Conveyancer Job Description

A lot of people aren’t sure of what a conveyancer is and what they do, this article will explain all the important parts of becoming a conveyancer, from qualification to responsibilities to salary.

What is a conveyancer?

A conveyancer is a legal professional who specialises in property law dealing with a property transaction. They can work on either the selling side or the buying side and deal with all the legal matters arising from the sale of property such as houses, flats, and any type of land. The type of matters that a conveyancer would deal with is contracts arising from property sales, finances, and any legal issues.

What are conveyancers’ responsibilities?

The main responsibility that a conveyancer has is advising his/her client on the property and procedure of buying/selling to ensure a smooth transaction in which the client is left satisfied. During this, a key part of a conveyancer’s responsibilities is to protect the clients’ interests, ensuring the transaction is fair and beneficial to the client but also to ensure there is no fraud or illegitimate transaction taking place.

Conveyancers are involved from the first step of property transactions all the way to the end and as a result, face a diversity of tasks. Such as:

• Research into the buyer, seller, the property, and any other factors that have an influence on the property transaction
• Taking any instructions from clients and completing them to the best of their ability
• Check land register deeds, registrations, and documents to ensure the buyer understands what rights and obligations they have over the property, these can include:
  • Easements – a right allowing others to use the land
  • Covenant – an obligation on the property owner that restricts the use of land
  • And other rights

A conveyancer has the office standard 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday however this can change based on employer, some employers only require 37 hours of work compared to others who may require much more. This is completely dependent on the employer but is largely influenced by location, seniority of your position in the company, and how far along a transaction is.

As with any job in the legal sector, occasional overtime is expected especially near the end of transactions. Some companies are open on weekends, but this is a rare occurrence.

The work a conveyancer does is not entirely office-based, jobs can require you to travel to clients and their properties as on-site work can occur providing for an exciting job with opportunities that a lot of legal jobs cannot.

How to qualify as a conveyancer

To become an England or Wales licensed conveyancer, you must complete the Council for Licensed Conveyancers Qualification, this is a level 4 diploma where there is no prior knowledge or experience needed, so even for those who have just left education this is a great route into the career. However, there are requirements for a minimum of 4 GCSEs, and having further education past this will only support your application but isn’t a necessity.

The course takes 2 to 3 years and consists of both exams and practical work. For the practical work, there is a requirement of 1200 hours before qualification. Furthermore, the qualification has fees that are around £7000.

There is also the opportunity for those who are already legally qualified (i.e., as a solicitor) to become a conveyancer. They do not need to do this qualification but rather can just apply for the license.

Skills:

The skills need to be a successful conveyancer are the same as those for any legal professional. Seeing as the law is a detailed matter, an eye for detail is of utmost importance. Furthermore, as you’ll be constantly working alongside clients and other legal professionals, the ability to communicate well with both legal experts and also those who are not trained in the law. Also due to the work involving a lot of documents, written communication is a necessity.

The other skills needed by a conveyancer are:

• Problem-solving
• Research
• Negotiation

Salary:

The normal salary for those who are training and/or newly qualified conveyancers tends to be around £20000 to £22000. Then your salary increases as your experience also grows, those with 3 to 5 years experience tend to see a salary of around £35000 and after entering management roles you can expect to earn upwards of £45000. However, it is important to note that a conveyancer’s salary will depend on location as well, those in London will earn more than outside of London.

For more information on conveyancers’ salary and to check the salary by location, then check out The Legists Salary Checker

Conveyancer Job Description:

A conveyancer is a great legal role for those who don’t want to become solicitors or barristers but want an exciting role in the legal field.

To find conveyancer roles that are currently available then check out The Legists Opportunities page