Conveyancing when buying a house: what your conveyancer does and what you need to do

Your conveyancer does the legal work that moves ownership from the seller to you. They check the seller's title, run searches, raise enquiries, report to you and your lender, exchange contracts, send the money on completion and register you as the new owner. The conveyancer can be a solicitor, a licensed conveyancer or a CILEX practitioner. Many firms in England and Wales follow the Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol, and the table uses its order of stages, although some stages overlap.

The seller's side draws up the contract. It sets out the price, the boundaries, which fixtures and fittings are included, any rights or restrictions affecting the property, and when the sale will complete. If you are buying with someone else, your conveyancer should also discuss how you will own the home together and whether you need a declaration of trust.

Some jobs can only be done by you, and they are often where delays start. Send proof of identity and evidence of your money as soon as you instruct a firm. The Money Laundering Regulations 2017 require conveyancers to verify their clients and to scrutinise transactions, including the source of funds where necessary. Expect to show where your deposit came from, such as savings statements or evidence of a gift.

Get your own survey. Your lender's valuation is for the lender, and the Conveyancing Protocol tells conveyancers to warn buyers that it may not reveal defects. RICS Home Surveys come in three levels, and Level 3 is aimed at larger, older, run-down, unusual or altered homes.

Read the report on title before you sign. This is the time to question anything about the lease, rights of way, planning or building regulations, and to renegotiate if the survey or searches turn something up.

Arrange buildings insurance to start from exchange. Under the Law Society's Standard Conditions of Sale (5th edition, 2018 revision), which many contracts use, the property is at the buyer's risk from the date of the contract. For a leasehold flat the service charge usually covers buildings insurance, so ask your conveyancer to confirm.

Protect your money. Check bank details by phone on a number you already trust before sending anything, and treat any email saying the details have changed as a warning sign. Never pay the seller directly.

Once your offer is accepted, your conveyancer will usually order a local authority search, a water and drainage search and an environmental search, and you normally pay for these upfront. Depending on where the home is, they may recommend others. There are no official figures for search costs, so check the amount in your written quote.

Enquiries are written questions to the seller's conveyancer about anything the contract pack, searches or your survey leave unclear, such as boundaries, alterations, guarantees or disputes. Many start from the seller's answers on the Law Society's TA6 property information form. The TA6 6th edition (2025) replaced earlier versions on 30 March 2026 for firms in the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme. It no longer asks sellers for an EPC, because estate agents deal with that when the home is marketed.

A flat or other leasehold home needs extra work on the lease, service charges and building safety. See leasehold conveyancing.

At exchange you and the seller become legally bound. Your conveyancer swaps signed contracts with the seller's conveyancer and sends your deposit. Under the Standard Conditions of Sale the default deposit is 10% of the price, paid by exchange, but the contract can set a different amount. After exchange, pulling out usually means paying compensation.

Between exchange and completion your conveyancer runs an official search of the register. This protects your purchase for a priority period of 30 working days while registration goes through. If you have a mortgage, they also do a bankruptcy search against you for your lender. They send you a completion statement showing the balance you need to provide, and ask your lender for the mortgage money.

On completion day your conveyancer sends the money to the seller's conveyancer. The Protocol splits the day into legal completion, when the money arrives, and practical completion, when the keys are released. These rarely happen at the same moment. Our guide to what happens on completion day explains the day in more detail.

After completion your conveyancer files your property tax return, pays the tax from money you provided beforehand and registers you as the owner. The deadlines are strict. In England and Northern Ireland the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) return and payment are due within 14 days of completion. In Wales Land Transaction Tax (LTT) is due within 30 days of the day after completion. In Scotland Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is due within 30 days of completion.

In England and Wales your conveyancer applies to HM Land Registry to register the transfer and your lender's mortgage within the search's priority period. The seller's conveyancer sends proof that the seller's mortgage has been paid off, usually form DS1. HM Land Registry charges nothing to register the discharge. There is also no separate fee to register your own mortgage when it is lodged with the transfer.

On a £280,000 purchase, where the home is and whether you're a first-time buyer make far more difference than the registration fee. These figures come from our calculators, using the rates in force on 25 September 2026. They assume you won't own any other home once the purchase completes.

In England a home mover pays nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,000 (£2,500) and 5% on the last £30,000 (£1,500). A first-time buyer pays nothing, because first-time buyer relief covers prices up to £300,000. Northern Ireland uses the same SDLT rates, but you register with Land & Property Services, which sets its own fees.

Wales has no first-time buyer relief, so every buyer pays 6% on the £55,000 above £225,000. In Scotland a mover pays 2% on £105,000 (£2,100) plus 5% on £30,000 (£1,500). First-time buyer relief raises the nil-rate band to £175,000, which saves £600.

HM Land Registry's figure is its Scale 1 fee for £200,001 to £500,000, which applies in England and Wales; a newly granted lease, such as a new-build flat, costs the postal amount even online. The Registers of Scotland figure is the standard fee in its fees order for that price band; registering a mortgage there costs another £80 (£60 digitally), and digital applications may be charged differently, so ask your solicitor. None of these figures include legal fees or searches: see conveyancing costs or try the Stamp Duty calculator.

In Scotland the process and paperwork are different. The seller must have a Home Report, which contains a single survey and valuation, a property questionnaire and an energy report. They must give it to you within nine days of you asking. You tell a solicitor you're interested, and they 'note interest' with the seller. If several people do, the seller sets a closing date for offers. Your offer goes as a letter from your solicitor.

The seller's solicitor replies with a 'qualified acceptance', and the two solicitors exchange letters called missives until the terms are agreed. Once the missives are concluded you have a binding contract, and pulling out can leave you liable for damages. mygov.scot says to insure the home from the conclusion of missives unless they say otherwise. At settlement your solicitor pays the price in return for the disposition and the keys, and you are registered in the Land Register.

Northern Ireland works much like England and Wales. nidirect's guide assumes you use a solicitor. The sale becomes binding at exchange of contracts, and you usually pay a deposit of at least 5% then. SDLT applies at the same rates as in England.