There are various reasons why the names listed on a property title might need to change and it’s important to engage with the process diligently if it falls to you to undertake that task.

After all, the names listed on a property title are legally enshrined, and they define or describe an ownership structure—which is no trifling matter. Indeed, any ‘transfer of equity’ process should only really be taken on once you’ve gathered all the relevant information you might need and after you’ve sought sound advice from suitable experts.

Why might the names on your property title need to change?

There are more routine reasons why the names on a property title might need to change than is generally assumed. The title alteration process is also more commonplace than many people realise.

What does the updating of property titles entail?

The process of adjusting the titles associated with the ownership of specific properties in England and Wales is referred to as a ‘transfer of equity’.

In essence, a transfer of equity involves the updating of the official ownership records as held by the Land Registry, which is the government body responsible for keeping precisely those records in place and up-to-date at all times.

On the face it, the process of updating the legally relevant details of a property’s ownership might seem simple, and indeed, it often of is. However, there are also some potentially significant legal, financial, and tax-related implications that it could be crucial to consider and to be aware of.

What happens and why?

1 – On the lending side

If there is a mortgage in place in relation to a specific property—as is very often case of course—then the lender involved must approve the changes to a property’s ownership structure as is being requested before it can happen.

This stipulation will typically be the most challenging hurdle to overcome and to move beyond. If a lender is not content to approve your property title changes for any reason, then the options available include paying off the amounts of money still owed to the lender, or refinancing with an alternative lender.

2 – Preparing the documents

As ever in the context of conveyancing and legal processes more generally, there will always be at least some paperwork to take seriously if you’re aiming to add or remove someone from a property’s title.

Specifically, in such instances, those forms might need to include:

• TR1 (transfer forms),
• ID1 (identity check forms),
• A ‘deed of trust’ (potentially but not necessarily)

It is always sensible to enlist the services of a trustworthy and suitably reputable solicitor or conveyancer to collect and file the relevant documentation on your behalf in these scenarios.

3 – Tax and other legal implications

Even if there is no money being moved around in conjunction with a property title change, there could be Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) implications to consider.

Future ownership rights and responsibilities, as legally determined, should also be considered carefully in these contexts. They might seem like minor considerations at first glance but they can become significant further down the line.

Seeking sound advice

Engaging the services a legal advisor to guide you through the potential difficulties, intricacies and ramifications of a property title change is always a sound policy.

Such legally relevant undertakings really ought to be overseen by specialists in the relevant field, partly to ensure that the impacts of any complications can be minimised but also to provide peace of mind to all parties involved. Informal agreements might seem sufficient in some situations but they really aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, in many cases.

Changes such as those we’ve discussed here really deserve and demand the attention of suitably well-informed experts. Indeed, without their input, the risk of future recriminations and the potential for costly confusion can be quickly amplified, even in the most seemingly straightforward of equity transfer cases.

Home Legal Direct If you are looking for advice or guidance of any kind in relation to ‘transfers of equity’ then Home Legal Direct will always be happy to help. Our in-house experts are exceptionally well-placed to offer all the support or specialist insight you might need on any associated subjects.

Concluding a property sale can be stressful enough, even if the process runs smoothly. So having a deal collapse shortly before it was due to conclude can be anywhere between deeply frustrating and downright heartbreaking, depending on what the eventual ramifications are for you as the seller in the scenario.

Dealing with disaster

Such a situation can be so difficult to cope with from a seller’s point of view, partly because it has the potential to collapse or significantly delay an acquisition deal you’ve agreed in relation to a different property that you’ve had your heart set on moving in to.

There are circumstances wherein such a delay or diversion might not be particularly impactful. On the other hand, those delays can also be hugely disappointing and feel disastrous to the affected parties, especially if a house move is central to plans you’ve made around your children’s schooling, for example, or in relation to a new job with a fast-approaching start date.

It is also the case that a buyer pulling out of a particular purchase can lead to a lengthy chain of transactions being broken in a way that then impacts a whole sequence of other buyers and sellers.

Financial implications 

There can also be significant financial implications for the selling party in a property deal that falls through at the last minute, or—in literal terms—within a matter of days or a few weeks before contracts of ownership were due to be exchanged.

Unfortunately, while it can be enormously frustrating if it happens to you, it is neither uncommon nor illegal for a prospective buyer to pull out of a property deal any time in advance of the contract exchange point in the transaction process.

Precisely how much you might stand to lose out on financially if your buyer pulls out depends on the details of your circumstances. However, you will typically need to pay again for conveyancing services and to cover the costs of other associated processes undertaken on your behalf to advance the transaction that you’d assumed would reach completion.

Considering your options

It could be that the individual or the couple who were intending to buy your property have found themselves struggling to have their mortgage arrangements approved on the basis of the price they’d offered to pay.

