Conveyancing when buying

• When you receive confirmation that the sale has been agreed (congrats!), you’ll need to instruct a conveyancer. This is also the stage where you'd need to choose a mortgage broker, if you're using one.   

• Signed documents of instruction must be returned to the conveyancer. This kicks off the legal process! 

• The conveyancer will carry out proof of identity checks and ask for evidence of where the funds to purchase are coming from. They’ll also require a copy of your bank statements. 

• The seller will complete a property information form, which details all fittings and contents. If the property is a leasehold, a leasehold information form will also be completed. These papers form part of the ‘contract papers’. 

• The papers will contain evidence from the Land Registry confirming the seller is the legal owner of the property. 

• A draft contract (from the seller’s conveyancer) will outline the terms of the sale. Your conveyancer will review them. 

• All contract papers will be reviewed and any enquiries (such as on the contract, title, or property) will be raised with the seller’s conveyancer. You’ll receive a copy of all enquiries, and you’ll make a payment to the conveyancer to begin applying for searches. 

• Your conveyancer will request property searches from the Local Authority, water company, and Environment Agency.  

• You may wish to arrange a survey of the property by a qualified surveyor and raise any issues from the surveyor’s report with the seller. 

• At this stage, your conveyancer will need to see evidence of your mortgage offer. If you're working with a mortgage advisor, they can send this your way.

• Your conveyancer will raise initial enquiries to the seller’s side.  

• The searches will be returned and reviewed, and further enquiries may be raised to the seller’s conveyancer 

• There's often some back and forth between both the buyer's and seller's conveyancers at this stage, as further enquiries may be raised and responses are needed. Once both sides are satisfied with the responses they've received, it’s onto the next step.  

• Both conveyancers will arrange for the buyer and seller to sign the contracts and agree on a completion date. 

• Once the signed contracts have been received and you’ve paid your deposit to your conveyancer, the contracts are formally exchanged to complete on the agreed date. It's a milestone – at this point, the purchase is legally binding. 

• The day you move into the property! This is usually 1-2 weeks after the contract exchange as it allows time for funds to be provided. 

• The conveyancers will confirm all the money has been transferred (this can take a few hours, so hang tight and wait for the call!). Once the payments have been made, all the remaining money from the sale will be transferred to the seller. 

• The seller will then arrange handing over the keys to your new home! 

Examples of proof of funds evidence: 

• Sale of a property: Such as the completion statement or the memorandum of sale from your conveyancer who acted in the sale.  

• Inheritance: A copy of the will noting the amount received. 

• Sale of a vehicle: A copy of the contract for sale.  

• Wages: A copy of your P60.  Buyers will also be asked for 3 months worth of bank statements for all of your accounts.

• Cash gift: If you received a financial gift from a family member or third party, you’ll need to show evidence of the donation as well as proof of where their funds have come from. A gift letter for the lender to sign is also needed (to confirm the gift doesn’t give the donor any interest in the property). 

Typically, someone sells their home before they can buy their next property. As a result, a number of linked transactions occur, each dependent on the other. The exchange of contracts must take place simultaneously, so if one transaction is slow, it slows down the rest. 

Once the contracts exchange, the sale is legally binding. Up until that point, either party may withdraw. Ownership of the property transfers once the sale completes.

Either a solicitor or a conveyancer can help carry out the legal side when you're buying and selling a house. But what's the difference?

A conveyancer is a type of lawyer that can deal with the legal aspects of selling a home, and are fine for most straightforward transactions. If more complicated legal issues crop up during the sale, they generally can't handle these. They're regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).

A solicitor, or conveyancing solicitor, is a different type of legal professional. They have a broader expertise on property law and can help with things like will writing, setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney, or cohabitation agreements, if you need them. They're regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

If the house transaction is simple, you can generally use either a licensed conveyancer or a conveyancing solicitor. If the sale is more complicated, you might prefer to use a solicitor to ensure they can help with everything you need. For example, if there's a dispute about the property's boundary, any easements on the property, or you need any extra services like a will.