a local newspaper so that anyone who believes they were owed money by the deceased can put in a claim to the estate.

Any legal action, from either potential beneficiaries or creditors, can cause a delay in the transfer of property to beneficiaries named in the will. As an administrator, you will have to defend against such claims and any legal costs can be paid out of the deceased’s estate.

If there is no will, then any possessions of the deceased, including property, are distributed according to the intestacy rules.

Assuming there are no legal actions, you can then contact a licensed conveyancer or solicitor to help transfer any property to the beneficiaries. A licensed conveyancer or solicitor will want to see a copy of the letter of administration to make sure that you have the right to transfer the property. If you decide not to use a licensed conveyancer or solicitor, you will need to apply to the Land Registry yourself using Form AP1 and send a sealed or certified copy of the letter of administration and a document called an Assent (Form AS1). The Land Registry will record the beneficiaries as the new owners of the property.

When don’t I need to apply for a letter of administration?

Sometimes, depending on how the deceased owned a particular property, you won’t need a letter of administration.

For example, if a property was owned jointly by the deceased and someone else as a joint tenancy, then the deceased’s share of the property will automatically go to the other owner or owners and a grant of probate is not needed. This is often, but not always, what happens with properties owned by husband and wife or civil partners. However, the deceased’s share of the property does not automatically go to the other owner or owners if the property was co-owned as a tenancy-in-common.

A letter of administration is also not needed if the deceased owned a property in trust for the benefit of someone else, or if the deceased was a beneficiary of a property held in trust for him.

A conveyancing lawyer will be able to advise you on whether you need a letter of administration to transfer a particular property to the beneficiary or beneficiaries.

Acting as the administrator of a deceased person’s estate is a great responsibility, and it can also be quite stressful, especially if the deceased was also a loved one. Our friendly and impartial team of conveyancing lawyers at Phew Conveyancing can help you manage the process. Please contact us for free initial legal guidance.

The post There’s no executor – how do I make sure my loved one’s property is transferred? appeared first on Phew!.

However, if you are named in the will as the executor, it does not give you the automatic right to take ownership or control of the property. You might need to apply for a grant of probate, depending on what the deceased owned.

It is up to the executor of a will to make sure that the possessions of the owner, including any property, go to the right person or people (beneficiaries) in accordance with the deceased owner’s wishes.

Applying for a grant of probate

You cannot apply for a grant of probate until the death has been registered and the correct amount of inheritance tax has been paid on the estate. Calculating inheritance tax can be complicated, so it would be a good idea to speak to a specialist tax advisor for help. Some licensed conveyancers and conveyancing solicitors may be able to provide limited advice on inheritance tax. The legal and tax advice costs can be paid out of the deceased’s estate rather than your own money.

You can apply for a grant of probate online once you have the original will, the original death certificate, or an interim death certificate where a coroner is conducting a post-mortem, and the completed inheritance tax return.

The probate registry will keep the will as it becomes a public document. The contents of a will could be challenged by anyone who is disappointed that they are not beneficiaries. It would be up to a court to decide whether their claim was justified.

As the executor of the will, you are also required to put a notice in The Gazette, which is the official public record, and in a local newspaper so that anyone who believes they were owed money by the deceased can put in a claim to the estate.

Any legal action, from either potential beneficiaries or creditors, can cause a delay in the transfer of property to beneficiaries named in the will. As executor, you will have to defend against such claims, and any legal costs can be paid out of the deceased’s estate.

When don’t I need to apply for a grant of probate?

Sometimes, depending on how the deceased owned a particular property, you won’t need a grant of probate.

For example, if a property was owned jointly by the deceased and someone else as a joint tenancy, then the deceased’s share of the property will automatically go to the other owner or owners and a grant of probate is not needed. This is often, but not always, what happens with properties owned by husband and wife or civil partners. However, if the property was co-owned as a tenancy-in-common, the deceased’s share of the property does not automatically go to the other owner or owners.

A grant of probate is also not needed if the deceased owned a property held in trust for the benefit of someone else, or if the deceased was a beneficiary of a property held in trust for him.

A conveyancing lawyer will be able to advise you on whether you need a grant of probate to transfer a particular property to the beneficiary or beneficiaries.

Probate conveyancing

Executor transferring property to a beneficiary

Assuming no legal disputes are involved; you can contact a conveyancing solicitor to help transfer the property to the beneficiaries. A conveyancing solicitor will want to see a copy of the grant of probate to make sure that you have the right to transfer the property. If you decide not to use a conveyancing solicitor, you will need to apply to the Land Registry yourself using Form AP1 and send a sealed or certified copy of the grant of probate and a document called an Assent (Form AS1). If there is a lender involved, you will need to appoint a conveyancer to assist. The Land Registry will record the beneficiaries as the new owners of the property.

Executor selling property in accordance with a will

When selling a probate property, it may be difficult for you as executor to complete some of the property-related information forms. Complete as much as you can, and the buyers will need to take a view on matters you are unable to comment on.

Your conveyancing solicitor will need to see the original or certified grant of probate. Additionally, they will require your identity documents and proof of address, such as a utility bill or a bank statement, which must have been issued within the last three months.

Probate conveyancing involves different procedures from standard conveyancing. Whether you are buying or selling, appoint conveyancers who have experience with probate conveyancing. This will make the matter less stressful for you and quicker to complete. There could also be debts that need to be settled or potential disputes that need to be addressed, which can be complicated.

Acting as an executor can be stressful, especially if the deceased was also a loved one. Our experienced, friendly team of conveyancing solicitors at Phew Conveyancing can help you manage the process. Please contact us for free initial guidance.

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How a post-mortem transfer of property is done depends very much on how the deceased owned the property – whether on his or her own (sole owner) or together with someone else (co-owners). It’s a good idea to ask a licensed conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor to help you deal with the transfer of a property.

 How to transfer a property owned by a sole owner?

If a property was solely owned by the deceased at the time of death, then it must be distributed to the beneficiaries by the executor or the administrator of the estate.

If the deceased has left a will, it will say who the deceased wanted the executor to be. However, if you are named in the will as the executor, it does not give you the automatic right to take ownership or control of the property. You need to apply to the court for a grant of probate. Once you have your grant of probate, you need to make an application to the Land Registry to change the register using form AP1. This needs to be accompanied by a sealed or certified copy of the grant of probate and a document called an ‘assent’ (form AS1). The Land Registry will record the beneficiaries (as stated in the will) as the new owners.

If the deceased has not left a will, then it becomes a bit more complicated. The deceased’s next of kin must apply to the court for a grant of letters of administration. But it serves the same purpose as the grant of probate, except that the beneficiaries are identified according to the rules of intestacy (the sum of previous court decisions saying who should inherit).

The general term for the grant of probate and the grant of letters of administration is grant of representation.

How to transfer a property owned by joint owners?

There are two ways that the deceased could have co-owned the property with someone else.

Property Owned as Joint Tenants

Firstly, co-ownership could have been in the form of what is known as a ‘joint tenancy’ – this is often how a married couple own a property. If a property is co-owned as a joint tenancy, it means that all co-owners own the whole property, without any division. So, when one co-owner dies, their ‘share’ automatically goes to the remaining co-owners, without the need for a grant of probate or grant of letters of administration. The surviving joint owner only needs to send the Land Registry a death certificate along with a Deceased Joint Proprietor form (DJP form) and the Land Registry will amend the title.

It doesn’t matter if the deceased expressed in a will that their share should go to someone else – if the property is co-owned as a joint tenancy, then the property remains in the hands of the surviving co-owners.

Property owned as Tenants in Common

The other form of co-ownership is a tenancy-in-common, where each co-owner owns a specific share of the property. In this case, the deceased’s share can be passed onto someone else, in accordance with the deceased’s will or the rules of intestacy. An executor or administrator can then transfer the deceased’s share to the intended owner.

How do you know if the deceased co-owned the property as a joint tenant or tenant-in-common? If you have appointed a conveyancing lawyer, then your lawyer will be able to advise you. Otherwise, the best place to look is the title document, provided by the Land Registry. For a tenancy-in-common, the title document will contain the words:

“No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court”.

If these words aren’t there, then the property was owned as a joint tenancy.

How to transfer a property with a mortgage?

Unfortunately, if there is a mortgage on the property, there is an extra hurdle to go through before the deceased’s share can be transferred.

It is important to make sure all the monthly mortgage repayments are continued to be made until you have reached an agreement with the lender.

