# Conveyancing when selling a house: forms, your mortgage, agent fees and what your conveyancer does > Moving home & conveyancing · Last updated 25 September 2026 Canonical HTML: https://moneyguide.org.uk/moving-home/conveyancing-when-selling/ Markdown mirror: https://moneyguide.org.uk/moving-home/conveyancing-when-selling.md ## Quick answer When you sell, your conveyancer proves you own the home, sends the buyer's conveyancer a contract pack with your answers on the TA6 and TA10 forms (TA7 for leasehold), deals with enquiries and gets a redemption figure from your lender. On completion they pay off your mortgage and the estate agent, then send you the balance. ## Who should skip this Skip this if you are buying, or selling a home you let out or inherited. Extra tax and probate rules apply that this guide only touches on. In England and Wales the seller is responsible for drawing up the contract, and missing paperwork on the seller's side is a common early hold-up. The Law Society encourages sellers to instruct a conveyancer as early as possible, ideally before the home goes on the market. This guide covers the forms, what must go in your listing, paying off your mortgage, the agent's fee, completion and Capital Gains Tax. ## Key facts - You need a valid Energy Performance Certificate before you market your home. An EPC lasts 10 years - Firms in the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme must use the TA6 (6th edition) and TA7 (5th edition) forms where they were instructed on or after 30 March 2026 - Before you sign with an estate agent, they must tell you in writing when you'd have to pay them and how much - Your conveyancer usually pays off your mortgage and the agent from the sale money on completion, then sends you the balance - Private Residence Relief usually means no Capital Gains Tax on your main home. If tax is due, you must report and pay within 60 days - In Scotland you need a Home Report before marketing, and must give it to a buyer within 9 days of their request or risk a £500 fine ## What does a seller's conveyancer do? Your conveyancer proves you own the home, prepares the contract, answers the buyer's conveyancer's questions with your help, and on completion pays off your mortgage and hands over the legal documents. Under the Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol, the seller's conveyancer should generally send out the draft contract within five days of confirming instructions, once the buyer's conveyancer is in place. They start by getting official copies of your title from HM Land Registry (£7 each online) and your estate agent's commission terms. *Who does what when you sell a home in England or Wales* | Stage | Your conveyancer | You | | --- | --- | --- | | Instruction | Checks your identity, gets title copies and your agent's terms, asks about your mortgage | Provide ID and list every loan secured on the home | | Contract pack | Sends the draft contract, title copies and your forms to the buyer's conveyancer | Complete the TA6 and TA10 (and TA7 for leasehold), and find certificates and guarantees | | Enquiries | Replies to the buyer's conveyancer's questions | Help with the answers quickly and accurately | | Exchange | Exchanges contracts and receives the buyer's deposit | Sign the contract. You're now committed to move out on the completion date | | Completion | Receives the money, pays off your mortgage and the agent, sends you the balance | Leave the home as agreed and hand over the keys | | After completion | Sends the buyer's conveyancer proof your mortgage is cleared | Keep your completion statement for your tax records | ## Which forms will you fill in? Most sellers in England and Wales fill in Law Society forms that the buyer's conveyancer relies on. Firms in the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme must use them, in the latest editions where they were instructed on or after 30 March 2026. The TA6 property information form (6th edition, 2025) asks about boundaries, disputes, alterations, planning, guarantees, services and more, in 15 sections. The TA10 fittings and contents form (3rd edition, 2013) records what's included, excluded or for sale separately. For a leasehold home you also complete the TA7 leasehold information form (5th edition, 2025). Answer accurately, and say 'not known' rather than guess. Under the Standard Conditions of Sale, a buyer has remedies if a statement in the contract, or in the negotiations leading to it, was misleading or inaccurate because of the seller's error or omission. If your answers are more than two months old when an offer is accepted, the Protocol asks your conveyancer to get you to confirm or update them. Gather documents early. You may need planning permissions and building regulations certificates, FENSA or CERTASS certificates for windows, guarantees and warranties, electrical checks and party wall agreements. If you are selling a leasehold flat in England, your landlord must ask you for a leaseholder deed of certificate within 5 days of learning you plan to sell. Completing it keeps the building safety leaseholder protections, and