The Edinburgh Conveyancers Forum was set up by several firms of Solicitors involved in the residential property market in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas in order to discuss and address the practical issues that arise in the purchase and sale process.
Over 50 firms have now joined the Forum and it has become a very productive and vocal body. Its principal aims are to encourage practical solutions to help the whole process of buying and selling residential properties, hopefully to the benefit of all clients who are buying and selling property.
The most significant development that the Forum has promoted is the introduction of the Standard Offer and the Scottish Standard Clauses. The Scottish Standard Clauses are effective from December 2014 and we are now using Edition 3 with Edition 4 to follow soon.
The Standard Clauses are used by nearly all solicitors in Scotland.
The aim is to simplify the conveyancing process by enabling "conclusion of missives" quicker than was previously the case, to the benefit of both the buyer and the seller. Once missives have been concluded there then exists a legally binding contract upon which either party can rely.
The Standard Offer makes reference to the Scottish Standard Clauses (Edition 3) and incorporates them as conditions of the offer.
The form of Standard Offer and the Standard Clauses are designed for use with residential property and should not be considered for other types of property such as shops or offices.
It is hoped by the member firms of the Edinburgh Conveyancers Forum that the introduction and now the revision of the Standard Offer will result in the process of conclusion of missives becoming much more straightforward with few of the inherent delays that were involved under the previous system.
The speed and ease of conclusion missives (and clauses with which both the solicitor and the client can become familiar) are enormous benefits. We now have the tool to make this a reality.
A Client Guide has also been prepared which you can access below.