Legal Briefing

Casts her expert eye over a range of legal matters and urges anyone with any questions or problems to come forward for help.

In a weekly column, solicitor Juliet Phillips-James

QMy boyfriend and I have just had an offer accepted on our first house. It is a bit of a minefield in terms of the process and we are struggling to understand what is required from us. We are currently in the process of applying for a mortgage and our broker has discussed with us that we need to have a survey/valuation report undertaken on the property. I am however confused as I thought our solicitor would undertake this aspect of the purchase process. Could you advise us as to what the process of buying a property entails?

AWhen purchasing a property it is usual to have a survey and what are known as searches carried out. People do sometimes get confused as to the difference between the two. A survey is generally carried out by a property surveyor at the instruction of you or your mortgage provider. There are different types of surveys you can have varying from a basic valuation of the property to a more detailed structural report.

Your solicitor will not be involved in the instruction of the survey, however you may wish to share the survey report with your solicitor.

You will, however, need to instruct your solicitor to commission searches on your behalf. Searches are enquiries that your solicitor/conveyancer will make to various organisations about the property. In the South Wales area the searches that are generally undertaken are: local authority; drainage and water; environmental and mining.

Once your solicitor is in receipt of your searches they will raise enquiries.

Once satisfactory responses are received, your solicitor will report to you on the search results and title. Prior to completing the property, contracts are exchanged. At the point of exchange whilst you are not the legal owner you are generally bound to proceed with the purchase at this point and should insure the property. Once your solicitor has a date in mind for completion they will send you a statement informing you of the necessary funds they require from you. Once the seller’s solicitor has received your funds and contracts have been exchanged (this could be on the day or beforehand) they will release the keys with the estate agents and it is at the point that they receive the funds you become the legal owner of the property.