Conveyancing in the Time of Coronavirus

On Friday 26^th March 2020, HM Government released advice urging home buyers and renters to delay moving to a new house, wherever possible, until the current coronavirus situation is resolved. HM Government further advised that, where contracts had already been exchanged and the property being purchased is currently occupied, all parties should work together to agree to delay completion. In response to this, a team was formed comprising representatives from The Law Society, the Society of Licensed Conveyancers, the Conveyancing Association, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and Bold Legal Group to settle a common protocol for agreeing to the deferment of pre-existing completion dates.  By the afternoon of Sunday 29^th March, the team had agreed and published both a joint advice note for the benefit of all conveyancers and a model agreement for the variation of existing sale and purchase contracts, to allow contracting parties to vary the date set for completion.  At the request of The Law Society’s Conveyancing and Land Law Committee, Committee member Nic Taggart took an active role in the drafting of these documents.