Useful Information
We know that property transactions can be complex and have tried to simplify matters for you by providing you with a guide showing the key stages in conveyancing, a list of links which you may find useful and a glossary of legal terms.
Key Stages in Conveyancing
To view a step by step guide to the conveyancing process please click here.
Useful Links
- www.landregistry.gov.uk - The Land Registry
- www.homecheck.co.uk - Environmental Postcode Check
- www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/ - Stamp Duty
- www.environment-agency.gov.uk - The Environment Agency
- www.leaseholdadvicecentre.co.uk - Leasehold Information
- http://postcode.royalmail.com - Postcode/address checker
- www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/hhg/houseguide.html - Planning permission guidance
- http://www.salisbury.gov.uk/planning/development-control/planning-applications.htm - Search for local planning applications/consents
- www.lawsociety.org.uk - The Law Society
- www.legalcomplaints.org.uk - To make a complaint against a solicitor
Legal Jargon
You may come across terms during your property transaction which you are not familiar with. We have listed a few below and have tried to explain them in plain English for you.
Conveyance: This has now been renamed as a 'transfer' which is a document transferring land from the seller to the buyer.
Conveyancing: This is the legal process of selling and buying land and property in England and Wales.
Covenant: Refers to a promise contained within a Conveyance, Transfer or Deed.
Deed: A legal document which is signed and witnessed and usually contains an agreement between two or more parties to do something relating to land or property (e.g. to allow someone access over another's land)
Estate: This has two main meanings (i) all property and assets owned by a deceased person or (ii) when relating to land, it refers to the land they own - either leasehold or freehold.
Execute: It simply means 'to sign a document'.
Freehold: Outright ownership of land and any buildings on that land without anyone with a superior interest in the land such as a landlord.
Joint Tenant: Is where more than one person owns the particular parcel of land. If one of them dies then the deceased's share passes automatically to the survivor(s) (and 'joint tenancy' means that you hold as a joint tenant).
Land Registry: Is a British Governmental organisation created in 1862. The Land Registry is responsible for publicly recording interests in registered land in England and Wales.
Lease: A contract between a landlord and a tenant most commonly signed by tenants when a property or land is rented out.
Leasehold: The alternative to freehold mentioned above. This is where a property reverts back to the owner (i.e. the landlord) when the lease expires so essentially, you rent it for a period of time. If you own a leasehold property, you may have to pay a small amount in 'ground rent' every year.
Lease Term: The duration of the Lease that the landlord has granted.
Legal Charge or Mortgage: They are the same and it is the legal security that a lender takes over a property when lending money. It gives them rights to ultimately sell the property if the money is not repaid.
Power of Attorney: This is the written authority given by someone to allow another person to act on their behalf in their absence, illness, infirmity or simply if they are not wishing to be personally involved.
Probate: Written legal authority given by the State (via the Probate Registry) to Executors named in the deceased's Will.
Register: This usually refers to the process of producing your Deeds or your Transfer/Conveyance to the Land Registry who record property ownership.
Standard Conditions: These are the fine print contained within contracts for the sale of land. They are designed to streamline the timetable for a transaction.
Subject to Contract: This means that the terms are provisionally agreed but without legal effect until a contract is actually signed and 'exchanged'. Until that point, either party can pull out of the deal, and neither will face liability for doing so.
Title Deeds or Property Deeds: In the case of land not yet registered at the Land Registry, they will comprise a whole series of Conveyances recording the names of the owners of a piece of land. In the case of Registered Land 'Title Deeds' are now a misnomer, as on first registration, all the old unregistered Conveyances would have been replaced with a computer summery (called an Official Copy) the original record of which is then held simply as electronic data centrally on the Land Registry computers.
Title Number: A bit like a licence plate number on a car. If you have registered land, the extent of the land will be edged in red on a plan and the parcel given a unique number which is all that is needed to look up at the Land Registry to track who owns it.
Tenancy: Temporary possession of land or property owned by another called a Landlord.
Tenant: A person occupying property or land under tenancy or Lease.
Tenants in Common: Opposite of Joint Tenants. If more that one person has an interest in land and one of them dies, the ownership would not pass to the surviving party but would pass under their Will into their Estate. Commonly adopted by unmarried couples.
Trust: Where Property is held by a trusted person (i.e. a Trustee) for the benefit of possibly them and others (i.e. the Beneficiaries). Usually created for tax reasons or as a way of protecting the property for a spendthrift or unreliable relative/beneficiary.
Vendor: A Seller
Will: A legal document which sets out a person's wishes on what happens to their property when they die.