the landlord can't charge you for it. See [leasehold conveyancing](/moving-home/leasehold-conveyancing/). ## What information must your property listing include? You need a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) before you market your home. It rates the home from A to G and lasts 10 years, and you can be fined if you don't get one when you need one. Check whether you already have one on GOV.UK's [find an energy certificate](https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate) service. Estate agents must not mislead buyers, including by leaving out material information. That rule is now in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) published guidance dividing material information into three parts. Part A applies to every property and covers things like the price, council tax band (rates in Northern Ireland) and tenure. Part B covers facts to establish for every property, such as utilities. Part C applies only where a property is affected. Your agent will ask you for this information. The rules are changing. In June 2026 the government said it would publish new non-statutory guidance on material information. When parliamentary time allows, it also plans to make sellers prepare 'sales packs', including searches and a property condition report, before listing. None of this is law yet, and NTSELAT's material information page now points to the government's plans. ## How do you pay off your mortgage when you sell? Your mortgage is paid off from the sale money on completion, using a redemption statement your conveyancer gets from your lender. Before you market the home, ask your lender how much you owe, whether an early repayment charge applies, and whether there are fees to move the mortgage to a new home. Your conveyancer should also check for other loans secured on the home and warn you early if the sale won't clear them. Keep paying your mortgage, plus any ground rent and service charges, up to and including completion day. On completion your conveyancer sends the lender what it needs to clear the loan. The lender confirms the discharge, and HM Land Registry removes its charge from the register for free. If you'd like to keep your current deal for your next home, see porting in [buying and selling at the same time](/moving-home/buying-and-selling-at-the-same-time/). ## When do you pay the estate agent? You usually pay the estate agent from the sale money on completion. Your conveyancer pays the commission you have authorised and sends you the rest. Under the Estate Agents Act 1979 and regulations made under it, the agent must tell you in writing, before you're committed to paying anything, when you'd have to pay, how much it will be (or how the fee is worked out) and any other payments you might owe. Read the contract type carefully. If you use more than one agent you may have to pay more than one fee, depending on whether an agent has sole agency or sole selling rights. Agents must pass on every offer until contracts are exchanged. There's no official data on typical agent fees, so compare written quotes. Complaints go to The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme, so ask which one your agent belongs to. ## What happens at exchange and completion when you sell? At exchange you become legally bound to sell and to move out by the completion date. Your conveyancer exchanges contracts using a Law Society formula and receives the buyer's deposit. Under the Standard Conditions of Sale, if you're buying another home to live in, you can use that deposit towards the deposit on your purchase. Before completion your conveyancer answers the buyer's completion questions on form TA13, covering how your mortgage will be paid off, keys and vacant possession; some replies count as formal undertakings. On completion day they confirm the money has arrived, tell the agent to release the keys and send the dated transfer deed to the buyer's conveyancer. They then pay your lender and agent and send the balance to the bank account you gave at the start. You must leave the home in the condition the contract requires. ## Will you pay Capital Gains Tax when you sell your home? Usually not. Private Residence Relief means no Capital Gains Tax is due if all of these apply: the home was your only or main home the whole time you owned it, you didn't let part of it out (a lodger doesn't count) or use part of it only for business, the grounds are under 5,000 square metres, and you didn't buy it just to make a gain. The last 9 months you own the home always qualify, even if you've moved out. Worked example: you bought a house for £200,000, lived in it for 9 years, moved out, and sold it 12 months later for £300,000. That's a £100,000 gain before deducting costs such as agent and legal fees. Relief covers 117 of the 120 months you owned it (108 months living there plus the final 9), which is 97.5%. So £97,500 of the gain is relieved and £2,500 is chargeable. That's below the £3,000 annual tax-free allowance, so if you had no other gains that tax year there's nothing to pay. We've used months to keep the example simple. If you do have tax to