Conveyancing Glossary
- Party Boundary
- Party Boundary is a term used often in conveyancing transactions by conveyancing solicitors. A Party Boundary is a boundary owned jointly by both adjoining properties. In such cases the boundary should be maintained by both parties. Purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors will raise conveyancing title enquiries with the selling conveyancing solicitors to confirm the ownership of boundaries for a purchasing conveyancing client as part of the conveyancing title investigations.
- Party Wall
- Party Wall is a term heard often in conveyancing transactions and used by conveyancing solicitors to describe wall owned jointly by both adjoining properties. The repair and maintenance of such a wall will be the joint responsibility of both adjoining property owners.
- Peppercorn Rent
- Peppercorn Rent is a term used often is leasehold conveyancing transactions by conveyancing solicitors and is a token rent usually described in Leases. Receipts for Peppercorn Rent will not usually be produced by the seller’s conveyancing solicitors to the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors. See also Ground Rent.
- Perpetuity
- Perpetuity is a term used in conveyancing transactions by conveyancing solicitors meaning forever. Some properties are referred to as held in perpetuity. Some title deeds grant or except rights over property for a period of time known as a perpetuity period in which case the period of perpetuity will be specified and not last forever.
- Personal Representative
- A Personal Representative is a term usually used in conveyancing transactions by conveyancing solicitors to refer to the seller of a property when the legal owners have died. A Personal Representative may be an executor of the deceased estate as appointed under the terms of the Will of the deceased property owner or where a property owner has died intestate (without making a valid Will) an Administrator approved by the Probate Registry. The selling conveyancing clients will be the Personal Representatives and the seller’s conveyancing solicitors will act on their behalf in the conveyancing process. Conveyancing solicitors acting on behalf of a purchasing conveyancing client will require the seller’s conveyancing solicitors to provide evidence of the seller’s rights to sell the property usually in the form of an official copy of the Grant issued by the Probate Registry.
- Planning Department
- This is department of the local authority that deals with planning applications. They are subject to consideration of The Town and Country Planning Act when making decisions regarding planning applications. Conveyancing solicitors may require contact with the planning department in the course of a carrying out a conveyancing transaction.
- Planning Permission
- Planning permission is permission from the planning department to build a property or building or to extend or alter the use of an existing building. Planning permission can be granted in outline form (agreeing in principle to the planning application but the full details to be given to the local authority at a later date) or full planning permission can be granted. A purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors must check that planning permission has been obtained for the original construction of the property and planning permission has been granted (or was not required) for any subsequent alteration of the property. Copies of relevant planning permissions will be requested by the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors from the seller’s conveyancing solicitors usually on receipt of the Seller’s Property Information Form or local search result detailing planning entries held by the local authority in the conveyancing transaction as part of the conveyancing title investigations. Planning permissions can have specific conditions attached to them which a purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors may check with the seller’s conveyancing solicitors or the planning department.
- Planning Permission Indemnity Policy
- Planning Permission Indemnity Policy is an insurance policy occasional used by conveyancing solicitors in conveyancing transactions. In cases where an alteration has been carried out without appropriate planning permission and the alteration has been carried out several years ago it may be possible to purchase an indemnity policy to protect the purchasing conveyancing client and mortgage lender against any loss in value to the property due to the lack of planning permission. The purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors will normally request that the seller by responsible for the cost of such a policy by way of the seller’s conveyancing solicitors in conveyancing transactions requiring such indemnity in order that the conveyancing transaction may proceed. Conveyancing solicitors will advise conveyancing clients purchasing a property without appropriate planning permission of the possible consequences as part of their duties in the conveyancing transaction.
- Possessory Title
- Possessory Title is a term used in conveyancing by conveyancing Solicitors. Possessory Title is an award of title given to a property or piece of land most often when the ownership of the land has been proved by adverse possession or in cases when the (unregistered) title deeds to the property have been lost or destroyed. Possessory Title can be awarded to either freehold or leasehold property or land. Conveyancing solicitors acting on behalf of a purchasing conveyancing client will normal require an indemnity policy for their conveyancing client’s protection in conveyancing matters involving Possessory Title.
- Possessory Title Indemnity Policy
- Often Possessory Title will not be accepted as a good enough class of title for mortgage lender’s security and in such cases it maybe required for the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitor to ensure an insurance policy is purchased to protect the purchasing conveyancing clients and mortgage lender against any challenges to the title. Conveyancing solicitors acting on behalf of a purchasing conveyancing client will normally ask the conveyancing solicitors acting on behalf of the selling conveyancing client to pay for such a policy as part of the conveyancing title enquiries undertaken during the conveyancing process.
