We often get clients who call us in an anxious state insisting that their lease or house purchase or sale must be done quickly. The ‘haste’ is often for legitimate reasons which could include any of the following:

·      The current lease is due to expire soon with no chance to ‘hold over’ pending a new lease

·      A higher fee will be charged if a target completion date is not met

·      They are very near a target completion date set by an auction house (in auction purchases) and a penalty will be charged if they miss the completion date

·      The client needs to start trading as soon as possible (usually to recoup a loss of income from a down period)

·      A mortgage offer is due to expire imminently unless the purchase is completed by a set date

·      A property is being transferred pursuant to a court order (e.g. on divorce) and the court has set a date by which the transaction must be completed

While a solicitor can move ‘quickly’ there are some issues which must be addressed and once they are resolve satisfactorily the transaction can then proceed. Those issues include:

·      Compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017- solicitors have extensive duties under this legislation to guard against money laundering and terrorist financing. They must verify the identity and address of their clients and source of funding of a buying client. Their own internal policies will require them to complete due diligence on the client. This process does not need to be long but is does need to be thorough. You can help ‘speed’ up the process by giving your solicitor all the information they require and when they ask for it. (Solicitors will also be alive to the possibility that a demand for haste in conveyancing is itself a red flag which will require them to look more closely at the transaction)

·      Searches- in most conveyancing transactions the buyer has the option to apply for a number of searches on the property- e.g. Local authority, Drainage and Water, Environmental. There are others which may be appropriate depending on the nature and location of the property e.g. an asbestos report for a commercial property or a coal mining report for a property in a mining area. It can take in our experience up to 21 days to get all these searches in. (We have developed close relationships with certain search providers and can sometimes get search results back even quicker). A client who needs to move quickly may wish to forego the searches given the timescales.  That is ultimately the client’s choice but they run the risk of course that they will not have any recourse if issues later arise with the property.

·      Promptness of the other side- we often get clients who wish to move quickly but the other party to the deal are on a different page. It is useful for both clients to instruct their respective solicitors as to timescales so everyone can move in tandem.

If you need a ‘quick’ turn around feel free to call us on 0208858 5996 or 07894219314 or email Winston.brown@brownandcosolicitors.co.uk