Property Law and Practice SQE notes.

A woman is buying her first flat for £145,000 and has instructed a solicitor. The solicitor has been sent the draft contract and the seller's title documents. The estate agent has offered to handle "the legal side" himself for a reduced fee, and the woman's lender has instructed its own valuer to inspect the flat. The woman emails her solicitor asking her to check that the flat is worth the asking price, to negotiate a reduction with the agent, and to arrange buildings insurance, saying that she assumes all of this forms part of the conveyancing.

Which of the following tasks is the woman's solicitor retained to carry out?

1. Investigating the seller's title, raising pre-contract enquiries and registering the transfer after completion. Correct
2. Negotiating a reduction in the purchase price with the estate agent acting for the seller.
3. Inspecting the flat for defects and reporting a valuation figure to the woman's lender.
4. Arranging the woman's buildings insurance and her mortgage finance with a suitable lender.
5. Confirming that the price is reasonable by comparing recent sale prices in the building.

A man is buying a house for £215,000 and has instructed his own solicitor. He receives a letter sent directly to him by the solicitor acting for the person selling the house. The letter addresses him as "the Vendor", asks him to send the title deeds to the property so that a contract can be prepared, and asks him to confirm which fixtures and fittings he intends to leave behind. The man has never held any title deeds to the house and is not leaving anything behind.

What has gone wrong in the letter the man has received?

1. Nothing; the party buying the property is correctly described as the Vendor.
2. The man is the Purchaser, not the Vendor, and it is the seller who supplies the title deeds. Correct
3. The man is the Vendor, but it is the buyer's solicitor who supplies the title deeds to the seller.
4. The terms are interchangeable in a contract of sale, so the description makes no practical difference.
5. The man is the Purchaser, and the seller's solicitor should therefore be acting for him as well.

A buyer's solicitor acting on the purchase of a house at £285,000 has taken instructions, received the draft contract and the seller's title, raised pre-contract enquiries and received satisfactory replies. The searches are clear, the buyer's mortgage offer has arrived and the buyer has approved the contract. The seller has asked for a completion date four weeks away and the buyer has agreed to it. The buyer's 10% deposit is held on the solicitor's client account and the mortgage offer remains valid for a further two months. Nothing has yet been signed and no money has passed between the parties.

What is the next step in the transaction for the buyer's solicitor?

1. Completion, when the balance of the price is paid and the keys are released to the buyer.
2. Registration of the buyer as proprietor at HM Land Registry.
3. Exchange of contracts, when the deposit is paid and the completion date becomes fixed. Correct
4. Payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase to HMRC.
5. Signature of the transfer deed and the final pre-completion priority searches.

Contracts have been exchanged on the purchase of a house at £195,000 and a completion date has been fixed for three weeks' time. The buyer paid a 10% deposit on exchange, and the seller has exchanged on her own purchase in reliance on the sale. Two days after exchange the buyer learns that his employer is relocating him to another city. He tells his solicitor that he no longer wants the house, asks to withdraw, and says he assumes the deposit is simply the price of changing his mind.

Can the buyer withdraw from the purchase without further liability?

1. Yes, because a buyer may withdraw at any time before completion, which is when ownership passes.
2. Yes, because he is within a seven-day cooling-off period which runs from the date of exchange.
3. Yes, provided he forfeits the deposit, which is the agreed price of choosing not to proceed.
4. No, because exchange bound him to buy; he risks losing the deposit and paying damages. Correct
5. No, because the seller has exchanged on her own purchase, so the chain can no longer be broken.