Land conveyancing solicitors near me

One of the joys of looking for your next place to live is that there are various opportunities to explore.

For example, you might want a more rural home, or perhaps a detached property that is near the centre of the town, or you might simply be happy to get the cheapest and most trouble-free option on the market because of the restrictions on available cash and loans or driven by the needs of family and work.

But one option that is rarely brought up is finding a plot of land, with a view to purchasing it for a bespoke build or other purpose such as a warehouse or workshop for your business.

Here, Homeward Legal explores what is involved and what you can expect with the conveyancing process for buying land.

There are several reasons why you might want to buy a piece of land (this list is not intended to be exhaustive):

• Agricultural purposes - perhaps for a smallholding or to increase an existing farm's acreage.
• Investment - you might not want to do anything with it for the moment, but holding on to the land could provide you with a significant dividend in the future when you do something with it, or if you sell it on.
• Commercial development - turning the land into an enterprise that supports your business (for example, a factory, workshop or industrial machine shop, or even a restaurant or other pleasure outlet).
• Residential development - building a number of new homes on the land for subsequent sale.
• Self-building - building your own home from scratch.
• Mixed-use development - creating an area that achieves some or all of the above uses together.
• Small land parcels - buying a strip of land that facilitates the use of your existing land (for example, for access purposes).
• Strategic land development - buying greenfield sites which may have development potential according to the latest constraints defined by the Government.
• Woodland - acquiring areas of woodland to protect it and prevent its removal for building.

In many respects, conveyancing for land is the same as any other property transaction, but with differences in the detail. The purpose of the conveyancing process is to ensure all the legal processes are followed when it comes to transferring the title deeds for the land into your name from the seller's.

The steps, though, are as follows:

Appoint your conveyancer

The earlier that this is done, the earlier your appointed land conveyancing solicitor can get to work on your transaction, and specifically order these searches:

•   Local Authority searches
•   Environmental searches
•   Water and drainage searches
•   Title searches
•   Specialist reports and assessments (e.g. flood reports, coal-mining searches, and any other analyses depending on where the land is and its history)

Apply for a loan

once you've agreed a price with the seller, as with any purchase, you'll need to ensure you have the funds to pay the deposit at exchange of the contracts and the full amount at the end of the transaction.

Review the land being purchased

your solicitor will review the paperwork in detail, including the results from the initial searches and the contents of any contracts and what is contained in the deeds, raising further enquiries as necessary (see section of the key things for more details).

Order a survey

this may sound unusual for buying a plot of land, but a survey is essential to identify key points of information, such as boundaries, discrepancies on the borders, underlying hazards (particularly if there is a history of heavy industry in the area, or the proximity of landfill sites), positions of pylons and underground cables and piping, the slope of the ground and any other features deemed pertinent to the purchase of the land.

Address issues

each of these steps is likely to highlight issues that might affect the process of purchasing the land. Your conveyancing solicitor will talk you through everything that has arisen, so that you are fully apprised of the information.

Exchange contracts

at this stage, you'll be required to pay the agreed deposit. Where you are thinking of building on the land, your conveyancing solicitor will usually advise to add a condition to the exchange of contracts that completion will only occur if the relevant planning consents have been received - this gives you the option to back out if planning agreements are not accepted without financial impact to you. Notwithstanding any caveats and conditions, you are now legally required to continue to the completion stage.

Complete on the contract

the purchase of the land is completed, with you taking ownership. At this stage, you'll pay the remainder of the agreed price, assuming that any stipulated conditions that were applied at the exchange stage have been successfully met.

Pay stamp duty

Stamp Duty Land Tax (England) and Land Transaction Tax (Wales) is not only required to be paid on existing homes; you'll be required to follow the stamp duty payment rules and thresholds for the land you've just purchased, which will be handled on your behalf by your solicitor. This must be paid within 14 days of the completion date.

Update the Land Registry

your conveyancing solicitor will also manage the process of transferring the ownership of the land into your name with HM Land Registry. This is required to be done within 2 months of the completion but, as there are frequent backlogs at the Land Registry, it refers to the request being submitted rather than the update being made.

