What happens after exchange of contracts?

At exchange of contracts, the sale becomes legally binding and the completion date is fixed in writing. Neither party can walk away without serious financial consequences from this point forward.

Three things need your attention immediately:

• Buildings insurance must be active from the moment of exchange, not completion.
• Confirm your funds are in place, whether that's mortgage drawdown or savings transfer.
• Book removals provisionally for your completion date before slots disappear.

Key Takeaways

Exchange of contracts creates a binding legal commitment with a fixed completion date, and the fortnight that follows is largely administrative, insurance, funds, and paperwork, rather than legal negotiation.

Table of Contents

What exchange of contracts means in law and practice

Exchange is the legal turning point. Once both solicitors have exchanged signed contracts, buyer and seller are bound to the transaction under terms that follow the Law Society standard conditions and the Code for Completion by Post, which governs how solicitors handle money and documents on the day itself.

Withdrawing after this point isn't a simple change of mind. It can mean losing your deposit and facing further liability for the seller's losses.

Key practicalities settled at exchange:

• Deposit: typically held by the seller's solicitor (often as "stakeholder", meaning it can't be released until completion).
• Completion date: written into the contract and fixed by mutual agreement, not something either side can unilaterally shift.
• Risk transfer: the buyer typically assumes risk for the property from exchange, which is why insurance timing matters so much.

What should buyers do between exchange and completion?

The gap between exchange and completion feels quiet from the outside, but it's when several time-sensitive jobs need finishing.

1. Activate buildings insurance from the exchange date itself. This is the single most overlooked legal risk point. If the property is damaged before you complete and you have no cover in place, you're still contractually bound to complete and pay full price. 2. Confirm mortgage drawdown arrangements with your lender. Check the funds will reach your solicitor in time, and ask exactly when the money needs to be requested. 3. Respond to solicitor requests without delay. Your conveyancer will chase signatures, ID checks, and source-of-funds evidence. A slow reply from you can hold up the whole chain. 4. Review your completion statement carefully the moment it lands, checking figures against what you expected to pay. 5. Get removals provisionally booked, sort out utility transfers, and agree access times with the seller's agent.

Pro Tip: Arrange your mortgage drawdown at least one working day before completion. Banks have cut-off times for large transfers, and missing one can push your entire completion into the following day.

What should sellers do between exchange and completion?

Sellers carry a different set of jobs, but they're just as time-critical.

1. Keep buildings insurance running until completion, and don't let it lapse the moment you've exchanged. You remain responsible for the property until the keys change hands. 2. Sign and return the TR1 transfer deed promptly when your solicitor sends it. This document formally transfers ownership and can't be actioned late. 3. Request your mortgage redemption figure from your lender early, and confirm with the estate agent exactly when and how keys will be handed over. 4. Photograph meter readings on completion morning before you leave. Documented gas, electricity, and water readings, ideally emailed to your solicitor and the buyer, prevent billing disputes weeks later.

Booking removals as soon as you exchange, rather than waiting until the final week, is one of the most commonly recommended seller tasks precisely because slots fill quickly around common completion dates like Fridays and month-ends.

What do solicitors and conveyancers do after exchange?

While you're sorting removals vans and insurance policies, your solicitor is working through a distinct administrative sequence.

• Preparing the completion statement, which sets out the final balance due, disbursements, and any adjustments for things like ground rent.
• Requesting the mortgage advance from your lender and obtaining redemption statements from the seller's lender, so the existing mortgage can be cleared on completion day.
• Running compliance and fraud checks on bank details, verifying account numbers before any money moves, since conveyancing fraud targeting completion-day transfers is a genuine and growing risk.
• Preparing the Land Registry application and SDLT paperwork ready for submission once completion has taken place.

This is largely paperwork and verification rather than legal drafting, since the heavy negotiation work is already finished by exchange. That's partly why the gap between exchange and completion has shortened in typical practice. Solicitors dealing with a premium, well-resourced firm tend to move through these checks faster than firms juggling a high caseload.

How long is the gap between exchange and completion?

There's no fixed rule, but most transactions in England settle into a familiar pattern.

• Typical gap: 1 to 2 weeks is the most common window, giving both sides enough time to finish the administrative tasks above.
• Chain-free cash sales: can complete in as little as 1 to 2 working days, since there's no lender drawdown or dependent sale to coordinate.
• Long chains or complex titles: can push the gap to 3 to 4 weeks or longer, particularly when a lease extension, missing planning consent, or unresolved search query needs resolving before completion can safely happen.

The completion date itself is agreed by both parties and written into the contract at exchange, so it isn't something one side can quietly move. Watch out for two practical traps: bank transfer cut-off times, which are usually mid-afternoon, and weekend timing, since completion almost always needs to fall on a working day.

What can go wrong between exchange and completion?