- Post Completion
- Post completion is the term used to describe the legal work required to be attended to by conveyancing solicitors on a conveyancing transaction on behalf of a conveyancing client following completion of the sale or purchase of a property. Post completion work when dealing with a sale may include obtaining formal confirmation of discharge of the seller’s mortgage and passing this on to the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors in fulfilment of an undertaking. In a purchase conveyancing transaction post completion conveyancing work consists of submission of the Stamp Duty Land Tax Return and payment of any tax due plus the registration of the property into the purchasing conveyancing clients names and registration of any mortgage or loan used in order to fund the purchase during the pre-completion conveyancing work. In some cases certificates may be required to obtain registration confirming compliance with any restrictions that may be placed in the Proprietorship Register of title. A purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors will deal with such matters following completion of the purchase. Some large firms of conveyancing solicitors have a post completion department dedicated to deal with post completion work in conveyancing transactions.
- Power of Attorney
- A term used in some conveyancing transactions. In some instances it may be necessary for an individual to appoint an attorney to deal with their affairs on their behalf. In such cases a person may wish to have a legal document known as a Power of Attorney drawn up by a solicitor in order to confer powers on another individual. Powers of Attorney can be given with wide powers (allowing another individual to deal with many aspects of a persons affairs) or limited to a particular transaction.
- Practice Certificate
- A formal certificate issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to a solicitor allowing a solicitor to practise in England and Wales. A conveyancing solicitor must have a practising certificate in order to practise conveyancing.
- Pre-Completion Searches
- Pre- Completion Searches is a term used in conveyancing by conveyancing solicitors and conveyancing practitioners. All purchase or remortgage conveyancing transactions will require pre-completion searches carried out just before completion of a conveyancing purchase or remortgage conveyancing transaction by the conveyancing solicitors acting. Pre-completion conveyancing searches include in all cases an OS1 or OS2 search which acts to freeze the register in favour of the party named in the search and in cases where mortgage finance is used in order to aid the purchase as part of the conveyancing transaction a bankruptcy search carried out against the mortgagees (borrowers). These searches are carried out by conveyancing solicitors acting on behalf of a purchasing or remortgage conveyancing client with the Land Registry. The results will be held on the conveyancing file by the conveyancing solicitors and sometimes provided to the mortgage lender on conclusion of the conveyancing process.
- Pre-Contract Enquiries
- Pre-Contract Enquiries is another term used in conveyancing practise by conveyancing solicitors to describe conveyancing enquiries before contract or the investigation of title by a purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors as part of the conveyancing process prior to advising contracts are ready to be exchanged and the conveyancing transaction being made legally binding.
- Probate
- Probate is a term used to describe the process in administering a deceased person’s estate.
- Probate (Grant of)
- A Grant of Probate is an official document proving the executor/administrator of a deceased person’s estate has the legal authority to deal with the estate. This is most often seen in conveyancing transactions by conveyancing solicitors when selling a property on behalf of Personal Representatives. Conveyancing solicitors acting for a purchasing conveyancing client will be require an official copy of the Grant in order to prove the seller’s right to sell the property to be furnished by the conveyancing solicitors acting on behalf of the selling conveyancing client as part of the conveyancing process.
- Probate Registry
- The Probate Registry is the government department who deal with official matters relating to proving the Will of a deceased person (if in existence) and issuing the official Grant of Probate (in the case of an existing Will) or Grant of Letters of Administration (in cases where the deceased has died intestate without leaving a Will).
- Property Lawyer/Paralegal
- A Property Lawyer or Paralegal is a person specialising in property and conveyancing transactions. A property lawyer may be a qualified solicitor licensed conveyancer or an experienced conveyancing fee earner without formal paper qualifications. An unqualified property lawyer or conveyancing fee earner is also known as a paralegal. All unqualified property lawyers or paralegals who work for firms of Solicitors must be supervised by a qualified solicitor who will retain ultimate responsibility for the unqualified staff in their charge and the work they undertake in conveyancing transactions.
- Proprietor
- The Proprietor is the current registered owner of land or property as shown in the Official Copy Register Entries. The proprietor will usually be the selling conveyancing party as shown in the conveyancing contract and will instruct conveyancing solicitors to act in the conveyancing transaction of a sale.
- Proprietorship Register
- The Proprietorship Register is Part B of the Official Copy Register Entries of Title. See Official Copy Register Entries of Title.
- Protocol
- See Law Society National Conveyancing Protocol.
- Purchase Deed
- The Purchase Deed in conveyancing terms is the formal deed that will pass ownership from the selling conveyancing party to the purchasing conveyancing party following completion of the purchase. The purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors will draft the Purchase Deed and forward this to the seller’s conveyancing solicitors for their approval. Once approved the Purchase Deed will be forwarded by the seller’s conveyancing solicitors to the selling conveyancing client for execution. The executed Purchase Deed will be handed over to the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors by the seller’s conveyancing solicitors following completion of the purchase. The Purchase Deed will be supplied to the land registry along with the fee payable in order to obtain registration of the new purchaser’s title as part of the post completion conveyancing work undertaken by the purchaser’s conveyancing solicitors.
- Purchaser
- Purchaser is another name used in conveyancing for a proposed buyer of a property.
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