Gardner Leader

What does a Conveyancing Solicitor actually do?

Robert Parsonson, Associate in the Property team at Gardner Leader LLP, looks at what activities a Conveyancing Solicitor has to undertake in each property transaction.

Recently one of my clients called me with questions regarding the sale of their current home and purchase of a new one; they admitted that their Estate Agent had needed to encourage them to contact me as they had been scared to do so.  They later revealed that they were worried that I would charge them more for the advice, they did not understand exactly what my role was and were worried about asking the ‘wrong’ questions.

I, therefore, decided to take this opportunity to set out exactly what the role of a Conveyancing Solicitor is during a residential property transaction, to help people currently going through the process.

The obvious answer to the question ‘What do I do as a Conveyancing Solicitor?’ is: I deal with the “legal” work.  This broadly involves on a sale of a home, obtaining copies of the full legal title (the entry held at the land registry, the first transfer of the property and any other document referred to), issuing the draft contracts and co-ordinating and answering enquiries by the buyers.

On a purchase I check the legal title, confirming that the correct covenants are in place and ask questions, legal and practical, of the seller’s solicitors.  I also apply for a number of searches against the property with the Local Authority, Environment Agency, Water Authority etc.

I summarise this part of the job as problem spotting and problem resolving.  For example it is at this stage that I check that a buyer has the right to access the property and if not, I must then try to resolve it.  In most cases there are no real problems.

Once everything is in order, I report to the clients on the legal title explaining what, if any, restrictions/rights there are over the property.

I also act on behalf of my client’s mortgage company.  As Gardner Leader is on the panel of all mortgage companies, I am able to act for my client and the company at the same time.  This does mean that I have to satisfy any conditions required by the mortgage lender for them to offer the funds to the client.

Once the date of the move has been confirmed, I draw everything together to allow the move to happen. I obtain the estate agent’s invoice, mortgage redemption figure, arrange for the mortgage funds to be drawn down, draft and arrange for the legal transfers to be signed, carry out additional searches and work out the financial statement to complete the sale. 

On the day of the move I co-ordinate all payments, dealing with any issues that arise.  Estate Agents will not allow anyone to move without the solicitor advising that the money has gone through successfully. 

After the move I pay any required Stamp Duty to the Inland Revenue and deal with the registration of my clients as the new owners at the Land Registry.      

This briefly summarises the practical actions I take as a Conveyancing Solicitor; it does not set out what I consider to be my most important role though.  As a solicitor, I am the only person who deals with the whole process for the client.  An Estate Agent is there to sell the property; the mortgage broker is there to arrange the best mortgage. I am there to look after a client’s best interests in the context of the whole transaction. 

I see my role as protecting and supporting the client to make sure they understand the whole process, that they can make fully-informed decisions, ensuring that once the actual move has passed they are happy with where they are.

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