New precedents: pre-contract questionnaires for property purchase and sale

Conveyancing 03/03/2017

The Law Society’s Conveyancing Committee would like to announce the publication, jointly with the Property Committee of the DSBA, of the 2017 edition of Pre-Contract Questionnaires for Property Purchase and Sale. 

The new questionnaires are considerably changed from the last edition, due entirely to the increased complexity of the conveyancing process and the need to include several new areas of practice resulting from changes in legislation affecting property since the last edition was published. 

The new questionnaires are available in fillable pdf format on the Law Society’s website in the precedents section:

These lists of questions can be sent out to clients at the beginning of a transaction, and the replies can form the basis of the clients’ instructions and can assist solicitors in preparing the documentation in the transaction.

A few matters to note:

  • It is recommended that you use Acrobat Reader to download and fill in the questionnaires,
  • There is space on the front page of both questionnaires for ‘main contact details’ – solicitors should consider putting in their letters of engagement that the main contact person is the person on whose instructions the solicitor will act,
  • Where the client is required to provide supporting documentation in the course of the transaction, the items are marked ‘bring’ on the right hand side of the document to remind them to provide you with the relevant materials,
  • In relation to the sale questionnaire, a new sample letter to the clients has been provided, together with a new sample letter of authority for taking up their title deeds for signature by the clients. Download these from the precedents section.

It is hoped that the new precedents will be of benefit to members and will assist them in their day-to-day conveyancing work. Any feedback on the documents would be welcomed.