If that is the case, then it might be worth renegotiating a deal based on a lower price. You may not wish to drop your asking price, of course, but if you are willing and able to do so then you might then be able to salvage or revive the deal that you’d thought was dead and buried.

On the other hand, you might decide instead that the best route forward is to move on from your collapsed deal entirely, to re-list your property for sale and to restart negotiations with new potential buyers in due course.

Getting the right guidance Regardless of what options you take and how you decide to proceed, if you’re faced with a situation in which your buyer is no longer intending to honour the deal you’d agreed in principle, then it is always wise to seek out reliable advice from relevant experts.

In practice, the relevant parties are likely to be your estate agent, and your conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor. As service providers operating routinely in these environments, they will be well-used to seeing deals fall through and best-placed to address whatever concerns or queries you might have.

Ultimately, it will be up to you as a homeowner do decide what action represents the best way forward for you and your family. Nevertheless, experienced estate agents and conveyancers should always be able to offer you sound advice and clear guidance on what your most viable options are and what the potential implications of each choice you make might be.

Those same experts can also help you in coordinating your next steps in terms of reissuing paperwork, revisiting offers, and potentially rearranging your house moving plans.

Attracting the right buyers next time

Very often, when a property deal falls through at the last minute, there is no blame to be laid at the door of the sellers. It will generally, and rightly, from a seller’s perspective, be considered simply a case of bad luck. However, if you do find yourself in the position of needing to put your property back on the market, after the collapse of a sale, then it will perhaps be worth considering what you might do differently next time around.

Points to consider could include:

• Did we price the property at the right level? (to the best of your knowledge and understanding at least, given the variable factors involved)
• Did we market the property in the right way and in the most appropriate places? Or should we be considering the option of using other avenues to market the property next time?
• Should we have vetted our potential buyers more thoroughly? And can we find ways to do that next time?

It won’t always be possible to determine whether or not someone making a bid to acquire your property is a ‘serious buyer’. In fact, they might appear to be precisely that until such time as they pull out of your agreement and leave you dealing with the unwelcome consequences.

However, it makes sense—even if it’s only for your own peace of mind—to consider carefully before you accept any offer to buy your property if you’ve done all that you possibly can to give that deal the best chance of moving ahead and concluding unhindered.

Getting back on track

There is no escaping the fact having a property deal fall through at the last minute is likely to be a major source of stress and frustration.

However, it doesn’t need to be a total disaster and there’s every reason to believe that—once you’ve been able to absorb the initial disappointment—you can get your property move back on track and start looking to the future again with renewed positivity.

In that context though it’s crucial to find service providers (conveyancers and estate agents particularly) that you can trust and whose guidance supports your interests every step of the way. That sentiment is always true but perhaps even more so if you do suffer the disappointment of seeing a sale fall through close to what you thought would be its conclusion.

Home Legal Direct

If you need impartial advice on any issues associated with conveyancing or with property transactions more broadly then Home Legel Direct’s in-house team of experts will always be happy to hear from you and to help in any way they can.

The process of moving house—and buying or selling a property—will tend to be at least somewhat expensive for the parties involved.

Most people aim to keep their costs down as much as reasonably possible but they will nonetheless need to budget for a sequence of outlays, such as to cover estate agent fees and housing deposits.

Beyond all that, there are other issues too that can arise to cost you money as a house seller or buyer. In this article we’ll be looking at what those ‘hidden’ costs can be and how you might be able to avoid them, or at least lessen their impact on your financial position.

Itemised quotes

Whether you’re buying or selling a house, you’ll be expecting to make a series of financial outlays to enable that process to progress and conclude in all the ways that are necessary.

You’ll most likely be aware, for example, of the need to hire a suitably qualified conveyancer or solicitor to investigate and document all the relevant details involved in your property ownership transfer.

In the UK, the fees associated with hiring a conveyancer are not typically high but it can still be a good idea to ask for an itemised quote upfront. By doing so, you’ll go a long way towards ensuring that you aren’t surprised by the amounts you are eventually charged for conveyancing services.

What hidden costs might emerge?

In the context of work being carried out by them on your behalf, a conveyancer might find they need to conduct extra searches beyond the scope of what they’d initially accounted for in their quote.

That situation will usually result in those extra charges being passed along to you in the form of what are referred to as ‘disbursements’.

Asking for an itemised conveyancing quote upfront might help you avoid such a situation or, if not, then it will at least provide a greater degree of transparency.

Go big on budgeting

Budgetary flexibility is not always easy to come by for anyone, particularly in the context of a property purchase, or indeed a property sale.

However, it can be hugely important for all manner of reasons to try to build some wriggle room into your budget as you embark on a property transaction.

There is always a good chance that you’ll encounter issues that cost you more money than you’d initially anticipated. That might not prove to be the case, in the end, but it generally makes good sense to budget for such eventualities, if you can.