You will need to, as quickly as possible, contact the bereavement department of the lender to obtain their consent to the transfer – they will tell you which documents they need to see but they will probably include the death certificate. They will also want to do an affordability assessment to check whether you can afford to pay the mortgage repayments. If you have appointed a conveyancing lawyer to assist, they will be able to contact the lender on your behalf.

The mortgage is on the whole of the property. If the mortgage is in joint names, then all surviving joint owners remain liable for the whole of the balance.

Most lenders including Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, Santander and Nationwide Building Society, are members of the Death Notification Service. You can use this free service to update them all in one go, especially if the deceased had more than one mortgage as well as other financial products, such as current accounts, savings accounts, etc, with different providers. It is quick and easy to use, and you do not need to even register an account to use the service.

Dealing with the transfer of a property on the death of a person can be very stressful but our friendly and caring team of conveyancing lawyers at Phew Conveyancing can help you through the process. Please contact us for free initial legal guidance.

The post How to Transfer a Property after the Death of the Owner? appeared first on Phew!.

What’s the difference between a solicitor and a licensed conveyancer?

There is little difference between a solicitor and a licensed conveyancer when it comes to the standard conveyancing process. Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and licensed conveyancers, including most large conveyancing firms, are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.

The main difference is that a licensed conveyancer, as the name suggests, typically specialises in conveyancing, whilst a solicitor may have experience or knowledge of other areas of law as well, such as tax, family law, and litigation.

When a solicitor also handles other areas of law, it may be more difficult to reach them, especially if they engage in litigation and must go to court. (Technically, it is now possible for a licensed conveyancer to work in litigation and probate, but this is rare.)

So, you can be confident that a licensed conveyancer will concentrate fully on conveyancing cases, and this focus gives a conveyancer expertise that more generalist solicitors may not have.

It has been said that licensed conveyancers are cheaper than solicitors. This is not true. A firm may appear cheaper because much of the work will be done by unqualified conveyancers or paralegals.

Of course, solicitors who choose to specialise in conveyancing could bring previous knowledge and experience from other areas of law that might be useful in your case.

If you are simply buying and/or selling property, it shouldn’t matter whether you use a conveyancer or a solicitor. The important thing is that you choose a firm that provides a quality conveyancing service. This means keeping you regularly updated so you know and understand what is going on, proactively making sure the conveyancing process moves along smoothly and quickly, and keeping additional costs to a minimum. Checking Google reviews is one of the best ways to gauge the quality of the firm.

Quality of service is important and can give you peace of mind. Conveyancing has almost three times more negligence claims than any other area of law. This is because many conveyancing firms operate on a ‘pile them high and sell them cheap’ model, which they can only afford to do by using unqualified and poorly trained people handling large numbers of cases. Unfortunately for buyers, any negligence may only be discovered when they come to sell the property, by which time years may have passed. Therefore, choose wisely!

How do I assess a conveyancing quote?

The general maxim of “shop around” applies. It is a good idea to obtain quotes from at least three different firms.

In addition to looking at the overall cost, you should check to make sure the quote includes paying stamp duty, search fees, Land Registry fees, bank transfer fees, VAT, and any other third-party costs (known as disbursements). If you need a mortgage or are buying or selling a leasehold property, then the quote should include acting for the lender and the leasehold fee.

Along with your conveyancing quote, you should receive terms and conditions, which will detail any non-standard costs. These additional non-standard costs could include other conveyancing searches based on specific characteristics of the property. If during the conveyancing process your solicitor or conveyancer suggests a particular non-standard search, do any necessary internet research to make sure you understand why it needs to be done and what it will show. If you are happy for the search not to be done, you should say so, but remember, if you have a lender, they may require it.

Of course, if you are in doubt about anything in your quote or terms and conditions, you should ask for clarification.

Two indicators of a quality conveyancing service are the speed at which the firm can provide a quote and their willingness to answer questions about it. Unlike other areas of law, the conveyancing process is standard, so producing a quote should be straightforward. Indeed, the person providing you with the quote may not be a solicitor or conveyancer. If the firm takes too long just to provide a conveyancing quote, must be chased, or isn’t able or willing to answer your queries, how will they handle the actual purchase or sale?

Other questions to ask before deciding who to instruct are:

• How often will you receive updates?
• Do they use email where possible for faster communication, or is everything done by post?
• Is there an online case tracking facility so you can keep track of the progress of your case?
• Will you be able to contact your solicitor or conveyancer directly or will you have to go through a switchboard or a contact centre?
• What are their opening hours?

Can you get a recommendation for a conveyancing solicitor?

The best recommendations will come from people you know and trust. If you have friends or family members who have recently bought or sold property, it’s a good idea to ask them which firm they used. They should be able to recommend their firm, or at the very least, warn you of any negative experiences.

Your estate agent may also “recommend” a solicitor or conveyancer. Bear in mind, however, that they might be receiving a referral fee for introducing new business. There is nothing wrong with this and it should not affect the quality of the conveyancing service you receive.

The estate agent’s job is to make sure the sale is completed as quickly as possible. Whilst they might be pointing you to the firm that pays them the biggest referral fee, they are unlikely to point you to a firm they think will take a long time or won’t provide quality conveyancing. If you are a buyer, you want to move into your new home as quickly as possible, and if you are a seller, you want to receive your money quickly.

However, be warned that branches of large chains of estate agencies may be forced by head office to recommend favoured conveyancers even though the service is poor. The sales negotiator might not want to recommend the conveyancer, but their hands are tied.

Remember, you are not obliged to use a solicitor or conveyancer “recommended” by your estate agent. By all means, get a quote from them, but there is no harm in shopping around.

Choosing a poor quality or a slow and uncommunicative conveyancer can cost you your dream home and thousands of pounds. According to a Which? survey, 33% of house purchases collapse, costing buyers £2,899 on average. Delays by conveyancers are a major cause of house purchases collapsing, so, don’t be penny wise and pound foolish!

Can your conveyancing solicitor also act for your mortgage lender?

If you are buying a property, the chances are that you will need a mortgage. Usually, the buyer’s solicitor or conveyancer also acts for the lender, because both you and your lender have the same interest in making sure that the seller is not trying to hide anything. However, your lender may only be able to deal with your solicitor or conveyancer if their firm is on the lender’s approved panel.

So, when you are applying for a mortgage or remortgaging, it is a good idea to find out from your lender whether a particular firm is on their panel. You are free to use any solicitor or conveyancer you wish. But if the firm is not on your lender’s panel, you will need to opt for separate representation (also known as dual representation) which could cause delays as your conveyancing lawyer also has to communicate with your lender’s conveyancer. On top of that, you might have to pay the lender’s conveyancer fees as well. On the plus side, you have two lawyers checking your transaction and this means the chances of negligence is drastically reduced.

Should I use the same solicitor or conveyancer as the other side?

A solicitor is not allowed to act for both the buyer and seller because of the potential conflict of interest. A licensed conveyancer can act for both sides. One advantage is that the process is more streamlined as a conveyancer acting for both the seller and buyer does not have to keep contacting and waiting for a response from the other side’s solicitor or conveyancer. If there is a disagreement between the seller and buyer, having one representative for both may make it easier for the disagreement to be resolved rather than having the transaction fall through. However, most firms choose not to act for both parties to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Also, most lenders do not like conveyancers acting for all the parties to a transaction.

You should think long and hard before deciding to use the same lawyer as the other side. It is not a decision you should make lightly.

Should I use a local solicitor or conveyancer?

There is no need to use a local solicitor or conveyancer unless there are serious complications to your transaction that would require you to attend in person. Thanks to the telephone and internet, you don’t need to use a firm that is close to you. Almost everything can be done electronically, and the signing of contracts and transfer deeds can be done through the post.

Should I use a solicitor or conveyancer who knows the area where the property I am buying or selling is located?

A solicitor or conveyancer who has knowledge of the local area and has conducted conveyancing cases in that locality is important and can be helpful. In areas like London, knowledge of the local authority and developments and understanding of the risks of flooding from the Thames are important so you have an overview of things and are not alarmed unnecessarily.

If you are looking to buy, sell, or remortgage property or transfer equity and need the assistance of a conveyancer, please get in touch. Our friendly team would be delighted to assist you.

The post How should I choose a licensed conveyancer or a conveyancing solicitor? appeared first on Phew!.

This is because the UK government has imposed a new round of economic sanctions on Russia and Russian citizens that could affect how you do business if you are not careful enough.

To help, here is our guide about complying and safeguarding yourself and your firm against potential consequences.

 The UK is ramping up its response to the Ukrainian crisis.

