Land purchase, buyer and seller using the same solicitor

[Ihavenojob]

I wonder if anyone on here has experience of purchasing land ? If buyer and seller are agreed on purchase price for a plot of land (can't be built on) is it OK to use the same solicitor to save time?

 

[Mottie]

When I was talking to estate agents for the sale of my mums house, one of them recommended a solicitor that would work for the buyer and the seller. When I asked if that was legal, they said they used different solicitors in the same company. Didn’t go with them as that sounded dodgy to me.

 

[big-all]

When I was talking to estate agents for the sale of my mums house, one of them recommended a solicitor that would work for the buyer and the seller. When I asked if that was legal, they said they used different solicitors in the same company. Didn’t go with them as that sounded dodgy to me.

would have thought not allowed as they are required to "act in the best interest off there client" within the same practice would mean possible conflict off interest both between the 2 clients and via possible unconscious bias looking after the company coffers and profits over the clients interests

 

[morqthana]

they said they used different solicitors in the same company.

Bet they still communicated by writing each other letters...

 

[robinbanks]

I've known of it before (with my former solicitor) where the buyer and seller were existing clients of the same solicitor, but he was pretty clear that it had to be a genuine former relationship (eg at two random times on the past they'd both needed a conveyance) and not just that it had been orchestrated by eg them both asking him for a will a fortnight before

I wonder if anyone on here has experience of purchasing land ? If buyer and seller are agreed on purchase price for a plot of land (can't be built on) is it OK to use the same solicitor to save time?

If buyer and seller are agreed and it's all simple, no outstanding arguments or anything to resolve, nothing to covenant etc you may wish to do conveyancing yourself. There is no legal mandate to use a solicitor. Just exchange the money and send the land registry a TR1 (or TP1 if it's only part of a bigger title) to tell them to update the register to reflect the change in ownership. If it's more than a threshold (£6k maybe?) you'll have to verify your identity with LR too. If the land isn't registered there will be another process to complete first to register it. Solicitors are typically used because they're a form of escrow, and one that is supposed to check that nothing is detrimental to whomever they act for, but conveyancing is a bit of a racket - have a read of "The Great Conveyancing Fraud" by Michael Joseph

 

[motorbiking]

One solicitor cannot act for both parties. It’s not an absolute rule, but the risk of a conflict of interest is high.

 

[martygturner]

One solicitor cannot act for both parties. It’s not an absolute rule, but the risk of a conflict of interest is high.

In a land sale that's pretty common, the risk of conflict is directly related to the quality of land being traded. Land with outline planning or full plans would be yours and mine, rough pasture would be joint...Auction land of speculative or say ransom stripes would be joint, productive agricultural would be joint as a land agent would act for both sides in the process where the yields, drainage and soil structure is more important than the physical space. Woodland would more than likely be joint unless it falls under the war act - still going strong since the Napoleonic wars - Oak woodlands.

 

[motorbiking]

You won’t find one willing to act for both even in the simplest of task - executing a court order to transfer property following divorce where both parties previously owned the property.

 

[Brigadier]

 

[blup]

They do allow (different lawyers) for both parties in certain circumstances, and it might be a cheaper quote and a quicker process. What's important is any covenants on the sale as that will affect what you can do with the land and its value. In my experience they don't do the thinking for you, so be clear about what you want to do, and what the seller wants to impose.

 

[motorbiking]

Same practice - yes, same lawyer - unlikely.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I bought a bit of land for a very low price. The fees for my solicitor would have been about 30% of the price. I'd agreed to pay the seller's solicitors as part of the deal. I asked if they'd also act for me, they said definitely not - no leeway or compromise.

What I did was I acted for myself, and they kind of prepared things for me. All while emphasising that they were not acting on my behalf, couldn't advise etc. I filled in the land reg forms myself, all worked out fine. Although the land reg forms are written in that special legalese waffle, the sort of rubbish that's intended to keep the plebs away and force you to hand money over to the solicitors mob.

So I halved the legal bill and hopefully all was done right. It's on the land reg under our names now anyway.

 

[motorbiking]

I bought a bit of land for a very low price. The fees for my solicitor would have been about 30% of the price. I'd agreed to pay the seller's solicitors as part of the deal. I asked if they'd also act for me, they said definitely not - no leeway or compromise.

What I did was I acted for myself, and they kind of prepared things for me. All while emphasising that they were not acting on my behalf, couldn't advise etc. I filled in the land reg forms myself, all worked out fine. Although the land reg forms are written in that special legalese waffle, the sort of rubbish that's intended to keep the plebs away and force you to hand money over to the solicitors mob.

So I halved the legal bill and hopefully all was done right. It's on the land reg under our names now anyway.

Its simple enough.

 

[blup]

I bought a bit of land for a very low price. The fees for my solicitor would have been about 30% of the price. I'd agreed to pay the seller's solicitors as part of the deal. I asked if they'd also act for me, they said definitely not - no leeway or compromise.

What I did was I acted for myself, and they kind of prepared things for me. All while emphasising that they were not acting on my behalf, couldn't advise etc. I filled in the land reg forms myself, all worked out fine. Although the land reg forms are written in that special legalese waffle, the sort of rubbish that's intended to keep the plebs away and force you to hand money over to the solicitors mob.

So I halved the legal bill and hopefully all was done right. It's on the land reg under our names now anyway.

Doing things for you is kind of acting for you. How did you get on with registering the sale with the land registry, in my experience they only deal with people who have their expensive software as it all electronic now,

 

[motorbiking]

Doing things for you is kind of acting for you.

Sorry but that is wrong.

How did you get on with registering the sale with the land registry, in my experience they only deal with people who have their expensive software as it all electronic now,

It can take a long time - up to 12 months for them to process the changes.