Conveyancers have been warned over efforts to amend agreed conditions of sale to take into account the possibility of not completing by the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) changes on 1 April.
It comes as the Law Society has announced its proposed way forward on the controversial new version of the TA6 form.
The nil-rate SDLT threshold halves from £250,000 to £125,000 from 1 April 2025 and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) issued a warning yesterday that it was aware some conveyancers representing buyers were trying to amend agreed conditions of sale so that, in the event that the transaction did not complete by 31 March, either the purchase would not proceed at all or the agreed sale price would be reduced to mitigate the higher tax payment due from 1 April.
“The CLC urges conveyancers to exercise extreme caution before agreeing changes to the standard conditions of sale,” it said.
“If parties are content to amend those, conveyancers must have a permanent record of consent to the amendments that clearly demonstrates that the clients have understood the impact of those changes in the relevant scenarios.
“Such attempted amendments may indicate that the buyer has not been properly advised of the potential impact on them of the 1 April increase to the SDLT threshold. We remind conveyancers of the need to ensure that buyers understand that their transaction cannot be guaranteed to complete ahead of such tax changes.”
Earlier this week, the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) said previous experience showed that an SDLT deadline like this could mean more complaints as firms would have been instructed on the basis of beating it.
It said conveyancers should keep them “reasonably updated on progress and any factors that may impact their transaction, including third party delays”.
They must ensure buyer clients have been “clearly advised” of the risk that their transaction may not complete on time and of the amount they have to pay “to ensure they are making a fully informed decision to exchange”.
LeO said it would not hold service providers responsible “for delays that they did not cause” and that to direct the additional tax as a remedy to a complaint, “the Legal Ombudsman would have to be satisfied that it is the service provider’s failing that led to the payment of the extra tax”.
Its ‘spotlight’ note went on: “Therefore, it is likely that, even where there are upheld complaints about delays and communication, remedies may be modest when compared to the additional SDLT a consumer has had to pay.”
On the TA6, the Law Society has decided that it would be published two separate forms to replace the much-maligned fifth edition.
The first is a new sixth edition mandatory for Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) members from March 2026 and designed to be used when an offer has been accepted. It will give buyers the information that the sellers have about the property before they commit to buying.
The second is a material information form, which will not be mandatory for CQS members, and is designed for conveyancers to use if sellers instruct them before listing their property. This should help sellers gather the material information they are recommended to provide to the estate agent to market the property.
Law Society vice-president Mark Evans, a conveyancer himself, said: “We have learnt a lot through the consultation process, about both the TA6 form and the wider member concerns about the complexities of the conveyancing market…
“We hope that this new approach will make the TA6 process more straightforward and easier to understand and navigate for conveyancers and their clients.”
The society said it would run user testing in the summer to make certain the forms were fit for purpose and to understand which areas of the form require most support to fill in. Voluntary adoption will begin in October, along with training, and it would also consult on proposed amendments to the national conveyancing protocol.
Until then, firms can continue to use either the fourth or fifth editions.
The Law Society said more than 1,200 people responded to its consultation. “While many conveyancers recognised our intention to provide material information up front, they felt the fifth edition fell short of achieving this. Many also raised concerns with the form’s usability.
“We’re now working hard to address these concerns by developing simpler, more user-friendly forms.
“Importantly, 60% of those who took part in our consultation survey thought splitting the TA6 form into two forms would be helpful.”
Leave a Comment