How conveyancing works when you buy or sell a home

What conveyancing involves

Conveyancing is the legal work of transferring ownership of land or buildings from one person to another. When you buy, your conveyancer checks that the seller owns what they are selling and can pass it to you free of anything you have not agreed to, finds out what affects the property and its value, negotiates the contract, and makes sure the money and the ownership change hands at the same moment. After completion, your conveyancer deals with the Stamp Duty Land Tax (or Land Transaction Tax in Wales) and registers you as owner at HM Land Registry.

When you sell, your conveyancer proves your ownership, prepares the draft contract and your information about the property, answers the buyer's questions, and on completion uses the sale money to repay your mortgage and pay the estate agent before sending you the balance.

Before any of that starts, the conveyancer has to check your identity. Buying and selling property is covered by the money laundering regulations, so a buyer will also be asked to show where the money for the deposit and the rest of the price is coming from, usually with bank statements, and with evidence from the giver if family members are contributing.

The stages of buying a home

A purchase of a home in England or Wales usually runs in this order:

1. Your offer is accepted, you instruct a conveyancer and you provide identification and evidence of your funds.
2. The seller's conveyancer sends the draft contract, the title documents and the seller's property information forms.
3. Your conveyancer orders searches and reviews the title and the seller's information.
4. You arrange a survey, and your lender values the property and issues a mortgage offer.
5. Your conveyancer raises enquiries with the seller's conveyancer about anything unclear or missing.
6. Your conveyancer reports to you and you sign the contract.
7. Contracts are exchanged, the deposit is paid and the completion date is fixed.
8. On completion, the rest of the price is paid and the keys are released.
9. The tax return is filed and the purchase is registered at HM Land Registry.

Several of these steps run at the same time: searches, the survey and the mortgage application can all be under way while enquiries are being answered. The pace is set by the slowest item, which may be a search result, a management pack for a leasehold flat, a mortgage offer, or a sale or purchase further along the chain.

Searches, enquiries and the survey

Searches are requests for information from the bodies that hold records about the property. The local authority search shows planning decisions, building control records, road schemes, tree preservation orders and whether the property is in a conservation area. A drainage and water search confirms whether the property is connected to the public sewer and water supply. An environmental search reports on risks such as flooding, contamination and ground stability. Depending on the area, your conveyancer may recommend others, for example where there has been mining. Buyers usually pay for searches at the start.

Enquiries are written questions to the seller about anything the title, the searches or the seller's forms leave unclear: boundaries and disputes with neighbours, alterations and whether they had planning permission and building regulations approval, guarantees for work such as damp-proofing, rights of way, and exactly what is included in the price. You rely on the seller's replies if something later turns out to be wrong, so they should be specific and in writing.

A mortgage valuation is carried out for the lender, to check that the property is adequate security for the loan. It is not a survey and does not tell you about the condition of the property. The level of survey you need depends on the age, construction and condition of the building, and an older or much-altered property justifies a more detailed one. If the survey finds problems, you can go back to the seller before exchange to renegotiate the price or ask for work to be done.

If you are buying with someone else, decide how you will own the property. As joint tenants you own the whole property together, and if one of you dies it passes automatically to the other, whatever your wills say. As tenants in common you can own different shares, and each of you can leave your share by will. The choice matters if you are contributing different amounts or have children from an earlier relationship, and it should be decided alongside your will.

Exchange of contracts and completion

Exchange of contracts is the point at which the purchase becomes legally binding. Until then, either side can withdraw. At exchange the buyer pays the deposit, both sides are committed, and the completion date is fixed. A buyer who then fails to complete may lose the deposit and have to compensate the seller for other losses. Arrange buildings insurance to start from exchange.

Before you exchange, you should have a mortgage offer, your deposit with your conveyancer, your survey and searches back, satisfactory replies to enquiries, and a completion date agreed with everyone in the chain. If you are also selling, your sale needs to be ready to exchange at the same time, so that you are never committed to buy without also being committed to sell.

Completion is the day ownership passes. Your conveyancer sends the rest of the price, including any mortgage money, by bank transfer to the seller's conveyancer. When it arrives, the seller's conveyancer confirms completion, the keys are released and the seller must have moved out. The seller's conveyancer then repays the seller's mortgage and sends the signed transfer and other documents so that the purchase can be registered.

How much Stamp Duty Land Tax will you pay?

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is charged on the purchase of a home in England. Each rate applies only to the part of the price within its band. These rates have applied since 1 April 2025.