Without a doubt, the UK is ramping up its response to the Ukrainian crisis, cracking down on Russian oligarchs and imposing sanctions on Russian individuals in the UK.

Firstly, different sanctions must be considered. The UK has its sanctions, the US has different ones and the EU yet others. You can sign up for UK government sanction list updates.

Depending on what you are trying to do for a client, you will need to understand which sanctions are relevant to you. For most conveyancers, this means looking at the UK sanctions list. However, for clients moving money in US dollars, the US sanctions list must be checked because banks will be following these if the client is moving dollars through the banking system.

The real impact for conveyancers is that when you are acting for someone who has been sanctioned by the UK, you will be prevented from working with them without getting a licence.

It is now an offence, and even if you have a licence already, you might not be able to move the money through the client’s account because your bank would need to get a licence too, which they might not want to do.

The law sets the following restrictions applying to conveyancing firms:

• You may not receive monies from any persons on the sanctions list. However, some exemptions allow you to make an application for a licence to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). Firms can apply for a licence to receive fees for legal services provided.
• You may not make payments to any persons on the sanctions list, even if the payment is legitimate.
• You may not make funds available to any persons on the sanctions list.
• You may not assist any persons on the sanctions list with dealing with their economic resources.

Someone who has been sanctioned may, nonetheless, transfer their assets to another person, subject to obtaining a licence from the government to do this. The licence will show the government what the sanctioned people are doing.

Most conveyancers working in smaller firms will have little or nothing to do with Russian oligarchs and PEPs who are being regularly added to the sanctions list and therefore no change to their daily conveyancing activities.

However, conveyancers, law firms and accountancy practices that were working with sanctioned people when they were free to do so now need to make sure they have policies and procedures to deal with the changes in the law. Liability for breaches of certain financial sanction rules or requirements is now absolute. The consequence of a breach could be a fine by the OFSI or criminal liability. Therefore, it is sensible for conveyancers to check clients against the OFSI link provided at the time of onboarding and again before exchange or completion.

Sanctions, conveyancing and what the regulators say

Conveyancers should expect more supervision activity from their regulators and strong disciplinary action for non-compliance.

Indeed, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has already said that although a client may not have been sanctioned when they first worked together with a conveyancer, they could have been added to the sanctions list before work has been completed. The SRA states:

“Your firm must have appropriate policies in place to ensure you comply with sanctions legislation, including carrying out regular and appropriate checks of sanctions lists. We expect you to take your responsibilities under the regime to safeguard the UK and protect the reputation of the legal services industry seriously.

“The financial sanctions regime prevents law firms from doing business or acting for listed individuals, entities… (without a licence). Firms should check the financial sanctions lists before offering services or undertaking transactions for clients. If an individual is on the sanctions list and subject to an asset freeze, firms may not deal with those funds or make resources available to that person.”

You must make sure your firm’s policies and procedures are up to date and ensure your conveyancing solicitors follow them.

Random inspections may take place to check on compliance by conveyancing firms

Random inspections may take place to check on compliance and potential money-laundering issues. If issues are found, disciplinary procedures will follow.

This could be informal and include a compliance plan, or, more seriously, you might be referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal or the equivalent of the Council for Licensed Conveyancing. We have yet to see how this will play out.

This means that as conveyancers, you will need to show you know your client and your client’s source of funds. This is critical when you are asked to provide proof that all the relevant checks have been conducted.

You will need to show that you have checked a client’s identity, proof of address and source of wealth. We strongly recommend that all conveyancing solicitors carry out know-your-customer checks using an electronic identity verification tool (of which there are many) that can check international sanctions lists, international lists of politically exposed people (PEP), and numerous other records. These checks are quick and easy to perform and the costs can be passed on to the client as a conveyancing disbursement.

Concerning source-of-wealth questions, you as a conveyancer must be able to show that you gave the issues proper consideration and kept a clear record of what you considered in making your decision on whether to proceed with the matter or not.

Keeping a record is critical as it will be evidence against allegations of breaches from regulators or law enforcement agencies. Therefore, firms must make sure they make it easy for conveyancers to record their considerations. Our firm deals with this by requiring our conveyancers to detail their checks and considerations on a case risk assessment form. Conveyancers should detail the checks they have made, how forthcoming the client was concerning source-of-wealth questions, details of their considerations, their understanding of their client’s risk profile, and their decision-making process, and end with whether they decided to proceed with the case or not. You should require a risk assessment form with the above details to be completed before the exchange of contracts or completion.

How to check the sanctions lists

As a conveyancer, you may be wondering how to check whether a client or a potential client can be checked against a government-imposed sanctions list.

Ensuring that you are anti-monetary-laundering compliant is easy because the UK government sanctions list can now be searched online quickly and easily.

You enter a name into the search function and the document tells you if they are sanctioned or not. A conveyancer can search the consolidated sanctions list published by the OFSI – Sanctions List.

However, you need to double-check that the person sanctioned is your client, to avoid being misled by false positives. To work out if the person on the list is your client, check their date of birth and do a Google search to find out who the person being sanctioned is and why they are on the list. You need to be aware that the sanctions list includes people with Russian names and people living abroad as well as people living in the UK.

Another issue is that the sanctions list is very fluid and regularly updated so this check is something you should consider doing regularly. Conveyancing solicitors should, depending on the risk profile of the client, consider repeating the sanctions check before exchange or completion.

The trick is to remain vigilant and be aware of policy changes from the UK, US and EU governments.

Sanctions evasion risk indicators

The SRA article on what you need to know about sanctions includes an interesting section about how to recognise when clients might be attempting to evade sanctions. This includes:

• Requests to transfer properties from Russian national owners to dual-national family members.
• Use of trust structures to hide the actual beneficial owners and persons with control of the properties.
• Persons looking to transfer their properties and close their accounts in the UK.
• Persons living in Russia looking to transfer funds to their UK accounts.
• Russian persons of high net worth who are not on the UK sanctions list but are on other international sanctions lists and are transferring properties to family, relatives, or close associates in anticipation of being added to the UK sanctions list.
• Russian entities that changed their name and address few days before the invasion of Ukraine.
• Instances where the beneficial owners of properties or companies have been changed from Russian to other nationalities.

Your firm’s reputation

With the situation in Ukraine dominating the news every night, conveyancing firms need to consider their professional reputation.

While you may be checking the sanctions list and doing your due diligence, a third aspect of what to do with a client you have a rapport with but who has not been sanctioned and passes your diligence checks is to consider your firm’s reputation.

Should you work with a person or firm with strong Russian links you need to consider how that might look to the regulators and police and those in the industry. This is a fraught situation, but it is always better to be wise and wary than to have to deal with public fall-out. You would not want your firm’s name being discussed in Parliament!

All firms need to be confident and enthusiastic about their AML rules and remain vigilant about their clients’ activities. However, buying and selling property carry a high money-laundering risk, which means demonstrating a higher level of risk-based approach, a thorough risk assessment and effectively investigating the source of a client’s wealth.

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A gifted deposit is money handed to someone, usually first-time buyers, to help them purchase a property. The majority of first-time home buyers now rely on the generosity of family to gift them monies to help with their deposit. However, it’s not as simple as parents transferring money into their children’s account and calling it a gift. There are legal and tax implications to consider when giving or receiving a gifted deposit.

If you are to rely on a gift, you must inform your mortgage broker (or lender) as well as your conveyancer about the gifted deposit. This is important because when you accept the gifted deposit, there is a risk that the lender may reduce their mortgage advance. If you can’t find the difference, then you may not be able to buy that property. It’s also worth noting that there are some mortgage lenders who have a policy of not lending any money should the person making the gift not be related to the buyer. Hence, it is best to deal with gifts early on in the transaction.

Your conveyancing solicitor must follow the procedure below when a gifted deposit is involved:

1. Inform the lender of the gift. However certain lenders are very relaxed about gifted deposits if the money is from a blood relative such as parents or siblings.
2. Prepare a Gifted Deposit Declaration (also known as a Deed of Gift). This is a letter that must be signed by each person gifting monies. This letter has a specific format, and it will detail the parties’ names and addresses, their relationship to the buyers and the amount being gifted. It will also go on to declare that the persons giving the gifted deposit will not require monies to be returned, that they are solvent, have no interest in the property and that they will not seek to exercise any rights over the property.

If the giftors have any questions on the Gifted Deposit Declaration, they may need to seek independent legal advice as the purchaser’s conveyancer may not be able to advise them on the terms of the Declaration.

