A buyer and seller can use the same conveyancing solicitor if there is no conflict of interest and strict criteria are met. So what exactly is a conveyancer? A conveyancer is a qualified legal professional or licensed specialist who manages administrative process of transferring property ownership from a seller to a buyer. Although it’s possible to use the same conveyancers, it comes with risks that make it less common to do.
In this guide, we’ll explore what criteria needs to be met to use the same conveyancer, when it can benefit you and the risks that come with buyers and sellers using the same conveyancer.
Yes, a firm of conveyancers can act for both buyer and seller if all criteria is met. The SRA and the CLC permits acting for both parties if certain rules are met. However, acting on both sides is not very common as there's often a higher risk of conflict of interest.
A conflict of interest is where two or more parties represented by the same company have competing interests or disagree on outcomes and is often what stops buyers and sellers from using the same conveyancer.
The main risk of using the same company of conveyancers is ‘client conflict’. This means the conveyancer is unable to provide full legal advice to one party without it being detrimental to the other.
There are two types of conflict of interest:
When the best interest of the buyer and seller clash or there’s a significant risk that they will.
When the conveyancer’s duty to act in the best interest of the buyer or seller conflicts with their own interests.
If there is no potential conflict of interest, strict criteria must be met for a solicitor to act for both parties:
Buyer and seller are made aware of the risks
Buyer and seller have given written consent
Buyer and seller have a substantially common interest
Buyer and seller are competing for the same objective
The solicitor is satisfied it is reasonable to act for both buyer and seller
Each client is represented by a separate fee earner or team within the company of conveyancers and they have implemented effective safeguards to protect both buyer's and seller’s confidential information from each other
The full criteria can be found in the SRA’s code of conduct or for CLC regulated companies, in the CLC's Conflicts of Interest Code.
If all criteria is met, it can be beneficial for a conveyancer to act for both buyer and seller.
Benefits of using the same conveyancer:
As the solicitor will be using the same systems, timetables, and processes, it’ll save time and money by not liaising with other parties. This is why some decide to change solicitors during the conveyancing process so that both the buyer and seller have the same solicitor.
Many wonder why conveyancing takes so long. It comes down to negotiations between mulitple parties. If both parties share interests, there should be fewer negotiations required. This could be as little as agreeing on the same completion date.
