Greenwich Solicitors

Conveyancing FAQs Greenwich

What does conveyancing mean ?

Conveyancing is the process of buying, selling, letting and re-mortgaging of properties.

How long will it take to buy/sell a property in Greenwich ?

It is difficult to say.  If you have the money immediately available, the transaction is relatively simple and the other party and advisors act quickly, the whole process could take a couple of weeks. If, however, you are intending to buy a property with a mortgage advance, the transaction is dependent on a chain of other sales and purchases, if the property is leasehold and/or there are issues arising, the process can take months. The average transaction takes about 4-6 weeks, but as described above there are important variations.

What types of joint ownership are there ?

There are two types of joint ownership: a joint tenancy or a tenancy in common.  With a joint tenancy, the survivorship rule applies.  If you die, the other owner of the property will inherit your equity regardless of your wishes in a will or other legal rights or rules.  With a tenancy in common, your interest in the property is severable, meaning that if you die, the other owner will not automatically inherit your share and it will pass according to your wishes in your will or if there is no will, under the intestacy rules.

What is property indemnity insurance ?

Indemnity insurance is taken out to protect against certain anomalies in the title of the property you are purchasing.  If an anomaly in the title eventually causes you some type of loss, you will be indemnified for it i.e. compensated.  It could be the case, for example, that there is an old restrictive covenant on the land which restricts you from doing certain things.  If the owner of this interest decides to enforce that covenant, you could suffer loss.

To take out indemnity insurance, you, or often the seller, only need to pay a one off premium.

Can Greenwich conveyancing solicitors complete a transaction at the weekend ?

Conveyancing transactions generally cannot be completed at the weekend as money cannot generally be transferred at the weekend as neither law firms or banks are generally open.

Can I pull out of the transaction ?

When a completion date is agreed on and contracts are exchanged, you cannot pull out of the transaction without be liable for the other party’s losses for breach of contract and the deposit will generally be forfeited .  For this reason, a 10% deposit is often asked for to affirm the buyer’s commitment to buy the property.

What are searches ?

Searches describe certain processes that are undertaken by the buyer’s solicitor in order to find out certain information about the property.  There are various types of searches including local authority, environment, sewage and drainage and mining searches.  It is generally advisable to carry out as many searches if possible and relevant to the property you are buying.  If, for example, you are buying a property in a mining area, it will be a wise idea to have a mining search done to see whether the property is at risk of subsidence.