If there is no lender involved, a Gifted Deposit Declaration is not mandatory.

• Prepare a Declaration of Solvency for the giftor to confirm that they are not insolvent at the time of the gift.
• Carry out bankruptcy checks against each giftor.
• Proof of identity and proof of address (not older than three months) must be provided for each person giving the gifted deposit (giftor). Your conveyancing solicitor is likely to run an electronic identity verification using these documents so they must be valid. The electronic verification will also check the giftors against international sanctions lists.
• Source of Wealth checks will need to be carried out on each giftor to comply with the Anti- Money Laundering Regulations. Source of wealth checks are quite an intrusive exercise that your conveyancer is required to carry out. Your conveyancer will query monies received by the giftors over many months and sometimes years. The conveyancer must make sure the monies being gifted is consistent with the economic and social profile of the giftors. To do this, your conveyancer will need to understand the background of the giftor, how and over what period they accrued the gifted deposit funds, and be satisfied that the funds are from legitimate sources.

If the giftors do not provide the documentary evidence requested by the conveyancer, the conveyancer will not be able to accept the gifted deposit and they may even be compelled to withdraw from the transaction. Most parents and family members may not have been involved in a conveyancing transaction in the near past and hence may not be familiar with the requirements of the Anti-Money Laundering regulations and how it applies to conveyancing. Therefore, you should explain to the giftors, before accepting the gift, of what will be required from them for the gifted deposit to be utilised for the purchase. If you have concerns about how to deal with this, please contact our friendly team of conveyancers who will be able to assist you.

Gifted deposit from overseas

Where the gifted deposit is coming from abroad, further enhanced due diligence will need to be carried out by your conveyancer. You should give all the details of the gift and giftor to your conveyancer at the outset as the source of wealth and identity checks on overseas giftors can be very time consuming and best dealt with early on. There are also certain countries from which your conveyancer will not be able to accept gifted deposits. In particular, gifted deposits from China are now very difficult to accept due to Chinese Capital Controls in place. The UK does not have Capital Controls and hence breach of a Chinese Capital Control rule is not a criminal offence in the UK. However, a breach of the Capital Control rules in China may be considered fraudulent and, coupled with the spate of arrests of Chinese gangs laundering money in the UK, has led to regulators taking a tough stance on the matter. For your conveyancer to accept a gifted deposit from China, you will need to provide written approval from the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). However, as China does not allow money to be taken out of China to fund property purchases abroad, it is unlikely that the said approval will be given.

There are also countries from which your conveyancer cannot accept monies due to those countries being classified as high risk third jurisdictions that have failed to meet the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force. Monies being received from within the EU is generally regarded as safe as the rules and regulations are applied and policed to a high standard. If you are expecting a gift from overseas, please contact us should you wish to discuss this with one of our conveyancers.

What is a ‘seller’s gifted deposit’ also known as a concessionary purchase?

A seller’s gifted deposit will see the seller giving part of the purchase price as a deposit or discount to a buyer. The gift is made by the seller, for example, by reducing (going below market value) the price on completion or exchange of contracts. They are essentially reducing the price of the property – and will see a lender reducing their offer because they may fear the price has been inflated.

However, if the sale is within the same family, it’s crucial that you tell your mortgage adviser and conveyancing solicitor the details so that they understand the situation. This is also known as a concessionary purchase or a transaction at an under value. It is usually an arrangement between parents and children whereby parents can help their children get onto the property ladder. The benefits of these arrangements are:

1. parents can reduce the amount of deposit the children need to pay for the property;
2. the gift can be for any amount the parents choose and so children may be able to acquire the property without putting any money in themselves;
3. pass the property onto the children so it stays within the family;
4. this is such a common practise with first time buyers that there are now numerous lenders that will offer concessionary purchase mortgage products; and
5. this method of transferring property can, if classified as a lifetime gift, save on significant amount of inheritance tax.

Concessionary purchases have several potential issues that must be addressed early on. Therefore, you should speak to your mortgage advisor and conveyancer about the transaction structure. You must make sure that the lender is aware the transaction is a concessionary purchase and give the lender details of the gifted amount by the seller. The conveyancing solicitor will need to carry out additional work to make sure the concessionary purchase gift is a genuine gift, and that the seller is in no way retaining any interest in the property after the sale. Additionally, the conveyancing solicitor needs to carry out bankruptcy checks on the persons gifting (giftors) the deposit, prepare a statutory declaration of solvency for each giftor and possibly including support from indemnity insurance to protect the lender against any potential bankruptcy of the giftor.

Concessionary purchases are complicated, and you should speak to an experienced concessionary purchase conveyancing solicitor to help you with your case. Click here to get a concessionary purchase quote.

What is a family gifted deposit?

Here, the gifted deposit is being made by a member of the buyer’s family.

This may see one or both of the buyers’ parents giving them either part or all of the home’s deposit or they may give the buyer some or all the cash needed for topping up the mortgage loan for buying the property. Again, you will need to tell the conveyancer, who will need to make sure you and the lender are protected.

Receiving a gifted deposit

There are a few things to think about if you’re considering accepting a gifted deposit from someone. The first is that the money must be given voluntarily – it can’t be a loan or payment for services rendered. If the giftor expects the money to be returned, or interest to be paid, or any interest taken in the property being purchased, the monies will be classified as a loan and not a gift. Lenders are very unlikely to accept a private loan to fund a deposit. Secondly, the gift must be from an individual, not a company or organisation.

There are various ways to give a gifted deposit, but the most common is for the giver to transfer the money into the buyer’s bank account. However, the giver and receiver must be over 18 years of age. Plus, the giver must be gifting the money out of their own free will – they can’t be coerced or forced into giving the money. The money must be given without expecting anything in return.

Gifted deposits must be transferred to the purchaser’s personal account and then purchaser transfers the money to the conveyancing solicitor.

How much can someone gift for a house?

A gifted deposit doesn’t have to be a huge sum of money as it can be any amount, but it must be a contribution towards the overall cost of purchasing the property. If you’re considering receiving a gifted deposit, it’s important to speak to an experienced conveyancer and your mortgage advisor (or lender) to make sure everything is acceptable to the conveyancer and the lender.

When is a gift of money not a gifted deposit?

You may receive money as a gift for many reasons. It could be a wedding gift, birthday gift, gift for a new-born or just a gift from family to help you with life. It could also be a gift left to you by the Will of a deceased relative. These are not classified as a gifted deposit unless the monies were given specifically to purchase a property. However, when it is not 100% clear that the gift was not for the purchase of a property, a conveyancing solicitor will need to take a belt and braces approach to protect you and the lender by treating it as a gifted deposit.

Inheritance tax and gifted deposits

A gift can be free of inheritance tax if the giftor survives for seven years after the gift. However, where the giftor passes away within the seven years, then some or all the gifted deposit may be liable to inheritance tax and consequently the purchaser will need to pay the inheritance tax. If you are concerned about this, speak to one of our conveyancers as you could obtain life insurance on the life of the giftor to cover the potential inheritance tax liability.

Stamp Duty Land Tax on gifted deposits

Stamp duty is payable on the actual consideration (generally money) paid for a property. Therefore, where there is a concessionary purchase (seller’s gifted deposit), the stamp duty is payable on the reduced price; that is the original price less the gifted amount. Where there is a gifted deposit from family to assist the purchaser, the stamp duty is payable on the amount paid to purchase the property, and hence the gift element will not reduce the tax payable.

Why must the giftor sign a Declaration of Solvency?

It may be an offence for anyone to transfer any assets (including cash/money) with a view of putting it beyond the reach of creditors. If a giftor becomes insolvent within 3 to 5 years of making a gift, a trustee in bankruptcy (appointed to act on behalf of creditors) may investigate any such transfers. Trustees in bankruptcy have wide powers to claw back such assets. This includes confiscating properties and disposing of them. This can result in a loss to the lender and the buyer. Hence, this is why conveyancers are likely to insist on a declaration of solvency (in addition to a deed of gift), and sometimes, coupled with indemnity insurance to cover the risk of any claw backs by the trustee in bankruptcy.

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What is a New Build?

New Builds are exactly as they sound: new homes that are built to supply the ever-increasing demand for housing. However, there is more to New Builds than meet the eye. A property lawyer who provides conveyancing services will admit to its complexity. Unlike with older properties that tend to have legal paper trails that can validate its own legal existence, New Builds must start from scratch. Therefore, New Builds can carry as many risks to the buyer as benefits.

