Do I need a solicitor to buy a house in Scotland?
In practice, yes, and earlier than in England. In Scotland the offer itself is made by your solicitor, so you need one before you bid rather than after your bid is accepted.
The offer is a legal document
In Scotland an offer to buy heritable property is a formal written offer prepared and submitted by a solicitor. It is not a phone call to the estate agent. It sets out the price, the date of entry, what is included, and a long list of conditions. Estate agents will generally not present an offer that has not come from a solicitor.
That is why the sequence here is: instruct a solicitor, then note interest, then offer. Buyers who arrive from England expect to find a conveyancer after their offer is accepted, and by then it is too late.
What your solicitor actually does
- Notes your interest with the selling agent, which is how you are told about a closing date.
- Reviews the Home Report and raises anything the survey discloses.
- Prepares and submits the offer, with the conditions that protect you.
- Negotiates the missives until they are concluded, at which point the contract is binding on both sides.
- Examines the title, the local authority reports and the property enquiry certificates.
- Deals with your lender, draws down the loan and prepares the standard security.
- Settles the transaction, pays the price, and registers your title in the Land Register.
- Submits the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax return.
When you are committed
Conclusion of missives is the point of no return
Once missives are concluded there is a binding contract and neither side can walk away without paying damages. This happens considerably earlier in the process than exchange of contracts in England, which is why gazumping is rare here and why the offer must be right when it is made rather than corrected later.
What it costs
A purchase involves the solicitor’s fee, registration dues in the Land Register, the searches, and Land and Buildings Transaction Tax. LBTT is Scotland’s version of stamp duty, the bands are different, and the Additional Dwelling Supplement applies where you are buying a second property. First-time buyer relief is available.
Ask for a written quotation showing the fee and every outlay separately. A quotation that shows only a headline fee is not a quotation.
Solicitors as estate agents
Scotland is unusual in that solicitors commonly act as estate agents, through the solicitors’ property centres in each region. That means the same firm may market a property, negotiate the sale and do the conveyancing. It can be efficient and it can reduce the total cost, but the firm cannot act for both buyer and seller in the same transaction.
A note on this page
This is general information about how the law works in Scotland. It is not advice about your situation and it cannot be, because we do not know your circumstances. Nothing here should be relied on as a substitute for speaking to a solicitor about your own case.
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