Conveyancing negligence: my solicitor missed a right of way, restriction or planning problem

Conveyancing is high-volume, low-margin work, and mistakes happen. When they do, the loss can be serious: a property you cannot extend, a garden a neighbour has the right to walk through, a boundary that is not where you thought, or a defect in title that makes the property hard to sell.

What conveyancers commonly get wrong

• Searches — failing to carry out, or failing to explain, local authority, drainage, environmental, mining or chancel searches; or not reporting an adverse result.
• Rights of way and easements — not identifying, or not explaining, rights that others have over the property, or that the property depends on.
• Restrictive covenants — failing to advise that a covenant prevents the very use you told them you intended (an extension, a business, a second dwelling).
• Planning and building regulations — not checking that alterations had permission and sign-off, or not obtaining indemnity insurance where they did not.
• Boundaries and title plans — not raising discrepancies between the physical boundary and the registered plan.
• Leasehold — missing short lease terms, onerous ground rent clauses, or service charge disputes.
• Registration errors — failing to register the transfer or a charge correctly, or in time.

The duty is to act as a reasonably competent conveyancer, and it includes a duty to explain what the documents mean for what you told them you wanted to do. Silence on a point you specifically raised is a strong indicator of breach.

Breach is only half the claim

To succeed you must show that the negligence caused a loss you can put a figure on. That means being able to say what you would have done had you been properly advised — not bought at all, negotiated a lower price, obtained an indemnity policy, or bought a different property — and what the financial consequence was.

Loss is usually measured as the difference between what you paid and what the property was worth with the problem, at the date of purchase. Where the problem can be cured — by obtaining a deed of release from a covenant, or insurance — the cost of cure may be the measure instead. Where the problem only emerged when you tried to sell or develop, the loss may include wasted expenditure and the difference in value at that later date.

Service complaint or negligence claim?

Every regulated firm must have a written complaints procedure, and you must use it first. If you are not satisfied after eight weeks, the Legal Ombudsman can consider poor service and award up to £50,000, including for distress, without you incurring legal costs. Its remit is service, not the finer points of negligence, and you have one year from the problem coming to your attention to complain.

For losses above the Ombudsman's limit, or where the firm denies fault, a professional negligence claim is the route. Solicitors and licensed conveyancers carry compulsory professional indemnity insurance, and the claim follows the Professional Negligence Pre-Action Protocol: preliminary notice, letter of claim, a three-month response window, and ADR before proceedings.

Time limits

Six years from the negligent act — typically exchange or completion (s.2 Limitation Act 1980) — or three years from the date you knew or could reasonably have known the material facts (s.14A), whichever is later, with a 15-year longstop. Conveyancing claims are frequently caught by the three-year knowledge rule because the problem surfaces years after completion; the date you first found out is critical, so record it.

What a solicitor will want from you

• The conveyancing file: engagement letter, report on title, search results, and the correspondence — you are entitled to your file, and the firm must provide it.
• The transfer, title register and title plan (available from HM Land Registry for a few pounds).
• Evidence of what you told the conveyancer you intended to do with the property.
• Evidence of the problem: the covenant, the right of way, the planning enforcement letter, the neighbour's claim.
• A valuation of the property with and without the problem, and any costs of curing it.
• Your complaint to the firm and their response.

This guide is general information about the law of England and Wales. It is not legal advice. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman does not stop the limitation clock for a court claim.