For the new home buyer, New Builds carry several benefits not available with older homes — besides modern fittings, appliances, architecture and improved energy efficiency. As most New Builds are not part of any chain, you can expect the transaction to be free of issues that may arise with chains. Further, where private sellers can leave you high and dry by later accepting an offer higher than yours, developers will usually lock themselves in (for a small fee/deposit) as soon as they accept your offer. In this regard, New Builds are an easier purchase and carries low risk of falling through. The developer’s lawyers will usually have the legal pack ready with all searches on hand. This can significantly reduce the conveyancing time by weeks, if not months.

As with most residential purchases, there are incentives available for purchasing New Builds. The most important of these is a 10-year home warranty cover offered on new properties. The warranty cover acts as guarantee against any structural defects within the first 10 years. You can rest easy knowing that the home warranty will protect you against any losses due to the developer’s poor workmanship. Your conveyancer should check any home warranty and advice you accordingly.

Nothing New: New Build’s faults

Experts who follow the property market will confess to a glaring issue with New Builds. They are expensive —and understandably so! There is an allure to being able to design your own home, be the first person to ever own it, and to have it look and feel contemporary. The price difference is referred to as the New Build Premium. A study of housing prices shows that the average New Build fetches for 29% more than an existing property. The disparity is found to be even higher in certain markets and can be attributed to demand and supply, with recent events affecting the supply of building materials. However, many are not aware of the legal pitfalls that can come with the purchase of a New Build.

Why New Builds Need More Due Diligence

The Home Owner’s Alliance summarizes the potential legal troubles with purchasing New Builds as follows:

‘The legal side of buying a new build is more complex…because the potential for something to go wrong is much higher with a new build purchase’

The troubles that could come up can vary from issues with planning regulations, incomplete agreements due to developer negligence, improper road and sewer planning, failure to account for future maintenance of shared areas in the development, and so on. The list can keep going as the issues can be numerous if proper conveyancing is not carried out. A conveyancer acting on a New Build purchase may on average not just review 100s of pages of documents but 1000s of pages! It is crucial that the conveyancer carry out their duties diligently as failure can cost a potential buyer tens of thousands of pounds in losses. Worse yet, in some cases the buyer can be left with a property that cannot be resold on the open market. The legal documents on a New Build are usually complicated and not straightforward. As a result, the conveyancer dealing with a New Build case must have the appropriate level of expertise.

This is why most good law firms that provide conveyancing quotes charge higher fees for dealing with New Builds. The fact is, there must be more due diligence conducted on New Build transactions in order to be safe with your purchase. The last thing you would want is to find yourself in a legal trap because your conveyancer did not do their job right. A complete review of all the documentation leaves you in the best position to either re-negotiate the purchase price or to avoid purchasing a property fraught with legal issues altogether.

New Builds: Good Buy or Terrible Investment?

New Builds absolutely have an aesthetic allure that older homes cannot provide. Not to mention, they are how the market receives a steady supply of new housing to meet ever-growing demand. However, where you can definitely go wrong with a New Build purchase is with the conveyancing process. A smart conveyancer will ensure that the New Build is not only legally sound but that the terms are in your favour, along with protecting your deposit and bringing to your attention any potential pitfalls. You can find expert conveyancing lawyers for all your offline and online conveyancing needs with Phew!

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The government has effectively abolished ground rents for future long residential leases with its Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill.

This means that the buyers of residential properties with a long lease – that is a lease of at least 21 years – particularly those on a new development, will no longer face demands for a ground rent.

The Act received Royal Assent on 8 February and will become law within six months. Most property law experts are predicting it will come into force by 8 August 2022.

Mahinan Pathmanathan, of Phew Conveyancing, said: “The new law brings to an end the paying of a ground rent on a qualifying or new leasehold residential property in England and Wales. The government is right when they say this law is one of the biggest changes to property law for a generation.”

The government also says that more residential leasehold reform is being planned.

What will the new act do?

The act will restrict the ground rent to be charged on most new residential long leases of houses and flats – and to the extended term of any lease extension – to a peppercorn amount every year.

Peppercorn refers to an age-old practice used to enter into binding contracts. The party benefiting from the contract provides a token consideration for the contract by giving a peppercorn.

However, a peppercorn rent has no financial value – this means the ground rent will be £0.

The law also prohibits the charging of an administration charge for a peppercorn rent.

The Act will only apply to a regulated lease to cover any leases granted (with some exceptions):

• For a term of more than 21 years
• In respect of a single residence
• For a premium
• The lease will be effective on or after the relevant commencement date for this type of rental and otherwise than pursuant to a pre-existing agreement.

The right of pre-emption or option agreement does not constitute a contract for the purposes of the Act.

Leases that the law on ground rents does not cover

However, there are some leases that the law on ground rents does not cover:

• Business leases
• Statutory lease extensions (but not all)
• Community housing lease
• Home finance lease plan – only if meeting excepted lease criteria.

For a new shared ownership lease, section 5 of the new law states that a permitted rent, i.e., a peppercorn rent, covers the tenant’s share – but the landlord’s share in the demised premises is ‘any rent’.

And for leases that do not reserve separate rents for the tenant and landlord’s equity, then the rent will relate only to the landlord’s equity share in the property.

That will cease when a tenant ‘staircases’ their lease to 100% because the landlord will be prohibited from demanding rent of more than one peppercorn.

The new legislation will not cover retirement homes before 1 April 2023 and a retirement home lease is a property that may only be occupied by someone who is at least 55 years old.

Also, the Act makes it clear that money payable for insurance and services can still be requested.

How can a landlord breach the Act?

Should a landlord, which includes someone acting on their behalf, request the payment of a prohibited rent, and if they receive that prohibited rent – and fails to refund it to the tenant within 28 days, they will be in breach of the Act.

It’s worth bearing in mind that under the law, a ‘Landlord’ who demanded a prohibited rent but is no longer the landlord is still liable to comply with the regulations.

There are financial penalties for those failing to comply with the new law should a lease extension or new lease be granted with a rent review provision or escalated ground rent.

That means a potential fine ranging from £500 up to a maximum of £30,000 can be levied.

It’s important to appreciate that the enforcement authority responsible for issuing a financial penalty under the legislation will be a local authority or trading standards.

To take enforcement action, they must be ‘satisfied beyond reasonable doubt’ that the person has breached the act. Failing to comply with the act will be dealt with via the enforcement authority first and then the First Tier Tribunal. Whoever is charged with failing to comply will have the right of reply and the right to appeal.

Paying ground rent under an existing lease

If you are paying ground rent under an existing lease, then the act will not apply.

However, there appears to be a political consensus for a similar Bill to be introduced that will cover existing leases, as well as the rent review and ground rent provisions within those leases.

A landlord will have to be careful to not inadvertently terminate their rental income by agreeing to a lease variation that would constitute a regrant or a deemed surrender.

The landlord will also risk enforcement action should they then look to collect the prohibited ground rent.

The landlord and tenant need to understand that when they want to extend a flat lease voluntarily outside of the procedures laid down by Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, they will need to consider the provisions concerning replacement leases.

One unintended consequence for a tenant is when they want to undertake a voluntary lease extension. That’s because there is little incentive for a landlord to grant a voluntary extension because while they may agree to it – the ground rent cannot be higher than the previous lease. Instead, the landlord may require tenants to go through the statutory process which takes longer and is more expensive for tenants.

The government says its new law will prevent landlords from increasing the ground rent or lengthening the period for which it is payable by the tenant in a new extended lease.

This is another disadvantage facing landlords when they grant a voluntary lease extension because they risk losing money should the lease not be completed.

More information about the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill

If you would like more information about the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill, or to have experts help with your conveyancing matters, then contact the friendly team at Phew Conveyancing on 020 3004 7094.

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But what if your spouse already owns a property? What if you already own commercial property? What if you own property outside the UK? What if you have not been in the country for the past year? All of the above would disqualify you from being a first-time homebuyer. Where the government and mortgage lenders are concerned, being a first-time homebuyer has some asterisks attached to it.

Who Qualifies as a First-Time Homebuyer

The circumstance that is most likely to affect you, presents itself when you marry. i.e., your spouse can affect your status. If they do not qualify as a first-time homebuyer, it extends to yourself as well.

You also cannot qualify as a first-time homebuyer if you have inherited residential property or a share in one; regardless of where in the world this property is situated. As the rules surrounding first-time homebuyers are based on ownership of property regardless of where it is located, any estate outside of the country disqualifies you. Additionally, the government tends to disqualify buy-to-let landlords even if it will be their first property purchase. This is to encourage availability of houses for first-time homebuyers who are looking to buy their first home to live in.