What other costs might arise?

Other aspects of the property transaction process that might cost you money, beyond those we’ve already mentioned, might include:

Emphasis on good communication and trust

Being hit with costs you didn’t expect is always likely to be at least a little frustrating, particularly if you haven’t budgeted for those unexpected extras. But having a good relationship with your conveyancing service provider can soften that potential blow.

Given which, if you’re able to find a conveyancer that you get a good sense from and who you find yourself being able to trust, then these situations can be easier and less stressful to navigate.

From the perspective of a conveyancer, the emphasis must be on open communication and being as clear and transparent as possible in letting clients know what issues have arisen, why they’re unavoidable and what the financial consequences are likely to be. Those details might not be what clients were hoping to hear at certain moments but it is sometimes the job of a good conveyancer to deliver what amounts to bad news in a straightforward, open and honest kind of way.

Timing of the essence

In the end, generally, any bad news on extra costs will soon be left behind and forgotten as a price well worth paying, once your property purchase or sale has concluded.

For conveyancers, transparency on pricing is important but so too is the timing. Issues arising to add extra costs to your transaction will always be unwelcome but they might just be downright maddening if they cost you valuable time along the way as well.

In the context of a property move, scheduling and timing is often critical, of course, with long property chains becoming interconnected, and with buyers and sellers alike finding themselves deeply determined to keep their transactions’ completion dates fixed on the calendar.

All of which further makes the case for building in some degree of financial flexibility to your property transaction plans, to ensure that unforeseen issues and extra costs are only ever bothersome rather than disastrous.

Home Legal Direct

If you’re looking to find a conveyancer or a solicitor to support your next—or perhaps your first—property transaction then the Home Legal Direct website is the perfect place to start.

You can get personalised quotes from dozens of highly qualified conveyancing service providers within seconds via our super easy-to-use search function.

And if you would like any advice on what to look out for from a conveyancer then you can contact Home Legal Direct experts any time.

As anyone who’s bought or sold a property in the UK can attest, conveyancing is an essential and essentially unavoidable part of that process.

Solicitors or conveyancing specialists provide the associated services to their clients fundamentally to ensure that the ownership of a specific property is transferred from one party to another in ways that are legally sound and contractually watertight.

Without that guidance and support, homebuyers or sellers run the risk of making errors with their paperwork that ultimately costs them a great deal of time and money to resolve.

How long should it take?

The conveyancing process will generally take between 12 and 16 weeks in the UK, and while that may seem like a long time, what you get in return is a reassuringly solid legal basis for your acquisition or sale of a given property.

Crucially, the process takes weeks rather than days to conduct and conclude in part because it’s necessary for a sequence of important and somewhat time-consuming searches to be carried out on your behalf as a prospective homebuyer or seller.

Rationale behind conveyancing searches

For homebuyers, it can help to be aware that a variety of searches are an entirely normal and routine part of the conveyancing process in the UK. It is certainly not the case that the need for searches represents a cause for concern.

Fundamentally, conveyancing search processes are carried out to establish—as far as is possible—whether there are potential problems or issues associated with a given property that either buyers, sellers or both parties need to be made aware of. Specifically, what a conveyancer will be looking for are issues that might impact either a property’s market value at a given moment, or its potential usability going forward. Inevitably, such matters will be of at least some significance in the context of a property deal being done, not just for buyers and sellers, but for mortgage providers as well.

Common searches

Three of the most common searches that a conveyancer will conduct are:

1. Local authority searches
2. Water and drainage searches
3. Environmental searches

Local authority searches are a means through which a conveyancer can access any potentially relevant information about a specific property as might be held by the local council. Information that’s gathered during these searches will generally relate to, for example, building regulations, or details about plans for a new road to be built or dug up nearby.

Water and drainage searches are intended primarily to establish whether and how a given property is connected to the water mains, and the sewage and drainage systems, in a specific vicinity.

Environmental searches are aimed at finding out any information that might be available on localised environmental hazards, such as notable flooding risks, high levels of pollution or potential causes of contaminated water supplies.

Other searches…

The three forms of search listed above are generally regarded as the main searches undertaken by conveyancing service providers in the UK. However, there are others too which might be carried out if they are deemed potentially relevant, such as:

Why might extra searches be needed?

It can sometimes be the case that an initial set of searches carried out in relation to a given property bring to light issues that demand further investigation.

That isn’t necessarily bad news—or at least not terrible news—for a prospective homebuyer or seller but it will usually lengthen the time it takes for a conveyancing process to conclude and potentially cost a little more money.

However, once all necessary searches are conducted and concluded, then homebuyers, sellers and mortgage lenders alike can be completely confident that the information they have about a property is as reliable and comprehensive as it possibly can be.