pay, you must report and pay it within 60 days of the sale. GOV.UK explains [tax when you sell your home](https://www.gov.uk/tax-sell-home). ## How is selling different in Scotland and Northern Ireland? In Scotland you must get a Home Report before marketing, unless an exception applies. It has three parts: a property questionnaire you complete, plus a single survey and valuation and an energy report prepared by a chartered surveyor. You must give it to a prospective buyer within 9 days of their request or risk a £500 fine from trading standards. You don't have to update it unless the home comes off the market for more than 28 days. You must also display the EPC in the property. In Scotland offers go to your solicitor, often by a closing date, and you don't have to accept the highest. Your solicitor sends a qualified acceptance and the solicitors exchange missives. Once the missives are concluded, the sale is binding. The buyer's solicitor drafts the disposition, you sign it just before settlement, and your solicitor repays your mortgage. In Northern Ireland the process is similar to England and Wales, and you need an EPC whenever the home is marketed for sale. ## Frequently asked questions ### When should I instruct a conveyancer to sell my house? As early as you can. The Law Society encourages sellers to instruct a conveyancer before the home is marketed. That way the title documents, TA forms and certificates are ready when you accept an offer, and the buyer's side isn't left waiting for the contract pack. ### Can I pull out of a house sale after accepting an offer? In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you can, until contracts are exchanged, because an accepted offer isn't legally binding. Your agent must pass on other offers until then. After exchange, pulling out usually means paying compensation. In Scotland you are bound once the missives are concluded. ### Do I have to fill in the TA6 form? Firms in the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme must use the TA forms, and under the Conveyancing Protocol the seller's conveyancer sends you the TA6 and TA10 at the start. If the questions aren't answered, expect the buyer's conveyancer to raise them as enquiries, which slows the sale. ### Who pays for the EPC or Home Report? The seller arranges them. In England and Wales you pay an accredited assessor for an EPC before marketing, unless you already have a valid one, which lasts 10 years. In Scotland you must get a Home Report, which includes the energy report, through a surveyor, your solicitor or your estate agent. ### What is a mortgage redemption statement? It's your lender's figure for clearing the mortgage on a given date, including any early repayment charge. Your conveyancer requests it before completion and uses it to pay the lender from the sale money. Some lenders charge for statements and updates, and your conveyancer should tell you the cost. ## Primary source https://www.gov.uk/selling-a-home, https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/property/transaction-forms, https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/property/ta6-6th-edition, https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/property/conveyancing-protocol, https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/property/standard-conditions-of-sale, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/leaseholder-protections-deed-of-certificate-frequently-asked-questions, https://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/news/national-trading-standards-publishes-guidance-on-part-a-material-information-for-property-listings, https://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/work-areas/estate-agency-team/material-information/, https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/home-buying-and-selling-reform/outcome/home-buying-and-selling-reform-roadmap, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/38/section/18, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/859/regulation/4/made, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-registration-services-fees, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-information-services-fees, https://www.gov.uk/tax-sell-home, https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax, https://www.mygov.scot/sell-home, https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/energy-performance-certificates ## Related - [Conveyancing when buying a house](https://moneyguide.org.uk/moving-home/conveyancing-when-buying/) - [Buying and selling at the same time](https://moneyguide.org.uk/moving-home/buying-and-selling-at-the-same-time/) - [Conveyancing costs explained](https://moneyguide.org.uk/moving-home/conveyancing-costs/) - [The cost of moving house](https://moneyguide.org.uk/moving-home/cost-of-moving-house/) - [Leasehold conveyancing](https://moneyguide.org.uk/moving-home/leasehold-conveyancing/) - [Choosing a conveyancer](https://moneyguide.org.uk/moving-home/choosing-a-conveyancer/) --- Independent UK money guidance from [Money Guide](https://moneyguide.org.uk). Information only — not regulated financial advice.