Assuming you do not fall within any of the circumstances mentioned prior, there are more criteria to consider. Commercial property is not classified as a home, therefore ownership of one does not disqualify you as a first-time homebuyer. However, if there is a residential element attached to it, the property is considered a dwelling and thus disqualifies you from being a first-time homebuyer. If you have previously owned or part-owned a property which you then sold, you will not be considered a first-time homebuyer.

Further, according to HM Revenue & Customs, even if you are a citizen of the UK, and you have not been present in the country for at least 183 days during the 12 months prior to completion of your purchase, you will be liable to pay 2% stamp duty on the first £300,000 and the 2% continues to all other stamp duty bands as well. Thus, even if you are a de facto first-time homebuyer, your stay –or lack thereof, can disqualify you.

Why does being a First-Time Homebuyer matter?

Okay, congratulations, after all this, it turns out you are a first-time homebuyer. What can being a first-time homebuyer mean to you?

To encourage home ownership, the government provides tax breaks and schemes to help people get on to the property ladder. If you are a first-time homebuyer, you do not pay any stamp duty on property purchases up to the value of £300,000 if the property you wish to purchase is £500,000 or less. Essentially, you will only have to pay tax on £200,000 out of the £500,000.

As for schemes, the most popular of the many available is the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. You can be approved for a loan with a deposit as low as 5% of the purchase price of the home you are interested in. Further, it allows you to borrow up to 20% (40% in London) as an interest-free equity loan. Even better, you do not have to pay interest on the equity loan for the next 5 years.

Turns out the rewards of being a first-time homebuyer can extend to the mortgage lender as well. You can have access to mortgages with special buyer-friendly schemes, reduced interest rates, and favourable terms & conditions.

Change in Interest Rates & its Effects on the Homebuyer

Recently, the Bank of England increased interest rates from 0.1% to 0.25%. It does not seem like much, but it has many economists concerned about the change given the current official rate of inflation of 5.1%. The hike in interest rates will impact mortgage repayments and thus will have an impact on home buyers, especially first-time homebuyers.

Geoff Garett, founder of the mortgage advisory firm Henry Dannell says that “Despite today’s increase, there’s arguably never been a better time to get on the property ladder.”

Conveyancing solicitors are generally unable to give stamp duty advice beyond that available from the HMRC stamp duty calculator, but they could point you in the right direction. You are responsible for making sure you are paying the correct amount of stamp duty and you must make your conveyancer aware of any relief you seek as they would need to be claimed within the relevant SDLT return. With several factors affecting the complexities of being a first-time homebuyer, the information provided can only be used as general information and must not berelied on for any specific transaction. You must obtain specific advice and guidance for your transaction. Phew’s expert conveyancing solicitors or conveyancers can help you with your property purchase.

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What is a Transfer of Equity?

A transfer of equity is when there is a change to the ownership of a property. However, unlike in a sale or disposal of a property, in a transfer of equity one or more of the current owners will remain on the title.

What is Equity?

Equity is the market value of the property that you own less any debts/mortgages outstanding on it. It is the value of your interest in the property. Simply put it is the money that you will receive, if you were to sell the property.

For example, if your property value is £300,000 and you have a mortgage on the property for £100,000. The equity in the property is the value of the property less any mortgages. Therefore, in our example the equity is £200,000.

Why do a Transfer of Equity?

Usually, a transfer of equity occurs when a person wants to add their spouse or partner or child to the property. Or when a person, following a divorce or separation, is to be removed from the title.

People may transfer their equity in a property to their children as the transfer can be treated as a gift and this can have tax advantages. However, please obtain professional tax advice before embarking on this.

Do I need a solicitor or conveyancer to do a transfer of equity?

It is possible to do a transfer of equity on your own, but it is recommended that you seek the advice from a solicitor or conveyancer to assist with the transfer of equity as there could be complications of which you are unaware. For example, there could be restrictions on the property that needs to be addressed. There could be a mortgage on the property and the lender may insist on a conveyancer or solicitor being appointed.

If you are considering a transfer of equity, please contact our team of experts. We are more than happy to discuss your matter with you without any obligation to use our service.

Do each of the parties to a transfer of equity need a solicitor or conveyancer?

When there is no mortgage involved and you are adding a person to the title one solicitor or conveyancer can act for both parties. When a person is to be removed from the title, they should seek independent legal advice. In our opinion, it is not good (due to conflict-of-interest risks) practice for one law firm to act for all parties. The person coming off the title will be required to provide an ID1 Form which the Land Registry will require to register the transfer. 

Example

Where there is a mother and father on the title and the father is coming off the title and the daughter is going onto the title, a conveyancing firm can act for both the mother and the daughter but not the father who is going off the title. Be careful where a conveyancer is willing to act for all three parties, as this may indicate poor internal policies and risk management. As he is losing his rights, he will need to obtain independent legal advice and complete the abovementioned ID1 form. This is the case even if there is a mortgage on the property.

What Conveyancing work is Involved in a Transfer of Equity?

Check Title Deed and Client Identity

As part of the conveyancing, your conveyancer or solicitor will first obtain title deeds from the Land Registry. These are known as official copy of the title and your solicitor or conveyancer will check the title to see if there are any restrictions or mortgages on the property.

You will also be required to provide identity documents for the conveyancer or solicitor to verify who you are. A prudent conveyancer would also request additional documents (known as link documents) to establish you are the true owner of the property and not a fraudster.

Obtain Lender Consent

If there is a lender, then the lender’s consent must be obtained to the transfer. 

If Leasehold title

Your conveyancer will contact the freehold owners to obtain costs and process for serving notices and complying with any restrictions.

Prepare the Transfer document

The transfer deed also known as the TR1, states who the new owners will be and any new terms to the ownership.

If the current mortgage is to stay as it is, the lender will need to be added as a party to the transfer deed.

Sign the Transfer Deed

The transfer deed needs to be signed in front of a witness and the witness’s details are included in the transfer deed. The original transfer deed needs to be sent to the conveyancer.

Stamp duty and Register change in ownership with the Land Registry

Your Conveyancer or solicitor will complete the SDLT form and apply to the Land Registry to register the new transfer deed 

How long does it take for a Transfer of Equity?

A straightforward transfer can be completed within 2-4 weeks. However, whether a transfer is straightforward or not is something that can only be ascertained once the transaction has commenced.

Where the property has a mortgage, written consent from the lender is required before the transaction can proceed to completion and this can sometimes take 1-2 weeks. Also, if there is a divorce involved, then the court proceedings could add time. Finally, if there are any disagreements between the parties, these can cause delays to completion.

Stamp Duty on Transfer of Equity

In transfer of equity cases the SDLT payable is based on the chargeable consideration given for it (monies exchanging hands) or the mortgage outstanding.

If no monies are being paid for a party to be removed or by a party being added, then there is no stamp duty payable.

The HMRC  website has useful information on this with several examples. on how Stamp duty is calculated. This link reproduced here has particularly good examples to help you understand the stamp duty for transfer of equity transactions.

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A property lawyer will be able to give you multiple reasons for and against purchasing property through a limited company. More so if it is a residential property that you wish to purchase. Chances are, you might find yourself needing residential property for a function of your business. The legislation surrounding purchases of residential property is different for limited companies compared to individuals. The tax rates can either have you questioning the sensibilities of the government or praising them for it. In other words, the benefits (or the drawbacks) can be significant, but you need to fall under certain circumstances.

Stamp Duty Land Tax for Entities

Undoubtedly the biggest factor to consider in purchasing property is the obligations presented in the conveyancing process. The government feels it’s best to ensure that the residential market serves the private owner first and the company second. As a result, the biggest tax involved with the purchase of residential property –the Stamp Duty Land Tax, is slightly higher for companies. No matter the circumstances or cost of the residential property, you must pay at standard rates (as below) with a 3% surcharge on top.

However, it is not over with the 3% surcharge alone. If the property you purchase costs over £500,000 then you must also pay another 15% on top. Assuming you purchase a £600,000 residential property through a company, you will be paying the following:

Up to £125,000                                                                                               £0

Next £125,000                                                                                                £2,500

Next £675,000 (Up to £400,000)                                                                    £20,000

Surcharge of 3%                                                                                             £18,000

Surcharge of 15%                                                                                           £90,000

Total SLDT                                                                                                    £130,500

Yikes.

