Specialist residential and commercial property solicitor Julie West
Homebuyers everywhere will be bitterly disappointed to learn the government is advising people to delay moving to a new house where possible during the stay-at-home period. A reliable feature of the home buying process in England and Wales is that once contracts are exchanged the property is secured, and the date you move in is definite.
Transactions that may complete during lockdown
So, is conveyancing at a standstill? No! In advice published to solicitors, estate agents, mortgage lenders, valuers, domestic energy assessors and removals firms the government identifies the following specific types of transactions that may continue:
Where the property is unoccupied (such as a probate sale)
Where contracts have already been exchanged (if the parties don’t agree to postpone completion until the stay at home restrictions are lifted)
Where the parties are ready to exchange contracts, and the contract explicitly deals with the additional risks prevailing due to the COVID-19 epidemic (eg a party contracting COVID-19, a mortgage offer being withdrawn due to loss of employment, no removals or storage facilities available for house contents)
Yesterday Julie West Solicitors completed four property transactions for our clients: a conventional sale, the purchase of an unoccupied property, a Home Equity Release (this involves a lender taking a mortgage on a house in return for releasing capital to the owner, typically elderly retired) and the sale of a sizeable acreage of amenity land.
During lockdown our specialist property solicitors are continuing to work remotely on residential transactions, probate sales, lease extensions, and on commercial transactions involving the grant or renewal of shop and office leases. We continue to advise home buyers on declarations of trust and transfers of equity.
Thinking of selling?
For clients thinking of putting their property on the market this is an ideal opportunity to instruct Julie West Solicitors to start work compiling the contract documents. This typically takes 3 – 4 weeks (freehold) and up to 8 weeks (leasehold). Valuable time can be saved later on if this preliminary work is done at an early stage. Your property can then be advertised as “contract ready”.
We are finding that most of our colleagues at other firms (e.g. solicitors, agents, brokers and search providers) are agile enough to find ways to look after their clients and still work within the Government advice on home moving during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Even in these difficult times for the property market, it seems with perseverance and the right team by your side, we can keep people moving forward.
The full advice from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government dated 26 March 2020 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.