Reviewed by: Nick Fluck
Author: General editor: Frances Silverman
Publisher: Law Society Publishing
ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-85-328869-2
Price: £89.95

I was both delighted and apprehensive to be asked to review the new edition of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Handbook: delighted because I got my review copy ahead of the press, and apprehensive because I had the task of reviewing a publication that, since its inception in 1992, has rightly become an institution.

The first thing to note is that the Conveyancing Handbook is in danger of being misnamed.

This is no back-pocket handbook of the traditional ‘solicitor’s guide to…’ variety – it weighs in at 1.4kg. So why does this practitioner volume, with 1,202 pages, unashamedly break the mould? The answer is simple.

The book aims to deal with every issue commonly encountered by residential conveyancers, while also being a highly useful resource for the agricultural and commercial property practitioner.

The layout is clean and logical, progressing from taking instructions to the successful conclusion of costs. The book is a look-up resource and a how-to guide, and provides much continuing education.

With each successive edition, the work grows in scope, consistently reflecting and detailing each change and addition to the law and practice of conveyancing.

The many talents comprising the editorial team have a task akin to painting the Forth Bridge.

Keeping the work at the cutting edge is a continuous process – this edition has new material on issues as diverse as the Building Societies Association’s mortgage instructions, Land Registry’s new portal, and the increased availability of flood risk information.

It has also been updated to reflect new legislation (including the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009 and the Equality Act 2010), new and updated Law Society practice notes, and amendments to the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007 (especially rule 2, the interpretation of which is likely to cause many difficulties in the near future).

The further reading section has even more essential new content, such as the complete texts of the Law Society practice notes on the execution of documents by virtual means and on the cancellation of contracts, and everything you need to know about first-time buyer’s relief, the suspension of home information packs and changes to the requirements relating to energy performance certificates.

Given the steady increase in legislation and regulation affecting property work, busy practitioners need to have an increasingly diverse array of law and facts at their fingertips.

This publication delivers everything a conveyancer is likely to need on a daily basis, with in-depth information in most areas of significance.

The book is not intended as a substitute for Emmett or Woodfall, but the text is exceptionally readable and geared towards practical application of the information provided, in situations conveyancers encounter every day.

There are checklists and procedural requirements for most common transactions, highlighting best practice and providing definitive guidance.

Successful conveyancing practice is increasingly a specialist subject. Greater skills need greater resources and the book delivers all and more that the property lawyer, whether ‘town’ or ‘country’, requires.

Given the vast wealth of information it contains, the publication is very competitively priced. I am confident every competent conveyancing practice will want their conveyancers to have access to the latest edition.

This review first appeared in the March edition of Property in Practice, magazine of the Law Society’s Property Section.

Nick Fluck is Law Society Council member for the commercial property constituency and a member of the Property Section executive committee. He was recently elected deputy vice-president of the Society.

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