How conveyancing works with HSBC
A conveyancer handles the legal side of things when you move your mortgage to a different lender and when you buy and sell a property. They provide legal advice on all aspects of the transaction.
Other tasks they do are:
Check the legal title to the property
Manage the chain (if there is one) for exchange of contracts and completion
Collect and transfer money, including stamp duty (if payable)
If acting for the buyer, carry out property searches to check for any issues that might affect the property's value
Get the redemption figure from your existing lender and repay any existing mortgage on completion
Conveyancing step by step
Here’s what you need to know about these 5 different types of conveyancing with HSBC.
First-time buyer conveyancing
When you buy your first home, you’ll be responsible for choosing your own solicitor or licensed conveyancer. If you choose a solicitor, you need to make sure they're specialist property lawyers and agree the cost of legal work with them. Once you've chosen your solicitor or licensed conveyancer, we’ll check to make sure they can act for you and HSBC.
Make sure you check this table for the basic requirements for a solicitor to be able to act for us, as well as you. If they don't meet our criteria, we’ll have to choose a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to act for us and you'll have to pay for them.
Your solicitor must meet the following criteria to act for both you and HSBC
Mortgage amount
| Number of partners in the firm |
|---|
| < £350K | 1 solicitor / licensed conveyancer / regulated managers |
2 or 3 solicitors / licensed conveyancers / regulated managers
Your solicitor must meet the following criteria to act for both you and HSBC
Mortgage amount
| < £350K |
|---|
| Number of partners in the firm | 1 solicitor / licensed conveyancer / regulated managers |
|---|
Mortgage amount
|
2 or 3 solicitors / licensed conveyancers / regulated managers
The firm must be registered with one of the following:
- Solicitors Regulation Authority (and must be accredited with The Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme)
- The Law Society of Scotland
- The Law Society of Northern Ireland
- The Council for Licenced Conveyancers
All firms must have a minimum professional indemnity insurance cover of £2 million, and for lending over £2 million they must have professional indemnity insurance of £5 million.
England and Wales:
- Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulated firms must be Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accredited.
- All Council of Licensed Conveyancer (CLC) regulated firms can act for HSBC.
Scotland and Northern Ireland:
- All Scottish and Northern Ireland regulated solicitors can act for HSBC.
In all cases, our due diligence checks and lending criteria apply.
Key stages of your conveyancing process:
Choose your conveyancer – Buyers and sellers each instruct their chosen conveyancers to act for them.
Property searches – As part of the legal work, your conveyancer will carry out searches on the property to make sure there are no other factors you should be aware of. These include local authority, flood risk and water authority searches.
Contract draft - The seller’s conveyancer prepares a draft contract, which gets sent to the buyer’s conveyancer. The buyer’s conveyancer then checks the contract, the mortgage offer and if any other legal work is required.
Help to Buy: ISA – Tell your conveyancer if you’ve opened a Help to Buy: ISA. They’ll be responsible for claiming 25% government bonus. You should also let your ISA provider know that you're closing the account.
Signing contracts - Your conveyancer will ask you to sign the contract and discuss with you any other costs payable, such as stamp duty. Then they'll agree a date with the other party to complete the sale/purchase of the property. At this stage, you'll need to send the deposit to your solicitor.
Exchanging contracts – Your conveyancer will then exchange contracts with the seller’s conveyancer and pay any deposits. At this stage, you’re legally committed to purchase the property.
Completion – If you had a Help to Buy: ISA, the government will pay the bonus to your conveyancer. They'll add it to your funds at completion. Once you've agreed your completion date, your conveyancer will ask us for the mortgage advance and send the funds to the seller’s conveyancer. When the seller’s conveyancer confirms they've received all the money that's due, the seller should drop the keys at the estate agent for your collection.
After completion – Your conveyancer will pay any stamp duty due to HMRC for you. They'll also apply to register your ownership of the property with the Land Registry. Once registration is complete, they'll confirm this back to you.
