As people are more aware of their legal rights these days it is becoming increasingly more common for property and conveyancing solicitors to be sued for professional negligence.

Conveyancing Solicitor Negligence 

 

When purchasing a property in the UK, whether it be commercial or residential, most buyers will employ a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to handle the process.

 

Conveyancers and solicitors deal with thousands of property transactions in the UK every year, making them highly experienced in the field. Unfortunately, mistakes do occur in the conveyancing process, which is often referred to as residential conveyancing negligence or commercial property negligence.

 

The consequences of a negligent solicitor or conveyancing lawyer can be severe financial difficulties and emotional damage.

 

What is Conveyancing Negligence?

 

Conveyancing negligence can come in many shapes and forms.

 

Some examples of conveyancing and property negligence from a solicitor may include:

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• Conflicts of interest

• Drafting a Deed or Contract with incorrect information or words resulting in you suffering loss

• Failure to carry out property searches and/or enquiries

• Failure in a leasehold purchase e.g. did not establish the terms of the lease to be satisfactory

• Failure to correctly define property boundaries

• Negligent or poor advice affecting the property that led to financial loss

 

It's important to note that the above list is just some of conveyancing negligence claims we see. This is not an exhaustive list and we recommend speaking to a member of our team if you have any concerns.

Making a negligence claim against a conveyancer

 

At New South Law, our team have experience in winning compensation for clients who have received negligent property advice from their solicitors.

 

We completely understand that the idea of claiming against a solicitor can be incredibly daunting. We're here to make the process as simple and stress-free as possible, and that extends to flexible payment options. In most cases, we will be able to offer a 'no win, no fee' arrangement which will mean no financial risk to you.

 

In many cases we are able to act on a contingent basis, meaning you will only be charged if we are successful.

 

If you feel you have been the victim of negligence, contact us today.

 

Off-plan Property Claims

 

An example of an off-plan property investment scheme was the Pinnacle (Angelgate) Ltd. The case concerned a proposed large-scale residential development known as Angelgate in Manchester. 

Pinnacle (Angelgate) Limited (Pinnacle) purchased the development site for £6.2m plus VAT on 23 January 2015. There were to be two tower blocks and units were marketed primarily internationally to investors in Asia. 

 

Pinnacle put no money into the purchase, instead relying solely upon deposits being provided by the investors. Deposits were as large as between 50% and 80% of the purchase price. The total sum raised by the deposits was £32m. 

 

Unfortunately, the development never progressed beyond preliminary groundworks and in September 2017 administrators were appointed over Pinnacle. The possibility of building the towers was rejected and the land was sold for £5.2m.

 

In property purchases of this kind the conveyancing solicitor has strict rules to follow when advising buyers. In many cases we have seen, this simply did not take place. We are now acting for those buyers in claims against their conveyancer.

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Leasehold Claims

 

What is a toxic leasehold? ­­

 

​A toxic leasehold can exist when the accelerated ground rent clause in your lease agreement causes your payments to increase throughout the duration of your lease. This can result in serious consequences as shown below. There are around 100,000 people with a leasehold like this and you could be one of them.

 

What are the consequences of this type of lease?

• You may not be able to sell your property

       

Many lenders will not grant mortgages for buyers purchasing a house with an impaired lease and if you do manage to sell, the value of your property is likely to be significantly less.

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• Your freehold may now be unaffordable

​If your freehold (the land on which your property is built) has been sold to a 3rd party (which you may be unaware of), it could now cost thousands more than the original price which could cause problems if you want to buy it now or in the future.

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• The Ground Rent will accelerate in cost

The clause means that your ground rent will increase rapidly either in line with the RPI or doubling periodically.