By Katherine Price, Paralegal

The impact of coronavirus has been an uncertain time for buyers, sellers, and conveyancers. Moving home is a stressful in normal times and these are not normal times.

Despite the uncertainty coronavirus imposes on everyone, the property market moved quickly owing to the government announcing a Stamp Duty holiday back in August 2020.

A national lockdown was imposed on 4 January 2021, the government announced the property market was permitted to stay open. Although, there are some restrictions to this. Everyone must remain in their bubble (unless necessary), house viewings are only permitted on an appointment only basis, members of the public who wish to visit an estate agent’s office must wear a facemask.

For further restrictions on moving to a new house, please view the government website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

Coronavirus has also had a significant impact on third parties. Due to third parties furloughing staff, this has caused delays on some of the following:

• Search delays. Currently a local authority search can take up to 8 weeks to come back.
• Land registry. Applications are taking up to 4 weeks or in some cases even longer to be processed.
• Lenders. If you are purchasing your property by way of mortgage, you may find that your conveyancer will not receive your mortgage offer for at least 4 weeks, after it has been accepted.

We understand that this is an anxious time for us all. Be rest assured that Our Conveyancing Team at Onions and Davies can assist you and provide you with further information regarding any conveyancing queries and continue to work during these uncertain times.

For a conveyancing quote contact Katherine at katherine@onionsanddavies.co.uk