The following article exposes ten ways in which the conveyancing solicitor, acting on behalf of the seller typically slows the selling process down:

When selling, many conveyancing solicitors have the mistaken belief that all they do is throw out the papers to the buyer's conveyancer.

This mistaken belief has been perpetuated by the axiom of Caveat Emptor, which obliges the buyer rather than the seller to find out if there are any defects or legal problems with a property.

As if the Caveat Emptor was not enough the courts, through cases such as William Sindall Plc -v- Cambridgeshire County Council 1993 have encouraged convayancing lawyers not to look at the paperwork for fear of being legally exposed to an argument that in reviewing or commenting on the papers that may have some degree of responsibility to the buyer.

We would also infer that the commoditisation of conveyancing and the competitive marketing of conveyancing means that Conveyancing lawyers do not give themselves the luxury of being proactive and reducing the risk of the buyer’s conveyancers raising enquiries.

The end result is that the majority of conveyancers fail to read through them first with the following results:

1 . They fail to ensure the Buyer’s conveyancing solicitors receive the Home Information Pack. Regrettably very few conveyancing lawyers produce HIPs and subsequently rely on the agent to provide the HIP to the buyer’s conveyancing lawyers.

2. The Home Information Pack, not being produced by those with expansive knowledge of the conveyancing process, has unspotted errors because the seller did not have it prepared by a professional conveyancing solicitor.

3. Many sellers count on the registered title in the Home Information Pack which may be months old, which is not acceptable to the Buyer’s conveyancing lawyers (because it is not up to date) and so valuable time is lost in getting fresh requests.

4. Even if an up to date title is produced, many property solicitors forget to apply for and send the independent documents referred to in the title. Perhaps as many as one third of titles refer to additional documents which the Buyer’s lawyers will predictably ask to see. The Land Registry can take up to

a week to send these documents. They are not a mandatory part of a HIP.

5. Planning permissions for home improvements certainly in the last 4 years, or better in the last 20, if not a comprehensive set, are not produced, so the Buyer’s property solicitor has to chase. According to Fridays Property Lawyers data, there is a average of 1.5 planning permissions applicable for each property.

6. New Home Warranty papers fail to be delivered. They are not required as part of the HIP and are freequently in the hands of the Seller. Frequently these documents are mislaid and days are wasted obtaining copies. No mortgage broker in the UK will lend on a newly built property without such warranties being avaliable.

7. All English lenders require conveyancers to be satisfied with management information for a leasehold property. All too often the seller’s conveyancer will not send this information out on a leasehold sale, until requested, losing weeks potentially

8. Out of date Protocol Forms are often sent by the sellers conveyancer, meaning additional questions must be asked to get them as comprehensive as the latest edition.

9 . Not reading the Sellers Property Information Form or Property Information Questionnaire which refers to guarantees, or building developmentsor UPVC or electrical works – so the conveyancing solicitor for the Buyer has to then pursue this extra information.

10 . Having a plethora of contractual ‘special conditions’ some of which can be unusual, like seeking a refund of searches, or not guaranteeing the accuracy of plans or having clause after clause of what penalties the Buyer should pay should they fail to complete.

If a seller’s conveyancing solicitor dealt with all the above it would assuredly speed up sales but it would not make the paperwork “exchange ready “. So, are exchange–ready – HIPs the answer? Regretably we are yet to see such a document. Our fear is that they are as uncommon as hen’s teeth. One particular company indicates that their HIP will include a certificate indicating that the Home Information Pack is “Exchange Ready“. Given that the ERH does not deal with all of the afore mentioned points at best it is an insult to the publics intelligence but at worst it may merit investigation by Trading Standards for being erroneous.

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