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Hiring a solicitor or conveyancer

You can hire a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to do the conveyancing for you and give you advice. Telling the solicitor or licensed conveyancer that you want them to work for you on the transaction is called ‘instructing’ them.

Before you decide to instruct a particular solicitor or licensed conveyancer, you should ask how they will charge you and what the total is likely to be. Different firms have different ways of charging for conveyancing, so it’s a good idea to compare several.

To find out more about what conveyancing involves see the links below.

• Conveyancing for buyers

• Conveyancing for sellers

When to hire someone to do the conveyancing

If you are buying a home, you should contact the solicitor or conveyancer you have chosen, once you have found a property to buy. If you are selling a home, it may be useful to identify a solicitor or licensed conveyancer as soon as you know you want to sell. However, you will not normally need to instruct them until you have found a buyer.

Using a licensed conveyancer

Licensed conveyancers are lawyers who specialise in property law, and are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) in England and Wales.

Licensed conveyancers must:

• have training and pass exams to gain their licences
  
• work to a code of conduct
  
• have insurance in order to cover costs if something goes wrong

To find a licensed conveyancer follow the link below.

• Search online for a licensed conveyancer Opens new window

Using a solicitor

If you choose a solicitor, use one who specialises in conveyancing. You can find a solicitor who specialises in conveyancing on the Law Society website.

• Find a solicitor specialising in conveyancing on the Law Society website Opens new window

Doing the conveyancing yourself

Legally, you don’t have to use a licensed conveyancer or solicitor, so you could do the work yourself. If you do choose to do the conveyancing yourself, it will save you paying fees to a professional, however:

• if you don’t have any experience in this area, there is more chance of missing important details, like where boundaries lie
• you will not receive any legal advice, for instance on other people’s rights over the property or the meaning of terms in a lease
  
• if something goes wrong you will be personally responsible, and may have to pay compensation to the other party and their legal costs
  
• you will have to pay for your lender to hire a conveyancer (lenders usually agree to use your conveyancer to save money)
• the other party may not want to buy or sell if they are not confident of your conveyancing experience
  
• you will not be able to give 'undertakings' (professional promises) that solicitors and licensed conveyancers use, which may cause you difficulties
  

Making a complaint

If you are not happy with the service you receive from your licensed conveyancer or solicitor, you should complain to them first. Give them a fair chance to sort out the problem before you take it any further.

All solicitors must be a member of the Law Society, and conveyancers must be a member of the Law Society (if they are also a solicitor) or of the CLC. If you feel that your solicitor has failed to deal with the problem, then contact the Law Society. If you have a complaint about a licensed conveyancer who is not also a solicitor, contact the CLC.

The Legal Complaints Service is part of the Law Society that handles complaints about solicitors. The CLC handles complaints about licensed conveyancers.

• Legal Complaints Service Opens new window

• Council for Licensed Conveyancers Opens new window