Checklist for Homeowners Looking to Sell

In the current housing market, inflation is down, and it is expected that the Bank of England will be cutting the base rate. This is a positive step forward for high street lenders to also drop their mortgage rates. This will boost house sales as cuts are predicted to boost up to 0.45%.

HMRC states that there have been more than 84,000 sales completed in March and mortgage approvals are also up by 20% on the same month last year. Zoopla is predicting the housing market is on track for 1.1 million sales this year, which is a 10% increase from the previous year.

Home movers are being urged to be organised to avoid any unwanted setbacks in their sale or purchase, as the average conveyancing process currently takes around 12 weeks, often more for leasehold properties.

Issues Impacting the Conveyancing Process

Examples of current delays which affect conveyancing transactions are issues with lost paperwork or failing to arrange financial matters prior to starting the process. It can be increasingly difficult when there is a long chain of buyers and sellers, which can cause further delays for all parties.

For those sellers who have lived at their properties for many years, due to changes in the buying and selling process and changes to legislation, difficulties can occur with how title deeds are held or in finding necessary documentation which is required throughout the sale process.

As we are now in the digital era, for properties bought before 1991 and where there have not been subsequent changes to the mortgage or owners, transactions may not have been recorded on the digital Land Registry register. There is a requirement for any land or property that is bought, transferred, or mortgaged for it to be registered at the Land Registry and since 1991 all titles are stored electronically. A digital record allows title information to be easily accessed and it shows who owns the property, as well as showing any charges secured against the property. Rights and covenants that apply to the land are also shown. In the past, bank and building societies used to hold the deeds and documentation until a mortgage was repaid but now having digital records has meant the title can be readily seen without having to request and wait for original documents.

Sellers are advised to be prepared when it comes to placing their house on the market and throughout the conveyancing transaction. Where a property isn’t digitally registered, owners should retrieve all documentation prior to marketing to avoid any delays. At times, owners may hold a bundle of deeds which can provide information not listed on the digital records and it’s important to have these to hand.

Throughout the conveyancing process other paperwork will be necessary where modifications have taken place, such as required planning permission or building regulations consent. The paperwork will show that all the procedures have been complied with. For a leasehold property, approval from the freeholder may be needed where works have taken place.

For sellers who wish to get ahead, it is a good idea for their Conveyancing Solicitor to examine the title, line up all the paperwork, predict any problems (as best they can) and deal with them in advance. This can be beneficial as it reduces any unwanted delays and would allow the Solicitor to act immediately.