The conduct rules that govern conveyancing — from honesty in replies to enquiries to the strict limits on acting for more than one party in a property transaction.
A property transaction puts a solicitor's professional obligations under particular strain, because the interests of sellers, buyers and lenders rarely align. This chapter opens with the duty not to mislead and how it operates alongside caveat emptor, then turns to the disclosure required in a contract race and the binding force of undertakings, including the dangers of giving one that cannot be fulfilled. It moves through confidentiality and the two types of conflict the SRA Code recognises, before examining when a solicitor can act for multiple parties — buyer and seller, joint buyers, or borrower and lender — and the reporting duties and certificate of title responsibilities owed to a lender. It finishes with the independent advice that must be given to a non-borrowing co-owner consenting to a mortgage.
