If you are going to buy, sell or let property in the UK you will need a lawyer. In theory, if it is your money (as opposed to borrowed from a bank) you could do the legal work yourself but nobody does. Tenants will sign a short form lease (see 'Leases' above) but nobody will sign a contract to buy or sell a property without a lawyer.
They will in the USA - in fact that is the convention. In 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia I met a builder on site, agreed a price for 6 building lots and produced a conditional contract of sale which he signed. In the afternoon, I went to see the president of the bank that owned the lots I had just sold and bought them (forty lots including the six I had just sold) with a banker's draft. Done and dusted in a day. You could not do that in the UK - it would take you months.
The legal systems may be slightly different but any English or Welsh lawyer can carry out property transactions in either country.
In Scotland you need a lawyer qualified to act in Scotland. In theory, the legal system is totally different - the lawyers send each other offers which can be accepted at any time. They also use wonderful jargon "we will irritate your lease in the Court of Session". Yea, right. But in practice it is exactly the same as English law - the contract goes back and forth until it is agreed and then you pay over a deposit. And a month later you cough up the balance.
And, just like England and Wales, it is slow and expensive.
In Northern Ireland you need a lawyer qualified to act in Northern Ireland. The legal process apears to be similar - a long delay followed by a big bill.
If some of this is wrong or misleading, please let me know by email
Modified on 25/08/2019 at 10:52:44 by ℗ Bob Cory