Conveyancing is the name given to the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from one person to another and should generally be carried out by a professional, either a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer.

You can find names of both practitioners in your local Yellow Pages, or from the Law Society for solicitors in England and Wales and the Law Society of Scotland for Scottish solicitors; for licensed conveyancers try the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.

Alternatively, Lawpack has arranged a special discount with property experts, enact, for their online conveyancing service entitling you to £50 off the cost of conveyancing.

Should you use a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer?
A solicitor can be a general legal practitioner, so it is often best to choose a solicitor who specialises in conveyancing if you opt for a solicitor to represent you. A solicitor is regulated by the Law Society and as such is subject to strict scrutiny if s/he does not not do his/her job properly. Alternatively, a licensed conveyancer is a specialist non-lawyer who concentrates solely on dealing with property.  It is usually best to appoint the person who will represent you on the basis of personal recommendation, bearing in mind cost, convenience and likely complexity.

Buying and selling in England and Wales

Once you have agreed the sale of your property, the following steps need to be followed:

• Both seller and buyer agree the price in writing, 'subject to contract'. If you are using an estate agent, the agent issues a Memorandum of Sale setting out the price agreed and the details of the parties' solicitors. Remember, at this stage the offer price is not binding on either buyer or seller, nor is either party bound to go ahead with the sale, so long as the magic words 'subject to contract' have been used; but it is helpful to have the offer and its acceptance in writing so that there is no room for misunderstandings.

• The seller's solicitor or conveyancer draws up the contract. It will save time if s/he has been instructed when you put the property on the market so that a draft contract is ready for when the sale is agreed.

• The buyer's solicitor conducts searches with the local council, the Environment Agency and any other organisations which might hold information which could affect the value of the property. A search is a formal request for information and the result is sent to the buyer's solicitor or conveyancer. It uncovers details of any planning applications, road plans, or mine workings which the buyer needs to know about before going ahead with the purchase.

• The buyer's solicitor requests documentation from the seller's solicitor. This will include office copy entries relating to the property which are obtained from the Land Registry that prove the seller owns the property and should highlight any restrictive covenants or rights of way over the property; any planning permissions, building regulation consents, or party wall agreements covering work that has been carried out at the property; electrical and gas test certificates; damp and woodwork guarantees and the list of fixtures and fittings. In the meantime, the buyer arranges for his/her mortgage lender to value the property, and if s/he is wise s/he arranges his/her own building survey as well.The buyer’s solicitor is usually acting for the mortgage lender and has to report to them before they will release the monies for the mortgage.
  
• The buyer's solicitor will also send to the seller's solicitor 'pre-contractual enquiries'. These are basically questions about the property and can involve questions about such matters as the ownership of boundaries, rights of way and, importantly, any disputes that you may have with your neighbours. These usually come in the form of a printed questionnaire which will be sent to you by your solicitor to fill in. Only you can answer these questions. It is very important to answer the questions honestly, as any misinformation given at this stage may expose you to claims later on. If you have any queries, your solicitor should be happy to advise you. At this stage of the process, keep in close contact with your solicitor or conveyancer to minimise delays.

• Once all these steps have been finished, the two parties are ready to exchange contracts. Each party's solicitor has a copy of the contract. These documents must be identical. The seller signs one copy and the buyer signs the other, identical, copy. These two documents are then literally exchanged by the solicitors acting for the buyer and seller and the buyer hands over a deposit - usually five or ten per cent of the purchase price. After the contracts have been exchanged, the contract becomes binding. Up to this point, everything is still up for grabs: both buyer and seller can pull out of the deal or the price can be renegotiated. Once contracts are exchanged, there is no going back, except in limited circumstances. If the buyer now pulls out, s/he loses his/her deposit and if the seller subsequently sells for less money, s/he can sue the first buyer for the difference. The date for completing the sale, which could be the same day or many months in advance, is set at this stage. Exchange of contracts is when everyone breathes an enormous sigh of relief and pats themselves on the back for coming through the whole process unscathed.

• However, the buyer may still withdraw if s/he discovers that something s/he was told pre-contract was misleading and that this was an inducing factor for him/her to enter the contract. It's very important therefore that you think carefully about all answers given to any question asked; if you do not know the answer, simply say so, or you could find yourself losing the sale even after exchange.

• Completion is the date on which the buyer pays for the property and the seller hands over the keys. This is the point at which the buyer pays Stamp Duty Land Tax. In general, the seller's solicitor will then discharge any mortgage over the property and deduct the balance of his/her bill from the proceeds of sale before paying the balance to the seller. S/he will then receive a notification of discharge of the mortgage which can be forwarded to the buyer's solicitors. The buyer will also pay the balance of his/her bill at this stage and will have to put the solicitor in sufficient funds to pay the price and pay his/her legal fees.

• The buyer's solicitor then arranges for the seller's mortgage to be removed from the title and for the sale to be registered with the Land Registry.

The process is then complete.

Law is as stated at 1st February 2006.