Getting good advice

A good conveyancing service provider or solicitor will always be well-placed to advise prospective homeowners about precisely what kinds of search are necessary in their situation.

Conveyancing service providers generally will not want to conduct searches that aren’t needed. However, at the same time, conveyancers are obliged to carry out all and any searches as are required of them within a specific set of circumstances.

Finding out the facts

The conveyancing process is generally one that people wish could happen more swiftly than it typically does but it is carried out for good reason.

It is easy to take for granted the idea that a property you’re buying is connected to a nearby sewage system, for example, or that it is no more susceptible to flooding than anywhere else. However, if those assumptions turn out to be wrong then you’ll be glad of the searches your conveyancers conducted on your behalf to establish the facts.

Ultimately, while they often simply detail and organise information in a routine manner, the searches carried out during conveyancing can also save individuals and families thousands of pounds, as well as lots of potentially otherwise wasted time and legal headaches. 

If you want to learn more about conveyancing searches, you can visit our dedicated “What are Property Searches?” page.

Home Legal Direct

Home Legal Direct helps people across the UK to connect with quality conveyancing service providers via our online search function.

You can use our website to find the perfect partner for your home buying journey within a matter of seconds.

Every firm featured on our website is a high calibre operation and our in-house experts can also offer advice on how to choose precisely the right conveyancer for your specific circumstances.

Any qualified and experienced conveyancing professional will be well placed and completely comfortable in addressing any issues associated with deeds of covenants on your behalf as a property buyer.

In essence, a deed of covenant is a document or set of documents that (once signed by the relevant parties) legally enshrines certain responsibilities to the owners of specified properties.

By agreeing to sign deeds of covenant when acquiring a property, a buyer is making a commitment to abide by the deeds and details of an associated covenant.

When might a property purchase be accompanied by a deed of covenant?

A deed of covenant appears as a feature of the home buying process when a third party has an interest in the land or building within which a specific property lies, such as when a house or a flat is categorised as ‘leasehold’.

The third party involved will generally be a property management company or a designated freeholder, who doesn’t own your property but nonetheless wants to see certain commitments being made and kept with regards to it.

There are two main types of covenant:

• Positive covenants –a positive covenant amounts to a promise made on the part of a property buyer to, for example, pay a routine service charge or to maintain the condition of specific areas or dividing walls designated on a plan associated with an ownership transfer.

Restrictive covenants – a restrictive covenant reflects a commitment on the part of a buyer not to take certain actions in relation to the property they’re acquiring the leasehold on. Such a covenant might insist, for example, that new owners of a property don’t turn it into multiple dwellings or don’t restrict access via paths as specified within relevant documentation.

Understanding your obligations

Deeds of covenant might seem like a worrying complication to your property buying process but in fact they are generally quite routine and easily addressed by any experienced conveyancing solicitor or service provider.

What’s most crucial for buyers is to understand precisely what legal obligations they are entering into when signing deed of covenant documentation.

For conveyancers, the paperwork involved is not usually burdensome or problematic, and, for buyers, there is usually a straightforward decision to be made about whether or not they’re happy to make the commitments being asked of them.

Sometimes the details of demands being made via deeds of covenants become obsolete over time anyway and so all parties involved in a transaction can simply disregard them.

Legal ramifications

If buyers take the view that they don’t want to sign a deed of covenant—because it seems odd or irrelevant or overly burdensome—then they are well within their rights to contest the details and ask that they take ownership of the relevant property’s leasehold without signing a deed of covenant.

On the other hand, it is often the case that a property legally cannot be sold or have ownership transferred without the prospective new owners having committed to deeds of covenant as relevant.

Crucially, perhaps, the third parties with an interest in the land or the building the property sits on or within can prevent a sale from happening if they wish to do so.

Also, once a deed of covenant has been committed to on the part of a new property owner, they are then legally obligated to stick to the terms of that commitment.

What happens if you don’t abide by the terms of a covenant?

Breaching the terms of a covenant in these contexts can result in legal action being taken by the parties being impacted.

An aggrieved party in these situations can take the signatory of a deed of covenant to court seeking damages for any losses they might have suffered and/or to prevent further breaches of the relevant contracts happening in future.

In practice, courts will generally insist upon sensible resolutions to disputes of this kind that essentially amount to any damage to a property being fixed or changes being reversed.

In the case of positive covenants not being matched by actions, for example, courts will generally just demand that the relevant parties live up to their legal obligations going forward.

With restrictive covenants, if someone has erected a new wall or turned their property into two separate sub-dwellings, for example, the courts might insist that they reverse those actions forthwith.  

A covenant will generally be applicable indefinitely, unless the relevant parties and signatories agree to change the terms entailed within the relevant documentation.

The importance of good advice

For prospective homeowners, it’s important to seek advice and guidance from experienced conveyancers if you’re concerned at being confronted by any kind of deed of covenant.