Conveyancing in Scotland and Northern Ireland works differently compared to England and Wales. If you’re buying or selling a property in either Scotland or Northern Ireland, you need to take legal advice as early as possible.
How much does conveyancing cost?
According to the MoneyHelper, legal fees can range from £850 to £1,500 including VAT. Local property searches are typically around £250 to £300, on top of the legal fees.
How long does conveyancing take?
In England and Wales, the conveyancing process can take up to 12 weeks, on average, to complete. However, it could take longer if it’s a complex mortgage or you're part of a chain.
Home mover conveyancing
When you buy or sell property, you’ll be responsible for choosing your own solicitor or licensed conveyancer. If you choose a solicitor, you need to make sure they are specialist property lawyers and agree the cost of legal work. Once you've chosen your solicitor or licensed conveyancer, we’ll check to make sure they can act for you and HSBC.
Make sure you check below for the basic requirements for a solicitor to be able to act for HSBC, as well as you. If they don't meet our criteria, we’ll have to choose a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to act for us and you'll have to pay for them.
Your solicitor must meet the following criteria to act for both you and HSBC
|---|
| Mortgage amount | Number of partners in the firm |
|---|
1 solicitor / licensed conveyancer / regulated managers
2 or 3 solicitors / licensed conveyancers / regulated managers
4 or more solicitors / licensed conveyancers / regulated managers
Your solicitor must meet the following criteria to act for both you and HSBC
1 solicitor / licensed conveyancer / regulated managers
2 or 3 solicitors / licensed conveyancers / regulated managers
4 or more solicitors / licensed conveyancers / regulated managers
The firm must be registered with one of the following:
- Solicitors Regulation Authority (and must be accredited with The Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme)
- The Law Society of Scotland
- The Law Society of Northern Ireland
- The Council for Licenced Conveyancers
All firms must have a minimum professional indemnity insurance cover of £2 million and for lending over £2 million, they must have professional indemnity insurance of £5 million.
England and Wales:
- Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulated firms must be Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accredited.
- All Council of Licensed Conveyancer (CLC) regulated firms can act for HSBC.
Scotland and Northern Ireland:
- All Scottish and Northern Ireland regulated solicitors can act for HSBC.
In all cases, our due diligence checks and lending criteria apply.
Key stages of the conveyancing process for buyers:
Choose your conveyancer – Buyers and sellers each instruct their chosen conveyancers to act for them.
Property searches – As part of the legal work, your conveyancer will carry out searches on the property to ensure there are no other factors you should be aware of. These include local authority, flood risk and water authority searches.
Contract draft - The seller’s conveyancer prepares a draft contract, which gets sent to the buyer’s conveyancer. The buyer’s conveyancer then checks the contract, the mortgage offer and any other relevant documents such as redemption statement from your existing lender.
Signing contracts - Your conveyancer will ask you to sign the contract, discuss any other amounts you will need to pay (such as stamp duty and early repayment charges). A date is agreed to complete the sale/purchase of the property. At this stage, you'll need to send the deposit to your solicitor.
Exchanging contracts – the buyer’s conveyancer will exchange contracts with the seller’s conveyancer. Any deposit will be paid and at this stage you’re legally committed to purchase the property.
Completion – Once you’ve agreed your completion date, your conveyancer will ask us for the mortgage advance and send the funds to the seller’s conveyancer. Once the seller’s conveyancer confirms that they have received all the money that's due, the seller should drop the keys at the estate agent for your collection.
After completion – Your conveyancer will pay for you any stamp duty due to HMRC. They will also apply to register your ownership of the property with the Land Registry. Once registration is complete, they will confirm this back to you.
How much does conveyancing cost?
According to the MoneyHelper, legal fees can range from £850 to £1,500 including VAT. Local property searches are typically around £250 to £300, on top of the legal fees.
How long does conveyancing take?
In England and Wales, the conveyancing process can take up to 12 weeks, on average, to complete. However, it could take longer if it’s a complex mortgage.