So why would you realistically consider purchasing residential property through a limited company when you could do so as a private owner? A competent conveyancing solicitor will advise you based on your circumstances. However, how much you pay based on your circumstances improve dramatically when the purpose of your purchase is for one of the following:

• acting as a trustee for a court settlement

• running a property rental business

• buying property as property developer and trader

• buying property made available to the public

• financial institutions acquiring property when lending

• property occupied by employees

• buying farmhouses

• buying a qualifying housing co-operative

Why Buy Residential Property?

Again, a competent conveyancing lawyer will give you enough information to satisfactorily answer the why. Especially when, even with the best-case scenario, you pay more tax when you purchase property as a company compared to doing so as a person. There are no discounts, stipends, or allowances with concern to the SDLT on purchases via companies.

Then, why?

The benefit comes from the tax payable on your income. You may dish out significantly more pounds to purchase residential property as a company but save as a result of paying less income tax. Over the years of a functioning business, you could potentially save hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax liability. For context, the following table shows the rate of taxation for individuals:

Whereas for a limited company, the tax rate which applies is the corporate tax rate of 19%, set to raise to 25% by 2023 for companies earning over £250,000 per annum. Further, individuals cannot deduct their mortgage expenses as a cost whereas companies absolutely can treat it as a cost of doing business. For a buy-to-let business, purchasing property through a limited company is the advisable option. You do pay the 3% surcharge, but so long as the property is £500,000 or less, you can make that back with the savings on tax payable.

Admittedly, there are more scenarios and complications beyond just buying property to let. To be best prepared to make the ideal decision, you will need to seek professional advice. You can reach out to Phew Conveyancing for all your needs and for the best experience in online conveyancing.

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Who must pay and how much to be paid?

The default position is that anyone buying a residential property is liable to pay stamp duty. However, there are exceptions and reliefs available in certain circumstances. If you are to spend £40,000 or more on a house, which is more than likely, then you are likely to pay stamp duty.

Before you immerse yourself in a boggle of numbers, you must first understand that stamp duty only applies past a certain threshold. Which means you only have to pay a percentage applied on a specific portion (consideration) of the total purchase price.

For example, if you are to pay £500,000 for a house and the tax threshold is £300,000, then the stamp duty will apply only to the remaining £200,000.

For first-time buyers of houses

The government makes a concession for first-time house-buyers in England & Northern Ireland. If the house you purchase is £500,000 or less, then the threshold begins at £300,000 where the rest of the amount (consideration) is taxed at a rate of 5%. Therefore, if your first-time purchase of your house is £300,000 or less you owe no stamp duty to HMRC.

However, this concession is unavailable if the house you purchase exceeds a value of £500,000.

Stamp Duty Standard Rates

The rates above are applicable to England & Northern Ireland from 1 October 2021.  Assuming you wish to buy a house valued at £450,000, how much stamp duty do you owe HMRC?

For the first £125,000 at 0% = £0

For the next £125,000 at 2% = £2,500

For the remaining £200,000 at 5% = £10,000

Total owed to HMRC = £12,500

If you already are a homeowner and wish to purchase another property, a separate stamp duty of 3% will apply on top of the standard rates. This is known as a stamp duty surcharge. Similarly, if you are a non-UK resident, you must pay a 2% surcharge even if you are a first-time buyer. If you are a non-UK resident purchasing a second house, you will have to pay both the 3% and the 2% on top of the standard rates. As with first-time buyers, there are concessions available as reliefs (discounts) for other house buyers that apply based on your circumstances.

How did the stamp duty holiday affect the UK property market?

To ease the difficulties faced during the pandemic, the government introduced a holiday on stamp duties in July 2020 to be in place till 31st March 2021. However, it was extended, due to popular demand, until end of June 2021 and gradually reduced to the normal rate by the end of September 2021. The holiday meant house-buyers of residential property in England did not have to pay stamp duty on the first £500,000 of the purchase price.

It is likely that the stamp duty holiday directly resulted in the increase in prices of the UK housing market. For context, the UK House Price Index for November 2021 shows an increase of 10.0% compared to the previous year. The stamp duty holiday helped keep the property market active during a time when the economy was struggling.

It is important to point out that we did not see the property market crash, as predicted by some economists, following the end of the stamp duty holiday.

Contact one of our conveyancing solicitors to know more about the stamp duty you are likely to pay. You can also visit the very informative government website on stamp duty which includes an easy-to-use stamp duty calculator.

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Let’s delve into the world of cryptocurrency and buying houses. Is it possible to buy a house using digital currency, taking the risk of using cryptocurrency into account?  Are there any practical examples to support the topic of discussion? Learn about this and more in this blog.

From sticks and stones to binary, the concept of currency has come a long way. From its origin in 2009, cryptocurrency has been a contentious topic, on how volatile it is, on its transparency and anonymity, and most importantly, on its legality. From its humble, and almost dark beginnings, Bitcoin, the first ever cryptocurrency is now accepted by over 15,000 businesses, with many more accepting other cryptocurrencies. Virtual currencies are constantly expanding and growing to be a viable alternative to the traditional payment options today, with over 4000 different cryptocurrencies in use. One of the main incentives for using a cryptocurrency is the minimal transaction fees.

In simple terms, cryptocurrency is nothing but virtual money which could be effortlessly exchanged for real products and services.  The first ever cryptocurrency, and most used is Bitcoin. But the concept of digital currency was in vogue from the establishment of Digicash in 1990, as the first electronic cash company.

United Kingdom’s approach to cryptocurrency could be best defined as cautious. Albeit declaring cryptoassets as property in 2020, the country still lacks any definitive laws or regulations on the matter. Cryptocurrency is not recognised by the UK as a form of legal tender. The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (UKJT) has published a consultation paper to identify key issues of legal uncertainty regarding cryptoassets which stated that ‘there were strong grounds on which cryptocurrencies should be recognised as property.

The UK’s Anti-Money Laundering system is modified to capture financial activities involving cryptocurrencies. The Economic Crime Plan mandated that from January 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) supervisor for firms carrying on certain cryptoasset activity. FCA also imposed an active ban on the sale of crypto-derivatives to retail customers and attempted regulating the existing cryptocurrency by the creation of a ‘temporary registration regime’.

Cryptocurrency in Conveyancing

Using, legitimising, and documenting cryptocurrency is not an easy task. But a bigger task would be to find a lender and a conveyancer willing to accept and work with cryptocurrency. The responsibility of verifying the source of wealth, and to ensure the legitimacy of the money is on the conveyancer. Majority of conveyancing solicitors would find it hard to confirm the same in the case of cryptocurrency and would require technical help.

You can only buy a house with cryptocurrency if the buyer and seller are on board. There are two approaches to buying property using cryptocurrency. The first approach is to sell the digital currency for cash if the seller doesn’t accept the cryptocurrency. If the seller is willing to accept the payment in digital currency, come to an agreement, decide the final price and how to pay companies (if any) that won’t accept payment in cryptocurrency.

Most mortgage lenders find it a challenge to use cryptocurrency unlike the conventional pound deposit. Also, in the conventional house buying scenario, mortgage lenders are likely to report any cryptocurrency involved as an odd or unusual deposit, which would demand further investigations and has a high probability that the whole transaction falls apart.

Taking the risk revolving around cryptocurrency into account, many lenders and conveyancing lawyers are unwilling to accept cryptocurrencies. An article in the Financial Times stated that many high street names, like Nationwide, UK’s biggest building society, NatWest, and Barclays are re-assessing their policies on cryptocurrencies.

The future of cryptocurrency in the residential property market is looking bright and experts claim that the majority of interest comes from young people. If you are thinking of investing in cryptocurrency and using it to buy property in the UK, speak to the estate agents early on so that they can make sure all the other parties involved are agreeable to this.

Buyers who want to buy their dream house using cryptocurrency but are afraid of the digital coin’s fluctuating nature will find a ray of hope in this example.  The first house bought with Bitcoin was in December 2017 in Essex. It was bought for just 63 coins, equivalent to £350,000.

After reading the above points, are you thinking of buying property using cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum? Well, may the odds be in your favour. Hopefully, it is not far when cryptocurrency would be a legal tender used on a daily basis and when conveyancing, like other economic segments would be forced to embrace this newcomer in money.

While the future looks very promising for cryptocurrency, until the regulators provide more guidance for conveyancing firms, it is unlikely that majority of firms, including us, will have the know-how to check source of wealth and source of funds on cryptocurrency. If you are thinking of buying or a selling a property using cryptocurrency, please get in touch to discuss how we can assist.