If it’s required as part of a transaction that sees you taking ownership of a new home, then signing a deed of covenant doesn’t need to be viewed as a problem.

However, it is always sensible and likely to be reassuring to take guidance from people who know precisely what to look out for within the details of any associated documentation, and how to overcome or address any potential causes for concern. 

How we can help

Home Legal Direct connects property buyers and sellers with highly reputable and reliable conveyancing experts across the UK.

You can get quotes from dozens of quality service providers in seconds via our website. Plus, our own in-house experts are always available to respond to queries relating to deeds of covenants or any other issues arising within the context of a residential property purchase. 

Generally, the sooner you pull out of a transaction the better that will be for all parties involved, including yourself, not least because an earlier exit leaves greater scope for associated fees to be avoided and for time to be saved.

Seeking to walk away from a purchase deal once the relevant contracts have been exchanged could result in significant legal and financial ramifications, however. 

Ending your interest

Having an offer accepted by the current owners of a property you’d like to buy is generally a happy moment and one that’s well worth celebrating. But circumstances can (and often do) change suddenly and significantly for people involved in plans for property transactions.  

You might lose a job or find yourself getting divorced, for example, or you might decide that, on reflection, a given property just isn’t quite right for your purposes. You might also find it difficult to secure the kind of mortgage deal you need or you might come to the view that a price you’ve been quoted is actually too high. Regardless of the reasons, it’s important to act quickly, if you can, to end your interest in buying a particular property, for your own benefit and in fairness to the selling party.

Deals falling through is not uncommon

According to figures published by Quick Move Now, 28.8 per cent of residential property sales across the UK fell through for one reason or another in 2024, and at a rate of 33 per cent during the final three months of the year.

Sometimes the challenges that arise in these situations can be overcome but other times a changed set of circumstances are enough to derail a deal entirely and mean it must be walked away from before it reaches the contract exchange and completion stage.

What to do/what happens

If you have had a purchase offer accepted by the seller of a property but you decide you need to pull out of it then it’s imperative to notify your conveyancer as early on in the process as possible.

Terminating a transaction at an early stage will tend to be quite a straightforward process and there shouldn’t be any significant legal ramifications. In essence, all that happens is that the potential for a deal is lost and both parties move on.

However, there are likely to be some financial costs incurred in the case of aborted or abandoned property purchases.

A good conveyancer will be perfectly capable of tying off any legal loose ends associated with your planned transaction but they will generally need to be paid for whatever work they’ve carried out on your behalf up to the point where you pull the plug. Hence why walking away sooner rather than later is generally better for all parties involved.

It is often the case, however, that planned transactions fall though shortly prior to the contract exchange stage of the process. For buyers and sellers, this is a not a great situation usually because an array of conveyancing fees will have been accrued along the path to that point.

All of which is why ‘no sale, no fee’ conveyancing can provide valuable peace of mind for people looking to buy properties.

The seller’s perspective

From a seller’s perspective, having a buyer walk away from a deal to acquire your property can be frustrating for various reasons but not least because there could be some extra solicitors’ fees to pay on their side of the equation.

Usually, it’ll be easy enough for an enlisted conveyancer to repurpose relevant information and forms they’ve gathered on behalf of their seller in these situations but they might also need to charge some extra fees to cover their own costs.

For sellers, the extra costs shouldn’t be extreme but could add up if one or more agreed deal falls through. So, if you can, it’s a good idea to budget for that possibility before putting your property up for sale.

What if contracts have been exchanged?

If contracts have been exchanged but you need or intend to walk away from a property purchase, then the dynamics involved will generally be quite different.

It could be that the sellers in your case decide to take the matter to court in pursuit of a legal ruling that essentially makes you liable for covering their costs.

There are exceptions to the rules around post contract exchange transactions, such as where there is evidence of fraudulent activity or when sellers have knowingly misled their potential buyers or misrepresented themselves or their property in ways that are legally provable and pertinent.

Other issues with walking away post contract exchange

Among the penalties that a buyer might be hit with if they walk away from a property deal after they’ve exchanged contracts include:

• Deposits paid might be kept by the seller
• Any interest accrued will also likely be kept by the seller
• Damages might be sought through legal channels

The seller will also be within their rights to seek a new buyer for the property they thought they were selling to you.

On the other hand, if a seller pulls out of the deal after contracts have been exchanged then they will need to repay their buyer’s deposit, plus any interest that might have accrued.

Getting the right support

Online platforms like Home Legal Direct give homebuyers across the UK the opportunity to instantly access a list of experienced conveyancers well placed to meet their needs.

Home Legal Direct also offers tailored, confidential and reliable advice on any associated issues. You can contact our experts any time if you’re uncertain on how best to proceed at any stage of a property buying process, even if you’re looking to extract yourself from a specific transaction.

