Conveyancing remains one of the most significant legal transactions most people will ever undertake, yet many buyers and sellers — and even some newly-qualified solicitors — struggle to articulate exactly what happens between an offer being accepted and keys changing hands. This guide sets out the complete conveyancing process as it operates in England and Wales in 2025, from initial instruction through to post-completion registration.

What Is Conveyancing?

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of real property from one person to another. In England and Wales the process is split into two distinct phases separated by a critical milestone: exchange of contracts and completion. Unlike Scotland, where missives create binding obligations much earlier, an English conveyancing transaction remains entirely non-binding on both parties until contracts are formally exchanged — a fact that causes significant anxiety and, occasionally, gazumping.

The Law Society estimates that the average residential transaction takes between 8 and 12 weeks from instruction to completion, though this figure can stretch considerably when chains are involved or when title defects emerge.

Stage One: Instruction and Initial Due Diligence

Taking Instructions and Opening the File

Once a buyer or seller instructs a solicitor, the first task is to complete client onboarding. This means satisfying the requirements of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, which oblige solicitors to verify the identity and address of every client and — crucially — to understand the source of funds being used to purchase. Failure to comply can expose the firm to criminal liability and SRA enforcement action.

At the same time the solicitor must issue a client care letter complying with the SRA’s Transparency Rules, setting out the firm’s charges, an estimate of disbursements, the supervising partner’s details, and the firm’s complaints procedure.

For sellers, the solicitor will obtain official copies of the register from HM Land Registry (or, for unregistered land, the title deeds from the client or mortgage lender), and prepare the draft contract package including the TA6 Property Information Form and TA10 Fittings and Contents Form. These standard Law Society forms were updated in 2024 to include more granular questions about building safety, Japanese knotweed, and flood risk — areas that have generated significant litigation in recent years.

Obtaining the Draft Contract Package

The seller’s solicitor sends the draft contract, title documentation, and completed protocol forms to the buyer’s solicitor. The buyer’s solicitor reviews these documents and raises “pre-contract enquiries” — questions about matters not covered in the standard forms. Common enquiries concern boundary ownership, disputed rights of way, planning permissions, and any ongoing disputes with neighbours.

Stage Two: Searches and Survey

Property Searches

The buyer’s solicitor orders a package of property searches. In almost all mortgage transactions the lender will insist on at minimum:

Local authority search: reveals planning permissions, enforcement notices, road adoption, and tree preservation orders. Turnaround from councils varies dramatically — from 48 hours in some London boroughs to six weeks in rural areas.
Drainage and water search: confirms whether the property drains to a public sewer and whether any public sewer runs through the land.
Environmental search: assesses contaminated land risk, flood risk, and ground stability.
Chancel repair search: checks whether the property might be liable to contribute to the repair of a local church chancel — a liability that can run to tens of thousands of pounds.

Depending on the location, solicitors may also recommend coal mining searches, tin mining searches (Cornwall and Devon), brine searches (Cheshire), or radon searches.

The Survey

Separate from the legal process, the buyer should commission a surveyor. The RICS offers three main levels: the RICS Home Survey Level 1 (condition report), Level 2 (homebuyer report), and Level 3 (full structural survey). A Level 3 survey is advisable for older, larger, or unusual properties. Crucially, the mortgage valuation carried out by the lender’s surveyor is not a survey — it is an assessment of whether the property provides adequate security for the loan, and it offers the buyer no protection.

Stage Three: Mortgage Offer and Reporting to Client

Acting for the Lender

In most residential transactions the buyer’s solicitor also acts for the mortgage lender under the terms of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook, which imposes detailed obligations about how title must be reported, what risks must be disclosed, and what title conditions must be resolved before the lender will release funds. Solicitors who fail to comply with the Handbook — or who fail to report discrepancies to the lender — risk claims under their professional indemnity insurance and regulatory action.

Reporting to the Buyer

Once searches have returned, enquiries have been satisfactorily answered, and the mortgage offer has been received, the solicitor prepares a written report to the buyer. This should explain the title, the results of all searches, the terms of the mortgage, and any conditions that require the client’s attention. The report should be accurate, complete, and in plain language — not a recitation of legal jargon that leaves the client none the wiser.

The Law Society’s practice note on reporting to clients emphasises that the solicitor must ensure the client genuinely understands what they are signing, particularly where there are unusual title conditions or onerous leasehold terms.

Stage Four: Exchange of Contracts

Exchange of contracts is the pivotal moment at which both parties become legally bound. From this point, neither can withdraw without financial penalty. The buyer will have paid a deposit — typically 10% of the purchase price, though 5% is increasingly negotiated — and if they fail to complete, that deposit is forfeit and the seller may also pursue a claim for damages.