Parcels of land come up at auction on a regular basis, and is the most common method of purchase. As with the general conveyancing process, buying a piece of land at auction follows in the same steps as a standard property transaction.

Specifically, what you and the conveyancer will require prior to the auction are:

• Land documentation - The title deeds and any current construction plans with the associated existing planning consents.
• Searches results - Details derived from the various standard searches carried out on the land.
• Special conditions - anything that is pertinent to the purchase of the land that isn't covered in the other documentation.
• Leases - details and paperwork of any leases that might be associated with the land.
• Pre-contract requirements - the results and answers to any of the requirements that had been agreed prior to the settling of the contract terms.

When you are planning on buying a piece of land for whatever eventual purpose, your land conveyancing solicitor will be seeking out a lot of detail, which will be fed from the results of their searches and other enquiries, the survey report, specialist input and numerous other sources.

They will be looking for the following to be clearly defined:

• Plans - what the current plans for the land are along with any requisite consents, as well as the definition of who currently owns those plans.

• Splitting the title - splitting the title is the situation where the seller is selling only part of the land they own. 

• Boundaries - where the boundaries are on the land, along with any historical and current issues with the site boundary that have arisen with the neighbouring properties.

• Access and rights of way through land - establishing any existing public footpaths, rights to roam, and proximity of public access next to or through the land.

• Access to land through other property - defining whether access and easement to the property requires going through neighbouring land and property and what agreements are in place to continue that access once plans are complete. Of particular consideration is establishing the access rights to a public highway from your land.

• Rights to light - this is particularly pertinent where you are planning to build on the land and how it might impact those living in the neighbouring properties, and how their right to light will be affected.

• Utilities - if you are building on the land you are buying, you'll need access to the standard utilities, which could include access to the National Grid, water and drainage, septic tanks and their emptying schedule, gas, broadband and so on. If none currently exists, information is required about how the access will be established, particularly where it will need neighbouring property to be dug up to lay cables and piping. 

• Ransom strips - these are (usually small) pieces of land owned by another party that lie between your land that's planned for development and other private land or the public road. So named because you'll probably need to pay a fee to cross this land either with an access road or temporarily to put in the utilities. It's important to know what and where these are and what the conditions are for you to cross them for your plans for the land.

• Contamination and hazardous waste - when you are buying what is known as a brownfield site (a derelict waste ground that might have been used commercially or for industrial purposes, or even waste management), you'll need to know what the purpose of its use was to define whether remedial work is required to decontaminate the site or manage any hazards that might exist.

• Endangered species and habitats - one of the key requirements for any planning, particularly in a greenfield area, is the impact on the local ecosystems - the flora and fauna that might be disrupted and where there are endangered and protected species and habitats that might prevent or restrict the plans you have. The same information is required if the course of a stream or river will be interrupted or diverted as a result of your building plans.

• Restrictive covenants - the purchase of your land might come with specific restrictions, such as the size of property you are planning to build, perhaps the construction materials, boundary considerations, rights of way, how many properties may be built on it, and the right to sell the property.

• Purpose of land purchase - it's important to know that you can use the land for the plans you have for it, without any issues arising after you have completed whatever work you have lined up for it.

• Purpose for sale - knowing why it's for sale and how long it's been on the market will provide further information for negotiations and the decision to buy it. It will also be helpful to know what the seller was planning to do with it and why they haven't gone ahead with it before you sign the contract - if there is a good reason why they can't build (other than financial considerations), it's worth knowing so that you can assess whether you'll come up against a similar issue.

If you are looking for a land conveyancing solicitor near you, you'll want the highest standard of legal services for the transaction with a clear understanding of what you will be required to pay, when and for what reason, then look no further than Homeward Legal.

We work with local conveyancing solicitors across England and Wales and will talk you through each stage of the process so that you know what is happening at any point. They are well-versed in all aspects of the conveyancing process for buying land, providing a quality conveyancing service at a fee that is great value for money!

Call  to get your conveyancing quote started, or to discuss your concerns with your plans to purchase or sell your next home.