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Buying a home involves many important steps. You must be careful every step of the way because it could well be one of the largest investments you make in your life. Priority search is one of the key steps that ensure the seller has the complete right to the property and notifies if anyone has made any charges or has any interest or rights on the property. The steps of conveyancing are often very complex; however, you can make it easier with the help of good conveyancing solicitors. In the process of conveyancing, there are some crucial points which you should miss out. One of those crucial points involve performing the adequate number of searches on the property. Searches could vary from environmental searches to water and drainage searches to the local authority searches that reveal every possible detail on the property that is in public domain. There are a few other searches which are not mandatory in all conveyancing transactions but rather, is specific to the property in question. Let us delve more into one such search, namely priority search which is mandatorily conducted for every property transaction.

What are searches?

While many people are not aware of the significance of conducting searches, an experienced conveyancer would have ample examples of how different types of searches will help you avoid unexpected risks associated with conveyancing. While it is true that searches come with a not-so-cheap price tag but not availing the search could cost you hundreds of thousand pounds in the long run and could seriously undermine the value and marketability of the property. Searches also make the conveyancing process more transparent and stress-free.

What is a Priority Search?

Priority search is one of the most important searches conducted in the  conveyancing process. It is conducted by the buyer’s solicitor after the exchange of contracts.

Priority searches are some of the last-minute searches conducted by the solicitor. This is conducted immediately before the completion. It is done to ensure that no changes are made to the title of the property that you intend to buy, since the Official copies are first obtained, in the early stage of the conveyancing process. The priority search has a 30 day exclusivity period from the date of the search, when no one else can make any changes to the title deeds. This called priority notice.

Why is a priority search conducted?

Once you have exchanged the contract, you are bound to complete the sale; since the penalty for a recission of a contract to sale is hefty. Moving forward with the completion and registration without conducting the priority searches involves a high degree of risk. This search will help you find whether anyone has made any charges or has any interest or rights on the property. This also clarifies the complete right of the seller to sell the property.

Once the results of the priority searches are clear, you get a “priority” till registration. A priority notices notifies anyone who searches the register that there is an instrument or transaction pending, and holds the priority holder’s interest in place.

When to conduct a search?

Usually, people conduct it just a  day before the completion, so o they get a span of 30 days with priority in order to get the registration completed in that span. This will also ensure that you get exclusive rights on the title of the property until the registration is completed. This is one of the main reasons why all the solicitors insist that you conduct a priority search. Generally, a priority search is conducted for £4.

Also read:

What are Local Authority Searches?
The significance of bankruptcy searches in conveyancing

Photo courtesy: Stevecadman

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Conveyancing is the act of transferring the legal title of property from the current owner to another. Conveyancing also involves transfer of equitable interests or creation of easements in a property. Conveyancing Process usually involves huge sums of money, which most people may not have readily available. Usually a mortgage is the first choice for the potential buyer. Availing a mortgage is not a  very complicated process, however it involves the potential lender running a series of searches and background checks on the applicants and on the property mortgaged. One such search is the bankruptcy search. Usually the buyer’s conveyancer applies for it and the result is reported back to the Lender.

It is common to confuse bankruptcy  with insolvency. While Insolvency is a broad term used for any legal person, whether they are in individual or a body corporate, who is unable to pay off their debts. It is an umbrella term used to  describe all kinds of financial failure. Bankruptcy on the other hand, applies to only an individual and not a corporate entity. Any individual could be declared bankrupt if they owe more than £5,000 to any creditor once a creditor’s petition is filed by the creditor or a debtor’s petition by the individual himself.  Once a bankruptcy order is in place, no creditors may contact the individual personally for repayment but rather, the trustee or receiver so appointed for the purpose.

Why is a bankruptcy search conducted?

The bankruptcy search is conducted to know whether the person who has applied for the mortgage or the purchaser, is bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy. It is done exclusively for the lender. Once the buyer is found to be bankrupt for a given period of time, the lender may decline to provide the loan. In simple words, a bankruptcy search is conducted by the buyer’s solicitor to prove that the buyer is free from bankruptcy.

The issue of bankruptcy does not if the purchase is a cash purchase and there is no mortgage involved. Bankruptcy search results are mandatory for Lenders who provide loan for the purchase. Even if you have been a bankrupt in the past or are on the verge of bankruptcy, you can move forward with the process of conveyancing as long as you arrange the whole money in cash.

The bankruptcy searches can be moved forward in two ways. They are

• Bankruptcy only search
• Official search

Bankruptcy only searches

Bankruptcy Only searches will check if the buyer was ever declared bankrupt within a span of 5 years prior to the sales. You can either make a search on a company or on individuals. You can also get copies of the bankruptcy orders or of the applications for registration.

Official search

An official search is different from a bankruptcy only search. It is conducted for a given period of time. The search will be conducted for any span of years; it need not necessarily be the last 5 years. These searches can be conducted for any requested time period and in any part of the territory. This will help trace if the individual or company has received an order of bankruptcy any time in their life or within a stipulated time period. Generally, it is conducted for a specified period only.

If you want to know if the buyer has been bankrupt in the recent past, you can use the bankruptcy only search whereas, if you require information on distant past, official search is the one to choose.

Limited companies

When it comes to limited companies, you can even get a detailed report on the insolvency of the company from the date of its commencement. Generally, for a company, a bankruptcy only search is required. If the mortgage companies insist on an official search, the buyer’s solicitors will do it on the buyer’s behalf.

How to do bankruptcy searches?

The best way to approach bankruptcy search is to let your conveyancing solicitor do it. Your lawyer will charge you for the fees incurred on third-party searches and the lawyer fees, but this will protect you from making costly mistakes.

Also read:
What are Local Authority Searches?
Why is a priority search essential in conveyancing?

Photo courtesy: Brewbooks

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While there exists no question on the necessity of a conveyancer in a home buying/ selling process, there are questions about whether it is better to use an online conveyancing firm or a high-street conveyancing firm. And are online conveyancing firms safe to use? In this post, we are going to share information on conveyancing and more importantly on online conveyancing. So, without further ado, let’s get started.

• Conveyancing vs Online Conveyancing

Conveyancing is the process by which the legal ownership of a property is transferred from one person to another. It is a lengthy, complicated legal process best carried out by experienced conveyancing solicitors. Online conveyancing works the same way as traditional high street conveyancing but, as the name suggests,  most of the correspondence and filing is done online. However, as is the case with the Land Registry and HMRC, in recent years many high street conveyancing firms have also embraced technology and now provide significant portion of their services online and by email. This consequently dilutes the differential between the two.

• Benefits of Online Conveyancing 

Now, let’s quickly jump to the benefits of working with firms engineered for online conveyancing and know the reasons behind their popularity.

1. Quick service 

Online conveyancing is quicker and easier than traditional conveyancing. Virtual meetings, virtual rooms to share documents, editing and submitting documents online all lend to a faster conveyancing service.

2. Budget-friendly services 

Online conveyancing is generally less expensive than high street conveyancing. In addition, it also saves the expense of regular visits to the conveyancer. Apart from being cheaper, online services also save considerable amount of time.

3. Keep an eye on the progress 

If you are concerned about tracking the progress without face-to-face meetings, don’t fret. Most online conveyancing services provide a case tracking system that enables you to monitor the conveyancing process in real-time from the comfort of your home.

Is online conveyancing safe?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions about online conveyancing. Buying or selling a property concerns hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds.   Hence, it is prudent to question the safety and security of the online process. However, the concerns would apply equally to working with either type of conveyancing firms. The issue centers around IT structure, security and contingencies available to the firm. Majority of good firms will have strong, tested and resilient systems in place with back-ups and tightly monitored security systems. However, often the firms that are technologically advanced, and consequently providing online conveyancing, are more secure and safer. The good firms usually have multiple layers of security, the use of cloud services, two-factor authentication, auto-updated firewalls and multi-site back-ups. Furthermore, all conveyancing firms, whether online or not, are regulated by either the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Council for Licensed Conveyancing  and they also have to have professional indemnity insurance for around £2million before they can provide conveyancing services.  Therefore, online conveyancing is at least as safe as high-street conveyancing.

 The Final Word

Now that you know the basics of online conveyancing and its benefits, we hope that you have understood how it makes the homebuying or selling process easier and a lot faster. If you choose a good firm, the online conveyancing process is safe and secure.

Are you looking for reliable online conveyancing services? You can count on Phew! We use the latest technology to change the face of conveyancing and provide faster, premium, value-for-money conveyancing services.

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