The Mechanics of Exchange

Exchange is almost always conducted by telephone under the Law Society’s formulae. Formula B is used in the vast majority of residential transactions: each solicitor holds their client’s signed contract, and on the telephone call they simultaneously agree that exchange has taken place, the completion date is confirmed, and both solicitors date their copies of the contract. The buyer’s solicitor then sends the deposit to the seller’s solicitor, usually by CHAPS transfer.

The Completion Date

The completion date agreed at exchange is binding. A gap of 7 to 28 days between exchange and completion is typical for non-chain transactions; in chains the period may be compressed to two weeks or even a simultaneous exchange and completion (known as “same-day exchange and completion” or “sim ex”). Simultaneous exchange and completion is inherently higher-risk because if funding fails on the day, there is no remedy short of litigation.

Stage Five: Pre-Completion Steps

Official Search with Priority

Shortly before completion, the buyer’s solicitor submits an official search of the register at HMLR (Form OS1 for the whole of the registered title). This search gives the buyer’s solicitor a priority period of 30 business days, during which no other dealing on the title can be registered ahead of the buyer’s purchase. The search also reveals whether anything has been registered against the title since the office copies were obtained.

The buyer’s solicitor also submits a bankruptcy search against the names of all buyers, as the lender requires confirmation that the buyer is not bankrupt.

Completion Statement and Requisitions on Title

The seller’s solicitor raises a completion statement setting out the amount required on completion day. The buyer’s solicitor raises “requisitions on title” — final questions about outstanding mortgages, vacant possession, and how the keys will be released. The seller’s solicitor confirms all existing charges will be discharged on completion.

Stage Six: Completion

Completion takes place on the agreed date, usually between 10am and 2pm. The buyer’s solicitor sends the balance of the purchase price by CHAPS transfer to the seller’s solicitor’s client account. Once the funds are received and cleared, the seller’s solicitor confirms completion, notifies the estate agent, and the keys are released.

The seller is obliged to vacate by the completion time specified in the contract — typically 12 noon or 1pm, though this is frequently a source of stress when removal vans are delayed.

Stage Seven: Post-Completion

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Within 14 days of completion the buyer’s solicitor must submit an SDLT return to HMRC and pay any tax due. Late submission attracts automatic penalties starting at £100. The SDLT1 return (or the online equivalent) must be filed even if no tax is payable.

Registration at HMLR

The buyer’s solicitor must register the transfer and any new mortgage at HMLR within the priority period obtained by the OS1 search. Since October 2022, HMLR has required all applications capable of being submitted digitally to be submitted through the portal. Registration times at HMLR have improved following a backlog that peaked during the pandemic, but complex titles or first registrations can still take several months.

Discharging the Seller’s Mortgage

The seller’s solicitor must discharge the seller’s mortgage and ensure this is registered at HMLR promptly. Failure to do so is a common source of complaints and negligence claims.

Common Complications and How They Arise

Defective Title

Title defects — missing deeds, boundary discrepancies, inadequate rights of way, unlawful planning breaches — are common in older properties. Solicitors must assess whether a defect can be cured (by statutory declaration, retrospective planning permission, or an application to rectify the register) or whether indemnity insurance is the appropriate solution. Indemnity insurance does not cure the defect; it merely protects against financial loss arising from it.

Delays in the Chain

The majority of residential transactions form part of a chain, and any delay by one party ripples through the entire chain. Good solicitors manage chains proactively: they chase other parties’ solicitors, update clients regularly, and identify potential sticking points before they become crises.

Gazumping and Gazundering

Because the pre-exchange period is entirely non-binding, sellers can accept a higher offer from a third party (gazumping) and buyers can reduce their offer at the last moment (gazundering). Home Information Packs were intended to address this but were abolished in 2010. The Law Commission has proposed reforms to the conveyancing process, but legislative action remains pending.

Conveyancing in 2025: Key Changes to Be Aware Of

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 introduced significant changes to leasehold enfranchisement, ground rents, and service charges. Solicitors advising on leasehold purchases must be familiar with the new rights and the transitional provisions. The Act also places new duties on managing agents and landlords that affect the information to be included in the pre-contract package.

HMLR’s digital transformation programme continues to expand: digital registration of discharges is now mandatory where the lender uses the e-DS1 or DS1e process, and the majority of lenders have adopted this. Solicitors who continue to rely on paper processes face delays and rejection of applications.

Conclusion

Conveyancing remains a technically demanding area of practice that rewards careful, systematic lawyers. The process has not changed fundamentally in decades, but the regulatory environment — particularly around AML, SDLT, and HMLR’s digital requirements — has become considerably more complex.

Obiter helps conveyancing teams stay on top of every step: the AI reads incoming client and agent emails, automatically drafts replies at each stage, and logs billable time against the correct matter — so your solicitors spend their day on legal judgment rather than chasing searches and re-reading chains.

The Conveyancing Process: A Complete Guide for 2025