Conveyancing steps when buying a house: your guide

• Buying a house in England involves a complex conveyancing process that begins immediately after offer acceptance and requires prompt legal and administrative actions. The process includes conducting searches, raising enquiries, exchanging contracts, and ultimately registering ownership with HM Land Registry, often taking several months after completion. Clear communication, timely responses, and trusting with a regulated conveyancer can significantly reduce stress and ensure a smooth transaction.

Buying a house in England is one of the largest financial decisions you will ever make, and the legal process behind it — conveyancing — often feels like a maze of unfamiliar terms, documents, and waiting periods. Understanding the conveyancing steps when buying a house puts you in control. It helps you avoid costly delays, ask the right questions, and know exactly what your solicitor is doing at each stage. This guide walks you through the entire conveyancing process step by step, from the moment your offer is accepted through to final registration of your ownership at HM Land Registry.

Table of Contents

Key takeaways

Conveyancing steps when buying a house: the preparation phase

The conveyancing process workflow begins the moment a seller accepts your offer. Most buyers assume they can take a few days to find a solicitor, but that assumption costs time. You should instruct a conveyancer on the same day your offer is accepted. Scheduling risk is greatest before exchange, because AML checks, contract drafting, searches, and repeated enquiries all need to be completed first.

Your first decision is choosing between a solicitor and a licensed conveyancer. Both are qualified to handle residential property transactions in England, and both must be regulated — either by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). The practical difference is that solicitors can also advise on broader legal matters, which can be useful if your purchase involves complexities such as a trust, a disputed boundary, or a gifted deposit.

Before any legal work can begin, your conveyancer will carry out identity and anti-money laundering (AML) checks. You will need to provide:

• Proof of identity (passport or driving licence)
• Proof of address (a recent utility bill or bank statement)
• Evidence of your source of funds (bank statements, mortgage offer, or gift letter)

The seller's solicitor will simultaneously prepare the contract pack. This typically includes the official title register and title plan from HM Land Registry, the TA6 property information form (covering boundaries, disputes, and building works), and the TA10 fixtures and fittings form. For leasehold properties, you can also expect an LPE1 form from the managing agent, which covers ground rent, service charges, and the remaining lease length. Your mortgage offer, once received from your lender, also forms part of the preparation picture, as your conveyancer must review its conditions before advising you to proceed.

Before exchange: searches, enquiries, and what happens in between

This is the most time-consuming phase of the conveyancing process steps, and the one most buyers underestimate. Once your conveyancer receives the contract pack from the seller's solicitor, the work of investigation begins in earnest.

The pre-exchange phase follows a clear sequence:

1. Contract pack received. Your solicitor reviews the draft contract, title documents, and all seller-provided forms for any gaps, inconsistencies, or risks that need addressing. 2. Searches ordered. Your conveyancer orders a set of searches on your behalf. The three standard searches are the local authority search (planning history, road adoptions, nearby developments), the water and drainage search (confirming connection to mains supplies), and the environmental search (flooding, contamination, and ground stability). Each search takes time to come back and the results must be reviewed carefully. 3. Mortgage offer reviewed. Once your lender issues a formal mortgage offer, your solicitor checks its conditions and reports to you on anything that needs attention before proceeding. 4. Enquiries raised. Based on the contract, title documents, and search results, your solicitor raises formal written enquiries with the seller's solicitor. These questions cover anything that is unclear or potentially problematic, from planning permission for an extension to the age of the boiler. The seller's solicitor must reply to each one in writing. 5. Enquiries answered and reviewed. Delays commonly arise when seller responses and additional documents are needed. If answers are incomplete or raise further questions, a second round of enquiries follows. This back-and-forth is the single most common bottleneck in the whole process. 6. Report on title. Once all searches and enquiries are satisfactory, your solicitor produces a report on title for you. This document summarises what they have found, what you are buying, the conditions of your mortgage, and what happens next. You review it, sign the contract, and transfer your deposit funds to your solicitor in readiness for exchange.

Pro Tip: Never wait for your solicitor to chase you. If they ask for documents or signatures, respond the same day. Every delay at your end adds days to the overall timeline, and the seller can accept another buyer until contracts are exchanged.

It is worth understanding that conveyancing involves legal judgement and investigation, not just processing paperwork. The searches and enquiries phase is where a skilled conveyancer earns their fee, identifying risks that could affect your ability to sell the property in future, your mortgage conditions, or even your physical enjoyment of the home. Before exchange, either party can withdraw without penalty, so this phase is your window to investigate fully and make an informed decision.

Exchange and completion: the legal milestones that seal the deal

Exchange of contracts and completion are two separate events, and confusing them is one of the most common misunderstandings buyers have about the moving house conveyancing steps.

