Who looks after the legal details of the sale?
The process of observing all of the ‘nuts and bolts’ that constitute the sale of a property is called ‘Conveyancing’. The National Land and Property Information Service (An organisation making land/property search information more accessible) recently reported that a survey they conducted showed that 19% of the public think that the Estate Agent actually carries out the conveyancing and 8% think that vendors do it themselves. This is absolutely NOT the case!
All of the legal work required to process a property sale is done by solicitors. They are the people who do all of the background checks such as Land Registry, freehold/leasehold status, covenants or restrictions in the deeds, service charges and ground rent etc. and ensure that all of the formalities have been observed to make the sale legal. They will draw up a contract for the transaction and answer any basic questions that the buyers solicitor may ask such as listing the items that are staying when you sell your house. After the buyers’ solicitor has done all the required searches you are then both ready to sign, agree on a completion date and exchange the contracts. Solicitors also co-ordinate the payment chain so that payments are made and received so that keys can be handed over. The only involvement of Estate agents in this process (apart from referrals of sales to solicitors in return for a commission) is the role a good Agent will play as a mediator between both sets of solicitors, buyers and sellers to make sure that the sale is not sticking or in danger of falling through. Since you will be dealing directly with the other party from the start this is something you can easily do yourself. Estate Agents are not required for the conveyancing and you can instruct a solicitor equally well yourself.
One point to note is that you are not allowed to use the same solicitors as either your buyer or your seller. This means that if you are in the middle of a 'chain' you cannot instruct the solicitor being used by the person buying your house and also you cannot instruct the solicitor acting for the person selling your next house. This is of particular importance if all three properties are in the same geographical area or even the same town! Not all towns support three separate solicitors practices, so you can't all have a local practice. The general advice here (If you do not wish to do it yourself) is to get in early! As soon as you are in a position to do so, you should instruct a solicitor to take care of your own conveyancing.
The Office of Fair Trading has produced a useful advice document, which describes the legal aspects of selling your property although it does this from the viewpoint of using an Estate Agent.
Can I do my own searches and conveyancing?
Title searches are at the very base of the conveyancing process and are carried out by contacting the Land Registry. The Land Registry runs and operates the Land Register for England and Wales. It holds over 20 million titles and underpins the economy by guaranteeing ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property. Following the 2002 Land Registration Act, Land Registry pioneered the delivery of modern electronic government services by making the information accessible electronically to anyone needing the information. It is currently the largest online transactional database in the world. In addition to its Land Registry Direct service used by property professionals, it launched www.landregisteronline.gov.uk where members of the public can download copies of registers, title plans and other documents referred to in the register.
The Land Registry is now working to deliver e-conveyancing, which will theoretically replace the current paper-based system, throughout England and Wales. The first part of this, "Chain Matrix", will be piloted in 2007 in Portsmouth, Fareham and Bristol. This leads to the prospect of a completely DIY conveyancing process one day.
Although most conveyancing tasks are traditionally carried out by juniors in legal practices, it is common opinion that at present the process is best undertaken by the knowledgeable after suitable research. It is not for the faint hearted and there are risks are but the Government clearly believes that this is the future. In a press release Peter Collis Chief Land Registrar and Chief Executive said: "E-conveyancing is at the heart of the modernisation agenda for government services."