In fact, it is generally even more critical to hire a suitably experienced solicitor as your conveyancing advisor if you are taking part ownership of a property.

The reason being that shared ownership scenarios tend to be at least a little more complex and often substantially more complicated in nature as compared to more traditional property sale/purchase transactions.

Why is there scope for extra complexity?

Shared ownership arrangements create opportunities for first-time buyers, primarily, and often younger cohorts of UK residents to get onto the property ladder when they might otherwise have been unable to take that step for financial reasons.

The associated transactions are structured in line with official government ‘Shared Ownership’ schemes, with demand for those schemes usually greatest in parts of the UK where house prices are highest and where affordability issues are most prevalent.

As of early 2025, there were an estimated 320,000 shared ownership properties being managed across the UK, with each of them made available on a leasehold basis by housing associations, local councils or other organisations. The necessary involvement of those extra parties in shared ownership deals creates added complexity within the scope of the conveyancing efforts that enable them.

What it all means from a conveyancing perspective

The necessary involvement of extra parties makes shared ownership transactions more complex legally, which means—from a conveyancer’s perspective—there is more information checking required and more processes arising that need to be meticulously engaged with.

As a result, the conveyancing efforts demanded by a shared ownership transaction will generally take a little longer than with more traditional property purchases.

For solicitors enlisted to carry out conveyancing services relating to shared ownership deals, the goal is the same as ever, which is to meet the needs of clients and to protect their interests as much as possible.

However, from the perspective of someone aiming to acquire partial ownership of a property, it is perhaps even more important than it would otherwise be to find someone you can trust to carry out all the relevant processes on your behalf.

It could be crucial, as well, to hire someone with direct experience of working on shared ownership deals and someone who is completely familiar with all the specific complexities involved.

Specific requirements of conveyancers with shared ownership deals:

• Reviewing of lease agreements generated by a given transaction for hidden obligations that a buyer might not otherwise be aware of.
• Clarifying of the ‘staircasing’ structures that allow for a partial owner of a property to increase the scale of their ownership share over time. 
• Assessments of service charges and other costs that can sometimes be obscured somewhat from people buying part-shares in properties.

Steps along the way

For lots of people right across the UK, shared ownership deals are the only route available to the housing ladder and they represent a valuable first step towards full home ownership.

According to government data, the average price of a shared ownership property in England increased from £164,600 to £313,100 between 2009 and 2024, which equates to around a 90 per cent value jump. During that same timeframe, the average value of properties in England across the entire housing market increased by a similar but slightly lower 83 per cent.

Getting proper protection

It is always important for anyone buying a property, whether for the first time or not, to protect themselves and their own interests legally with the help, guidance and support of conveyancing service providers, who will generally (though not always) be solicitors.

That need for legal protections is certainly there and perhaps even more urgently felt in the context of shared ownership transactions. With the proper legal support, however, there is every reason to feel hugely positive about entering a shared ownership arrangement.

Home Legal Direct connects people buying homes, whether partially or in full, with conveyancers well placed to do a great job on their behalf. You can use our website to get quotes in a matter of seconds from solicitors who specialise in shared ownership conveyancing.

Find out more about Shared Ownership Conveyancing here.

There are several reasons why a so-called ‘down valuation’ might happen but fundamentally it will be because the surveyor believes a property is worth less than a buyer has been quoted.

Reasons for down valuations can include:

• A property being in a less good condition than was previously assumed – this might happen if a surveyor finds problems with damp in a property’s roof, for example, or Japanese knotweed in the garden.
• A surveyor deciding that a property needs extensive repair work that would cost significant amounts of money to complete to an acceptable standard.
• Tangible shifts in property values within a specific area might also mean surveyors decide to down value a given property.

Implications for buyers and sellers

If a surveyor determines that, in their view, a previously agreed property deal is overvalued then that can create certain challenges both for sellers and for buyers.

For sellers – the worry will be that a deal might be more difficult or impossible to conclude in the short term. A seller might need to accept a lower fee to move a deal forward, or their deal might fall though, if their buyer is unable to come good on their earlier offer because the revised valuation impacts their financing arrangements.

For buyers – the concern will be that their mortgage deal will not give them enough money to complete the purchase of the property they’d agreed to acquire. As such, they might be unable to fund their acquisition, or they might need to find some other way to meet the price that’s being asked of them.

What can be done in the event of a down valuation…

1 – Renegotiate the property price

From a buyer’s perspective, an ideal outcome in the event of a down valuation would be for the seller to accept the surveyor’s perspective and to agree to a deal based on a correspondingly lower price.

It might not be possible to get your seller to lower their asking price but it is nevertheless worth seeking to renegotiate a deal that takes account of the new valuation that you’ve been given as a buyer.

