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Contract races under the SRA Standards and Regulations: principles-based duties, fairness and transparency, and certificates of title—implications for conveyancers in England and Wales

Published on: 25 November 2019

Published by a LexisNexis Property expert
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Outcome 11.3

Outcome 11.3 of the former 2011 code (old code) in the 2011 SRA Handbook on contract races is not carried across into the two new codes under the new SRA Standards and Regulations. Is any other provision in the new codes relevant to contract races? Yes. Principles 2 (maintaining public trust and confidence), 4 (acting honestly) and 5 (acting with integrity) in the Standards and Regulations almost certainly encompass contract races, and paragraphs 1.2 (not taking unfair advantage) and 1.4 (not misleading) in the 'Maintaining trust and acting fairly' section of the new codes would bear upon contract races in property transactions. Contract races can be ethically complex, arising where a property seller instructs their solicitor to proceed with more than one prospective buyer. In such circumstances it is common for attempts by the selling client or a bidder to secure a benefit (for example, receiving the pre-contract pack ahead of others in the race), meaning the contest is not genuinely fair or transparent. This dynamic frequently raises concerns about openness, equality of treatment and whether the competing buyers are genuinely balanced. Under the current SRA rules on contract races, the guidance merely states that in a contract race...

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