Exchange of contracts is the moment both solicitors confirm, by telephone and in writing, that signed contracts have been exchanged between the parties. From this point:

• The transaction is legally binding on both the buyer and the seller
• You pay your deposit, typically around 10% of the purchase price, to your solicitor, who holds it until completion
• A fixed completion date is agreed and written into the contract
• If you withdraw after exchange, you lose your deposit. If the seller withdraws, they face significant financial consequences including a potential legal claim

The gap between exchange and completion is typically one to four weeks. During this time, your solicitor prepares the transfer deed (known as the TR1 form), requests the mortgage funds from your lender, and carries out a pre-completion priority search (the OS1 form) to confirm no new entries have been made against the title.

Completion day is when ownership of the property transfers to you. Your solicitor sends the purchase funds to the seller's solicitor by bank transfer. Once the seller's solicitor confirms receipt, the seller's estate agent releases the keys. You can collect them and move in.

Pro Tip: Book your removals firm as soon as you have exchanged, not before. Completion dates can shift before exchange, and cancellation fees from removals companies can be significant.

It is also worth noting that legal ownership transfers on completion day. However, formal registration of your ownership at HM Land Registry does not happen on the same day. This matters, and the next section explains why.

After completion: SDLT, registration, and securing your ownership

Completion day feels like the finish line, but your solicitor still has important work to do. The conveyancing timeline explained fully must include these post-completion steps, because leaving them incomplete could jeopardise your legal title.

Your solicitor must file the SDLT return and pay any stamp duty within 14 days of completion. Missing this deadline results in automatic statutory penalties and interest, regardless of the reason for the delay. Buyers who want to check their liability in advance can use the stamp duty guidance on the Conveyancing-solicitor website before completion day.

After SDLT is filed, your solicitor submits the AP1 registration application to HM Land Registry, together with the signed TR1 transfer deed and the SDLT certificate. You are now the legal owner, but your name is not yet on the public register. This gap is protected by the OS1 priority search, which protects your interest after completion and before registration is complete.

Registration can take several months, depending on the complexity of the application and current Land Registry workloads. During this period, you hold what is known as an equitable interest in the property. Once registration is confirmed, your conveyancer will send you official copies of the updated title register showing your name as the registered proprietor. That is the true conclusion of the conveyancing process explained in full.

To understand how the overall timeline fits together, the Conveyancing-solicitor guide on conveyancing duration and timelines gives you a clear picture of what to expect at every stage.

My perspective on getting conveyancing right

In my experience working with buyers at every stage of the property purchase process, the anxiety almost always comes from not knowing where things stand. Clear communication genuinely reduces stress for buyers, and I have seen that play out time and again. When buyers receive regular updates from their solicitor, they tolerate delays far better than when they are left in silence.

What I have learned is that the buyers who have the smoothest transactions are the ones who treat their solicitor as a partner rather than a service provider they chase every few weeks. They respond to requests promptly, they read the report on title rather than signing it without looking, and they ask questions when something is unclear.

The enquiries stage is where I see most deals slow down, and it is rarely the fault of the buyer's solicitor. It is usually the seller's solicitor waiting on documents from managing agents, local councils, or the seller themselves. My honest advice: plan for this phase to take longer than you expect. If it resolves quickly, you have gained time. If it drags, you have not wasted mental energy worrying about a deadline that was never realistic.

The gap between completion and registration also catches people off guard. You are legally the owner on completion day. Your solicitor is protecting your position with a priority search. But the Land Registry confirmation can take months, and buyers sometimes panic when they cannot see their name on the register. This is entirely normal. Knowing this in advance makes it far less stressful when you experience it.

Find a trusted conveyancer and save on legal fees

Understanding every stage of the conveyancing process is only half the work. The other half is choosing a solicitor or licensed conveyancer you can trust to handle it properly. Conveyancing-solicitor connects buyers across England with SRA and CLC regulated firms that offer fixed-fee, transparent pricing with no hidden charges. You can see what your average solicitor fees are likely to be before you commit to anyone, and you can get an instant conveyancing quote online in minutes. For buyers who want to understand full buying costs beyond just solicitor fees, there is a detailed guide covering every expense from searches to stamp duty. London buyers can also find targeted support through the affordable conveyancing services available for urban transactions.

FAQ

What are the main conveyancing steps when buying a house?

The main steps are: instruct a conveyancer, complete AML checks, receive and review the contract pack, order searches, raise and resolve enquiries, exchange contracts, complete the purchase, and register ownership at HM Land Registry.

How long does the conveyancing process take in England?

The conveyancing process typically takes between eight and sixteen weeks, though leasehold properties and complex transactions can take longer due to additional enquiries and third-party documents.

What happens if I pull out before exchange of contracts?

Before exchange, either party can withdraw without a financial penalty. You may still lose any survey fees or search costs already paid, but you are not legally committed to the purchase until contracts are exchanged.

When do I pay Stamp Duty Land Tax?

Your solicitor files the SDLT return and pays any stamp duty owed within 14 days of your completion date. You will need to transfer the correct amount to your solicitor before or on completion day.

What is the difference between exchange and completion?

Exchange is when the contract becomes legally binding and the deposit is paid. Completion is when the purchase funds are transferred and you receive the keys. The two events are usually separated by one to four weeks.

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