Even if a price reduction that the seller agrees to does not match the surveyor’s downgraded valuation, any lowering of the price could make your renegotiation efforts worthwhile.

From a seller’s perspective, there will be a potentially tough decision to make around whether to accept a lower offer or not, or where to draw the line and to start looking for other potential buyers.

2 – Challenge the valuation with supporting evidence

For obvious reasons, people with properties on the market will generally be reluctant to reduce the price at which they’ve agreed to a sale.

Therefore, in the event of a down valuation, providing supporting evidence and making a strong case to relevant parties that a property you hope to buy is genuinely worth less than you initially thought, could help keep your deal on track.

In essence, the aim should be to convince the seller than any other surveyor would conclude similarly that the initial price you previously agreed on was inflated and that your revised offer still represents a good deal for all parties involved.

Example 1 – The kind of evidence that might be taken as persuasive in these situations would be, for example, demonstrating that a problem with mould in a loft conversion can be fixed for closer to £500 than £5,000.

Example 2 – You might be able to show that while property sale values in a local area have been falling in recent quarters, sale prices associated with precisely comparable properties in that area have continued to increase.  

3 – Consider increasing your deposit to cover the shortfall

If your mortgage provider takes the surveyor’s price estimate as being broadly accurate, and your seller will not budge on the price, but you still want to go through with the deal – then you will need to make up the shortfall between your mortgage and the quoted price.

You can do that by increasing your deposit amount, either by using your own savings or by borrowing (or otherwise receiving) money from elsewhere. This would involve a degree of risk in the sense that you might be paying more for a property than it is currently worth on the open market.

Over time, if you live in a property for an extended period that risk might seem unimportant, particularly if the value of the property goes up. However, it might, in hindsight at some point, come to look like a mistake financially, if the property is subsequently worth significantly less than you paid for it.

4 – Get solid advice from reliable experts

As is generally the case with any property transaction scenario, it is wise to retain a balanced perspective when potentially important issues like down valuations arise. It is also a good idea to seek guidance from experts on these kinds of issues as early in the process as possible, to give yourself the best chance of reaching your desired outcome.

Property deals happen every day across the UK, but the details of each transaction can vary greatly and unpredictable problems can all too easily arise. Getting the right guidance at pivotal moments during your property transaction journey can be crucial to protecting your investments and your interests.

Home Legal Direct

You can speak to Home Legal Direct experts at any point during the lifetime of your property purchase.

Our website allows homebuyers to find and connect with quality conveyancers nationwide in a matter of seconds but our in-house team is also full of property deal experts and they’re always available to provide insight, guidance and practical support.

Solicitors and other providers of conveyancing services often (though not always) give potential clients a fixed fee quote for work they’re offering to undertake with regards to a specific property ownership transaction.

Although that fixed fee is generally intended to reflect the entirety of the charges that a conveyancer will ask of their clients, extra charges do sometimes need to be added for certain unforeseen reasons.

It is by no means always the case that clients ultimately need to pay their conveyancer more than their initial fixed fee quote but nor is it necessarily the case that the fixed fee is unchangeable or set in stone.

Disbursements

Fees charged by conveyancers generally increase as a result of what are referred to as ‘disbursements’, meaning extra charges that service providers incur and pass along to their clients for undertakings such as information searches.

A fixed fee quote from a conveyancer should not be given or interpreted as an estimate, however. Your initial quote should be intended to reflect the precise costs involved in a transaction process.

But because in practice there are sometimes unexpected costs demanded of conveyancers as they conduct searches and go about their work, even fixed fee quotes are subject to small increases. 

What you should always find reference to in a transparent conveyancing quote:

• Legal fees
• Land registry fees
• Stamp duty calculations
• Search costs
• Identity checks
• Telegraphic transfer fees 

How to check if your quote is transparent

Perhaps the most obvious way in which a homebuyer can help ensure that a quote from a conveyancer is transparent is to compare it against others from similar service providers.

Thankfully, it is now easier than ever before to compare and contrast conveyancing quotes in seconds via websites such as Home Legal Direct.

As you compare quotes, be sure to look out for all the most essential elements involved in the process as listed above and assess the credentials of any potentially suitable service provider.

Once you are close to choosing your conveyancer, you can enquire with them directly to ask whether their offer is based on a fixed fee and if it might still be subject to adjustments.

What else can impact conveyancing fees?

Other factors that might influence the price you’ll ultimately be asked to pay by your conveyancer include:

Fixed fee pros…

• Clear visibility on likely costs linked to all conveyancing services
• Price increases likely only to involve small amounts
• Greater scope to plan ahead and budget all aspects of your property move

Fixed fee cons…

• Your conveyancer may need to increase your fixed fee a little, if your case is more complicated than was initially assumed.
• Your fixed fee deal might be more expensive than a variable deal would have been, if your case is particularly uncomplicated.

