When buying or selling property, you want to be in expert, capable hands while going through the process. We have years of experience in this often complex and confusing area of law and combined with our expert knowledge of the local market, we aim to deliver a prompt, efficient and first-class conveyancing service.
Conveyancing is the legal process of buying or selling a property in Scotland, which transfers ownership from one party to another. From placing offers through to the completion of transactions, we will cut through the jargon and guide you through the necessary procedures. Our experience in dealing with Government funded schemes such as LIFT, Help to Buy and the First Home Fund, means we can help guide you towards the right solutions when buying a home.
Our Residential Property Services
Residential Conveyancing
For most people, buying a home will be the biggest financial investment of their lives. We can offer expertise, help and advice across all legal aspects of buying and selling property in association with Next Home.
Property Law
Expert legal guidance on property law matters, ensuring your real estate investments and disputes are handled with unmatched expertise. From property leases to residential boundaries, we’ve got you covered.
Transfer of Title
Title deeds are legal documents which show you own a piece of land or property. To officially record your ownership, title deeds need to be registered with the Land Register. We can offer advice on all aspects of this.
Remortgaging & Discharge
Remortgaging is when you change the mortgage on your property by switching to a different lender. Whether you’re looking for a better deal, need to borrow more money or your personal circumstances have changed.
Frequently Asked Questions
The average conveyancing process takes around eight weeks but this can vary depending on third party involvement such as being in a chain of sale for example.
Buying a property is one of the biggest financial transactions most people will undertake in their lives. There are steps we need to go through to ensure you have a full understanding of the property you’re buying and to spotlight any potential risks involved.
There are things you can do to help the process along. If you’re a buyer you can make sure your mortgage application is finalised and that you get all relevant paperwork to your solicitor as soon as possible when requested. As a seller, locating the Title Deeds for the property is important. If you don’t hold them yourself, you may need to contact the solicitor who assisted in buying the property.
This is one of the most difficult questions to answer. In short, we cannot confirm an exact time when you will receive the keys. This is because there is still some work that needs to be done on the date of entry before keys are released, namely, an exchange needs to take place.
In straightforward terms, the purchase price of the property is to be paid in return for the legal documents required to register your title and an updated search to ensure that there is nothing preventing a good title being given. Only when all matters have been finalised, will you be able to collect the keys. Normally, this will be around lunchtime, but can be later, on the completion date. We aim to get you into your new home as quickly as possible but the time by which all of the above is complete is out with our control.
After you have received your keys, your solicitor will begin the process of registering your title deed with the Land Register. Once registered, your solicitor will then provide you with your Title Sheet or Land Certificate (Title Deeds) proving your ownership of the property. When you receive your title deed depends on whether the property is already on the Land Register or not. Registers of Scotland can take anything from three weeks to a couple of years to provide your title deed.
When acting for the seller, we instruct searches on the property and exhibit the searching reports to the purchasing solicitor.
When acting for the purchaser, the selling solicitor will instruct these and exhibit the searching reports to us.
The searches disclose a variety of information about the property and the immediate surrounding area. For example, the searches may disclose that the property is in a flood risk area or whether permissions have been granted by the local authority for building or extension works etc.
Missives are a series of letters between the buying and selling solicitors which ultimately make up a contract. These letters are used to negotiate terms and conditions between the buyer and seller until both come to an agreement and missives are ‘concluded’ and a legally binding contract is then in place.
Both parties are often keen that this process happens quickly; the buyer to gain certainty that the property will be theirs and the seller for confirmation the offer they’ve accepted is definitely in place.
Once missives have been concluded, neither the buyer nor the seller can withdraw their offer and acceptance without the risk of further legal consequences. However you still have the right to raise a ‘missives claim’ if, for example after moving in, you discover certain faults in the property – usually to do with heating, plumbing or other mains systems – that were not disclosed by the seller. You have five working days to report this to the seller. Thereafter, the seller has an obligation to consider the claim and a potential responsibility to fix it – providing it is over £500 – to ensure it is in working order.
Your solicitor will be able to advise whether you have a justifiable defect claim and can raise this on your behalf. Please be aware that a missives claim is an additional piece of work to the purchasing/selling of the property. Usually your solicitor will assist in submitting the claim on your behalf but dealing with this thereafter will be charged additionally.
Yes, the conveyancing process is slightly different for new build properties. When reserving a new build property, the builder’s sales representative will ask you who your solicitor is. Generally, the builder’s solicitors will thereafter issue an offer to sell as opposed to the purchasing solicitor submitting an offer to purchase. This is the first missive letter and it will eventually form part of the concluded missives.
The builder will likely request that you pay a deposit within an agreed time period, following conclusion of missives.
If you are buying a property ‘off-plan’ or before it has been constructed, there are additional checks and assurances which need to be seen to by your solicitor. These include checking that the appropriate planning permissions and building warrants are in place and ensuring that a completion certificate and warranty are issued to ensure that the building conforms to building safety standards.