
What Are The Different Ways To Hold A Deposit?
The deposit may be held by a conveyancer as:
- stakeholder, if the practitioner can only pay the deposit to the seller on completion;
- agent for the seller, if the seller’s practitioner can pay the deposit to the seller before completion. This is common in new build contracts;
- held to order, if the deposit is not physically sent to the seller's conveyancer but held in the buyer's solicitor's client account, strictly to the seller's order. The buyer's conveyancer is required to release the deposit to the seller's conveyancer on demand. If the buyer fails to complete, the deposit will be handed over to the seller's conveyancer immediately.
More information is available in the By Lawyers Sale of Land guide.