Variable fee pros and cons…

• Fees might be lower with a variable deal than would have been the case with a fixed fee arrangement.
• However, with a variable arrangement, any complications or extra steps that become necessary within your process will result in extra fees that you might have avoided with a fixed fee quote.

Improving transparency

In the context of conveyancing, as in various other areas in which a solicitor’s services might be involved or required, the issue of transparency is a crucial one.

Rules introduced in late 2018 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) effectively demanded of all solicitors operating in the UK that they display their prices and details of their services in full to better inform their potential customers.

The SRA’s rules stipulate that details of pricing structures relating to specific services, including conveyancing, “must be presented in a clear and easy to understand format”.

As a result, since 2018, any solicitors’ firm with a website in the UK has been required to detail online whatever prices they charge their conveyancing customers, or else make those same details available upon request.

The SRA’s stated aim in introducing its ‘price transparency rules’ was to better inform consumers of the prices they’re likely to face when hiring solicitors but also to boost competition across the entire UK legal market.

While pricing information now needs to be communicated clearly and transparently by all solicitors offering routine legal services, there remains an onus on consumers to conduct their own research and compare quotes, if they want to save money and be sure of getting a good deal from a quality provider.

As we’ve seen, there is scope for the prices associated with the conveyancing process to increase slightly even if you’ve hired a highly reputable service provider on a fixed fee deal. In essence, it remains the case that doing the right kind of research can help ensure that you land yourself the best possible deal available to you as a homebuyer in the UK.

How we can help

The Home Legal Direct network empowers prospective homebuyers across England and Wales to quickly evaluate and compare quotes from dozens of conveyancing service providers. You can use our website to instantly access quotes from quality conveyancers who are all transparent about their fees and services.

Property chains form as a result of having a sequence of property buyers and sellers whose deals become interconnected through circumstances.

It is an unfortunate (and often infuriating) reality that the financial interconnectedness of arrangements within a property chain can mean that issues affecting a single deal might significantly impact all or most other links in that chain.

The nature of property chains is such that the successful completion of one property sale is a prerequisite for another purchase to conclude, and for a whole sequence of property transactions to move ahead without the kind of hold ups that, if not resolved, might cause a series of property deals to fall through.

It is generally assumed, and recent research suggests, that roughly one in every three property deals agreed in the UK will fall through before being concluded for one reason or another.

Causes of chain breaks

Transactions involving changes to residential property ownership are commonplace in all parts of the UK but they are nevertheless unavoidably complex in nature. In practice, they tend to involve a significant amount of paperwork, even in the most straightforward of cases.

That relative complexity is why it’s essential to enlist the services of a reliable and reputable conveyancing service provider, to give yourself the best chance of having your property acquisition process run smoothly.

Even relatively minor issues that arise within the context of any link in a property chain can cause delays, which can then set back all deals within a chain and potentially cause their collapse. Chains naturally vary in length, with the chances of issues arising generally increasing along with the number of links in the chain.

Specific reasons why a chain might collapse include a prospective buyer:

Other reasons why a transaction might fall through can include a seller:

Overcoming and avoiding these issues

The collapse of property chains can of course be hugely frustrating for the various parties involved and even somewhat disastrous financially or personally in certain situations.

It can, therefore, be well worth doing whatever possible to avoid finding yourself facing a property chain collapse scenario.

As a buyer, there may well be nothing that you could’ve done to prevent or avoid such a situation but it can also be valuable to know and to feel that you did absolutely all that you could to see your property deal conclude.

So how might you do that from a buyer’s perspective, well…

Communication is key – this is true so often in life but rarely more so than in the context of property transactions. Being across as much detail as possible can be helpful and communicating well with your own conveyancing firm, and all other parties involved, can be the difference between seeing deals conclude and having them collapse. Issues can arise and be resolved, or they can be overlooked for too long.

Negotiate flexible timeframes – The more timescale flexibility that you can introduce into your property deal situation, the greater the scope for major or minor issues across the property chain to be resolved in ways that keep a sequence of transactions on track.

Consider bridging loans –As with timeframes, the more flexibility you can secure for yourself financially as a buyer, the greater the chances that your deal can be concluded. Bridging loans offer potentially crucial financial flexibility for buyers keen to get a deal done and move on, and move in.

Positive proactivity

Whatever the length of your property chain and whatever issues may or may not arise, adopting a generally positive and proactive approach to problem solving can make a real difference.

It is also essential to work closely and collaboratively with conveyancers and solicitors that are good at their jobs, suitably experienced and every bit as proactive in the scenario as you are, if not more so.

Home Legal Direct is a leading conveyancing network, enabling homebuyers across England and Wales to access quotes from high calibre service providers in a matter of seconds. 

You can also contact Home Legal Direct to help safeguard your property transaction at any stage of the process.