Conveyancing Glossary
- National Conveyancing Protocol (Law Society’s National Conveyancing Protocol)
- Used specifically in conveyancing transactions by conveyancing solicitors and conveyancing practitioners the National Conveyancing Protocol is a system of forms approved by the Law Society for use in conveyancing transactions. The forms are sent to the selling conveyancing client at the beginning of the conveyancing process by the conveyancing solicitors for completion and signature. They then form part of the contract documentation issued to the buyer’s conveyancing solicitors by the seller’s conveyancing solicitors and along with an Official Copy of the Register Entries of Title (copy of the register for the property held by the land registry) and a conveyancing contract to form a conveyancing contract package. The forms are designed to provide the buyer’s conveyancing solicitor with information required in order to proceed with the conveyancing process and are essentially designed in order to cut down the number of conveyancing enquiries that a buyer’s conveyancing solicitor may need to raise. Unfortunately not all conveyancing solicitors utilise the protocol and some conveyancing practitioners insist that the seller’s conveyancing solicitors obtain the selling conveyancing clients replies to their own (often long and onerous) conveyancing enquiry forms.
- National House Building Council (NHBC)
- The National House Building Council (NHBC) is an organisation to which many of the main house building companies belong. Its function is to monitor the standard of quality of new properties constructed and to provide and insurance certificate guaranteeing aspects of structural quality. Seen often in conveyancing transactions involving new build or recently constructed properties. Conveyancing solicitors acting on behalf of purchasing conveyancing clients buying a new build will ask the seller’s conveyancing solicitors to provide the NHBC Guarantee during the conveyancing process.
- Negative Equity
- Negative Equity is when a property’s value is lower than the total amount of all secured mortgage and loans. In conveyancing transactions with negative equity the conveyancing solicitors will require funds from the conveyancing client in order to complete the conveyancing transaction.
- New Build
- New Build is a term used in conveyancing by conveyancing solicitors to describe a property that has been newly constructed or is in the process of being constructed.
- NHBC Buildmark Guarantee
- NHBC Buildmark Guarantee is a structural defects insurance guarantee issued by NHBC. It normally lasts for 10 years from completion of the build of the property and cover is on a sliding scale depending on when a claim is made. NHBC guarantees are fully assignable to a new purchaser of a property which has NHBC Buildmark Cover. It is essential that conveyancing solicitors acting for purchasing conveyancing clients buying a new or recently built property obtain confirmation of NHBC Cover usually by obtaining a copy of the existing NHBC Certificate from the seller’s conveyancing solicitors or a copy of the cover note if the property is brand new.
- Non-Owning Occupier
- Non-Owning Occupier is a phrase used commonly by conveyancing solicitors dealing with conveyancing transactions and refers to a person who resides at a property without being a legal owner of the property. In conveyancing transactions where a Non-Owning Occupier will be residing at a property following completion of the conveyancing process and a mortgage is being used to help fund the purchase as part of the conveyancing process a non-owning occupier will be asked to sign a Deed Occupiers Consent Form suspending their rights as occupier of the property in favour of the mortgage company should the owner fail to make their mortgage payments and the property be repossessed by the mortgage lender. Non-owning Occupiers can often be the partners or adult children of a purchasing or remortgage conveyancing client. Conveyancing solicitors when acting for a purchasing or remortgage conveyancing client must check with the purchasing or remortgage conveyancing client as to whether there will be a Non-Owning Occupier residing at the property following completion of the conveyancing transaction. The conveyancing solicitors acting for the purchasing or remortgage conveyancing client may be required by the mortgage company to ensure an Occupiers Consent Form is signed by the non-owning occupier prior to completion of the purchase. In such cases a Non-Owning Occupier will be advised by the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors to obtain independent legal advice before signing the Occupiers Consent Form to avoid any conflict of interest.
- Notice of Charge
- A Notice of Charge will be required to be served on a landlord (or their agents or solicitors) by the conveyancing solicitors acting on behalf of a remortgage or purchase conveyancing client on completion of the purchase of a leasehold property when the purchase has been funded with the aid of mortgage finance as part of the post completion conveyancing process. As with a Notice of Transfer above the landlord will often charge a fee for receipt and return of the Notice of Charge which will be payable by the purchasing conveyancing client and noted on the conveyancing completion statement as a conveyancing disbursement.
- Notice of Transfer
- Notice of Transfer is a term connected to leasehold property conveyancing transactions. Following completion of a purchase conveyancing transaction of a leasehold property the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors will be required to serve a Notice of Transfer on the landlord (or their agents or solicitors) detailing the change of ownership as part of their conveyancing duties. Often landlords or their agents or solicitors will charge a fee for the receipt and return of the Notice of Transfer for which the purchasing conveyancing client will be responsible. The fee will be noted on the conveyancing completion statement as a conveyancing cost known as a disbursement.
- Notice To Complete
- A term used in conveyancing a Notice to Complete describes a document served on a seller’s or buyer’s conveyancing solicitor by the other party’s conveyancing solicitors following failure to complete the conveyancing transaction on the completion date set out in the conveyancing contract and formally exchanged by the buyer’s and seller’s conveyancing solicitors. A Notice to Complete may be served on the defaulting party requiring completion to be affected within certain time scales depending on the terms of the conveyancing contract or the serving party may rescind (end) the contract and not complete the conveyancing transaction. A Notice to Complete is also used when in conveyancing transaction involving a new build property. Often such properties are sold off plan and not fully built when conveyancing contracts are formally exchanged by the conveyancing solicitors. In such instances the developer’s conveyancing solicitors may not be able to offer a fixed completion date and completion will be by way of a service of a Notice to Complete giving the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors a number of days (most often 10 working days) in which to arrange completion of the purchase. This will involve the conveyancing solicitors collecting in the purchase monies from the purchasing conveyancing client and mortgage lender in order to complete the conveyancing transaction by sending the full purchase monies to the sellers conveyancing solicitors.
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