Problems are rare once exchange has happened, but they're not impossible, and the contract sets out clear remedies.

• Penalty interest accrues against the party responsible for a delay, calculated daily on the purchase price.
• Notice to complete gives the defaulting party 10 working days to finish the transaction, after which more serious consequences follow.
• Rescission and damages are the final step if a notice to complete is ignored, potentially unwinding the sale entirely and leaving the defaulting party liable for the other side's losses.

If the property suffers damage between exchange and completion, such as a burst pipe or storm damage, the buyer typically remains bound to complete at the agreed price and must rely on insurance to cover the repair. This is exactly why buyer's insurance needs to start at exchange, not completion.

When a genuine delay is unavoidable, both solicitors agreeing a short, documented extension in writing is almost always better for everyone than letting a missed date drift into a formal notice to complete.

What happens on completion day, step by step?

Completion day runs to a fairly predictable sequence, even though it can feel chaotic if you're the one packing boxes.

1. Morning checks. The seller takes final meter readings and vacates the property; the buyer's solicitor runs last checks to confirm nothing has changed since exchange. 2. Funds move by bank transfer. The buyer's solicitor sends the completion balance to the seller's solicitor, typically mid-morning, and the transaction only completes once that money is confirmed as received. 3. Keys are released. The estate agent hands over keys only after receiving written confirmation from the solicitors that funds have cleared, usually a call or email. 4. Documents are dated and exchanged. The transfer deed is formally dated, marking the legal moment ownership passes. 5. Proceeds are distributed. The seller's solicitor pays off any existing mortgage, settles the estate agent's fee, and releases the remaining balance to the seller.

Delays on completion day are almost always caused by a transfer arriving late in the chain, which is why clear communication between solicitors and estate agents earlier in the process matters so much for avoiding a last-minute scramble.

What happens after completion: SDLT and Land Registry?

Completion isn't quite the end of the paperwork. Two statutory jobs still need finishing.

• Stamp Duty Land Tax filing. Your solicitor must submit the SDLT return within 14 days of completion and pay any tax due. Miss this window and penalties start accruing automatically.
• The SDLT5 receipt. This confirms the return has been filed and is required before HM Land Registry will process the ownership change.
• Land Registry registration. Your solicitor submits the application to update the register, showing you as the new legal owner.

Processing times at the Land Registry vary and can sometimes run to several weeks or longer depending on their current workload, though the property is legally yours from completion regardless of how long registration takes. You'll eventually receive confirmation of your registered title, alongside your solicitor's final account and, if relevant, guidance on your Stamp Duty position for future reference.

Your checklist from exchange day to completion

Breaking the fortnight into stages keeps the workload manageable.

1. For insurance or funds queries, call your solicitor directly rather than the estate agent. 2. For key handover timing, the estate agent coordinates this once solicitors confirm funds have cleared. 3. Keep every email and confirmation from your solicitor. If a dispute arises later over meter readings or timing, this is what settles it.

How Conveyancing-Solicitor.co.uk helps after exchange

Getting to exchange smoothly starts with choosing a conveyancer who won't let paperwork drift in that final fortnight. Conveyancing-Solicitor.co.uk matches buyers and sellers with SRA or CLC-regulated firms, all vetted to five-star standards, through an instant fixed-fee quote system that removes the guesswork from picking a solicitor.

• Instant, fixed-fee quotes mean you know your costs upfront, with no surprise charges appearing in your completion statement.
• Vetted, regulated firms only, so every conveyancer in the network is properly authorised to handle your funds and paperwork.
• Nationwide coverage with local expertise, useful whether you're buying in a city chain or a rural cash sale.

For a fuller sense of how each stage fits together, our step-by-step conveyancing guide walks through the whole process from instruction to registration.

Chief mistakes buyers and sellers make after exchange

The mistake I see repeated most often is treating the exchange to completion gap as a holiday from admin. It isn't. The legal risk (insurance, funds, deadlines) is at its sharpest precisely when everyone feels the hard part is over.

My one rule: sort your buildings insurance before you leave the solicitor's office on exchange day. Everything else can wait a few hours. That one can't.

Get a fixed-fee conveyancing quote before you exchange

None of the tasks above go smoothly if you've picked a conveyancer who's slow to answer emails or vague about fees. Comparing quotes upfront, rather than instructing the first firm you find, is the difference between a calm fortnight and a stressful one.

Conveyancing-Solicitor.co.uk's instant quote tool asks for your property details and transaction type, then returns fixed-fee quotes from vetted, regulated firms within minutes, so there's no waiting on callbacks or comparing vague estimates. Every firm in the network is SRA or CLC-regulated, and fees are fixed from the outset rather than creeping upward as disbursements appear.

If you're still choosing a solicitor, or want to compare your current quote against the market, get your free instant quote and see what a fixed-fee, five-star firm would charge for your move.

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