Solicitors conveyancing fee is the money you will pay to your conveyancing solicitors in return for them legally transferring the ownership of UK land or property from one person to another. If you are buying or selling a house, or indeed doing both at the same time, you will have to pay a conveyancing fee to get all the legal work done.
These fees can run to hundreds of pounds; and many people think the process is overly complicated and tortuously slow. How did residential conveyancing develop, is the process really necessary and why can the process take so long?
Why You Don’t Need To Use Local Conveyancing Solicitors
The current conveyancing system traces its origins back to 1804 when, after a series of infamous property fraud scandals, it was decided that only solicitors could carry out residential conveyancing. Solicitor fees for conveyancing could be set at whatever levels the solicitors wanted as they had a monopoly and nobody else could legally provide the service. This monopoly for conveyancing and mortgage solicitors continued unchallenged right up to 1985, when conveyancing costs were becoming prohibitive.
At this point, the UK Government allowed ‘licensed conveyancers’ to provide conveyancing services. It was hoped that ending the solicitor’s monopoly would bring down prices. It only worked to a limited extent, because fewer people than was hoped undertook training to become licensed conveyancers. It is really only in the last five to seven years that solicitors fees for conveyancing have begun to fall to more reasonable levels. This is to some extent due to the rise of the internet and the entry of conveyancing comparison websites into the market. These allow residential property buyers and sellers much more latitude to find specialist conveyancing firms anywhere in the country.
Overall, this has led to prices falling, competition increasing and service standards and efficiency improving considerably. The key to this transformation has been the realisation by buyers and sellers that conveyancing can be completed without the need for face-to-face meetings with solicitors, using post, telephone calls, email and video calling.
You are no longer tied to using the high street firm of solicitors recommended by your estate agent or mortgage broker: you can shop around for a better service and a better price.
Use Conveyancing Comparison Websites To Find Cost Effective Solicitors Fees For Conveyancing UK Properties
The reasons for house conveyancing are still the same as they ever were.
Does the seller have the right to sell the property? Is the property ‘as described’ and can the buyer pay for it? While there is still the need for these checks, there will be a solicitors conveyancing fee. But why does the conveyancing process take so long in the UK?
Essentially, it’s because there are various people with different involvement in the conveyancing process. Sticking points include ensuring all the house buyers and sellers in a chain agree, especially when it comes to a completion date. The length of time it takes to apply for mortgages and get them approved can also slow the process down. The extra complexities of processing any leasehold properties in the chain is also a factor that can take time.
Finally, the speed of authorities, particularly local authorities, in providing the required information on searches such as future planning permission and boundaries can delay matters. This means that, even for a typical property where there are no complications or unusual circumstances, the time-scale for house conveyancing is about eight to 12 weeks. Your solicitors conveyancing fees pay for what can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. How, then, can you get the best deal and the most cost-effective (but not necessarily the cheapest) solicitors fees for conveyancing UK properties? Do so by comparing the costs from a range of conveyancing professionals quickly and easily on a reputable conveyancing comparison website such as Conveyancing Index.
Conveyancing Index Can Save You Hundreds of Pounds On Your Solicitors Conveyancing Fee
At Conveyancing Index, we aim to save you time and money by giving you instant conveyancing quotes from the best UK property solicitors for you to compare.
Simply fill in our online form at https://www.conveyancingindex.co.uk, giving details of your property transaction and your contact information. Within 60 seconds, we will provide up to four quotes for your solicitors conveyancing fee from our panel of hand-picked, pre-approved conveyancing solicitors. Our conveyancing professionals meet our exacting quality standards and we have high review ratings on trusted external review sites.
Let us save you hundreds of pounds on your conveyancing costs next time you move house.