"If you aren’t sure whether the completion date will be before or after the deadline, then always air on the side of caution"
- Connor Bartlett - Compare My Move
The legal ombudsman has reported that we can expect a 50% increase in complaints after the Stamp Duty Land Tax change on April 1st, this will likely come from buyers who have missed out on the deadline while currently in their conveyancing process. The closer buyers are to completing their purchase the more frustrating it will be when they miss the deadline, conveyancers need to prepare for this backlash, even when it isn’t the conveyancer's fault.
Why would I need to prepare for the SDLT change?
No matter what stage you are at in your house purchase, if it’s before completion on April 1st, you will have to pay the new rates for SDLT. Conveyancing as a process doesn’t take a set amount of time, and can vary from case to case, sometimes lasting as little as 4 weeks.
If the buyer knows this, no matter the circumstances of their purchase, they could reasonably think that their conveyancing process could take as little as 4 weeks and put the blame on the conveyancer for taking longer than that. Even if the circumstances of their process would make it impossible to complete in that timeframe.
What can I do to prevent complaints after the SDLT change?
Communication is key. Make sure you are consistently informing your client on the estimated completion date of their purchase. If the completion date is estimated to be after April 1st you should be informing the buyer of the increase in stamp duty that they have to pay, the extra tax they will have to pay should in no way come as a shock to the buyer.
If you aren’t sure whether the completion date will be before or after the deadline, then always air on the side of caution. Inform the buyer that it will be unlikely they are eligible for the relief and explain to them the timeline that their specific conveyancing process has taken, allowing them to understand why.
If after you have prepared the buyer for paying the modified SDLT, the completion ends up being before April 1st, then no worries! You have already prepared for the worst and in my experience, no one complains when having to pay less money than they were prepared for.
How should I respond to complaints after the SDLT change?
Even if you have prepared accordingly and have been in constant communication with your buyers, there is still a good chance some of the backlash from the SDLT change will come back on you as the conveyancer. Don’t panic, as the legal ombudsman has predicted there will be a nationwide increase in complaints so the first thing to remember is that this isn’t a reflection on you as a conveyancer.
Don’t ignore these complaints, even if you aren’t at fault you should respond, empathise and inform. Be polite and respectful of the buyer's frustrations, explain the length of time that conveyancing takes and highlight their specific conveyancing process in relation to this.
Inform them that if they still feel that you as the conveyancer are at fault for the completion being after the deadline, then they can contact the legal ombudsman, where they will research the case further.