Part of the price	Standard rate	First-time buyer (price £500,000 or less)	Additional property
Up to £125,000	0%	0%	5%
£125,001 to £250,000	2%	0%	7%
£250,001 to £300,000	5%	0%	10%
£300,001 to £500,000	5%	5%	10%
£500,001 to £925,000	5%	Not available	10%
£925,001 to £1.5 million	10%	Not available	15%
Above £1.5 million	12%	Not available	17%

First-time buyer relief applies only if you, and everyone buying with you, have never owned residential property or a share in one, in the UK or anywhere else in the world, you intend to live in the property as your main home, and the price is £500,000 or less. If the price is higher, the standard rates apply to the whole price.

The additional property rates, 5 percentage points above the standard rates, usually apply to a purchase of £40,000 or more if buying the property means you will own more than one residential property. They do not apply if the purchase replaces your main residence and you sold the previous one within the 36 months before completing. If you buy a new main home before selling the old one, you pay the higher rates and can claim a refund if you sell or give away your previous main home within three years; the refund must be claimed within 12 months of that sale or of the filing date of the return, whichever is later. A buyer who has not been present in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before the purchase is treated as non-resident and usually pays a further 2 percentage points.

For example, a £350,000 home bought as your only home costs £7,500 in SDLT: nothing on the first £125,000, £2,500 on the next £125,000 and £5,000 on the last £100,000. A first-time buyer would pay £2,500, which is 5% of the £50,000 above £300,000. If the same home were an additional property, the SDLT would be £25,000.

The return must be filed and the tax paid within 14 days of completion, and HMRC can charge penalties and interest if either is late. Your conveyancer normally files the return and pays the tax from money you provide before completion.

Land Transaction Tax on a home in Wales

Land Transaction Tax replaced SDLT in Wales on 1 April 2018 and is collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority. It has its own bands, and the higher rates for additional properties are a separate scale rather than a flat addition.

Part of the price	Main residential rate	Higher residential rate
Up to £180,000	0%	5%
£180,001 to £225,000	0%	8.5%
£225,001 to £250,000	6%	8.5%
£250,001 to £400,000	6%	10%
£400,001 to £750,000	7.5%	12.5%
£750,001 to £1.5 million	10%	15%
Above £1.5 million	12%	17%

The main rates have applied since 10 October 2022 and the higher rates since 11 December 2024. For example, a £350,000 main home in Wales costs £7,500 in Land Transaction Tax, which is 6% of the £125,000 above £225,000. The return must be sent and the tax paid within 30 days of the day after completion.

Registering the purchase at HM Land Registry

Buying a registered property does not make you its legal owner until the transfer is registered at HM Land Registry. Shortly before completion, your conveyancer makes an official search of the register, which gives your purchase priority for 30 working days: it protects the purchase against anything else being registered against the property in that time, provided your application arrives before the priority period ends. HM Land Registry charges a fee for the application, based on the price, and where there is a mortgage the lender's charge is registered at the same time.

If the property has not been registered before, for example because it has not changed hands for a long time, the purchase must be registered for the first time, and the application has to be made within two months of completion.

Buying or selling a leasehold flat

When you buy a leasehold flat, you buy a lease for a fixed number of years, and the freeholder or a management company looks after the building. The number of years left on the lease affects the value of the flat and whether lenders will lend against it. If you own a flat on a long lease, you usually have a statutory right to a new lease that adds 90 years to the existing term at a peppercorn ground rent, which means no ground rent is payable, in return for a premium. Since 31 January 2025 you no longer need to have owned the flat for two years before making that claim. If the lease has 80 years or less to run when the claim is made, the premium includes half of the marriage value: the increase in value that comes from replacing the short lease with a long one. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will abolish marriage value and allow extensions of 990 years, but those parts of the Act are not yet in force. A seller who has already served notice claiming an extension can assign the benefit of that notice to the buyer with the lease, so the claim continues after the sale.

For most new long leases of homes granted on or after 30 June 2022, or on or after 1 April 2023 for retirement homes, the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 limits the ground rent to a peppercorn. Older leases are not affected, so check how much the ground rent is and whether and how it increases.

Before exchange, the buyer's conveyancer should see the information pack from the landlord or managing agent: the service charge budget and recent accounts, any reserve fund, planned major works and how they will be paid for, the buildings insurance, and any disputes. The seller normally pays for the pack, and ordering it when the flat goes on the market helps avoid delay. The lease may also require the buyer to give notice of the purchase to the landlord and sign a deed of covenant with the management company, each with a fee.

For a flat in England in a building more than 11 metres high or with at least five storeys, the Building Safety Act 2022 protects qualifying leaseholders from some or all of the cost of fixing historical safety defects. Whether a lease qualifies depends on the position on 14 February 2022, and that status passes to later buyers, so expect your conveyancer to ask for the building safety information, including the leaseholder deed of certificate.

What sellers need to do

You can shorten a sale by preparing before you accept an offer. You must order an energy performance certificate before you market the property, and it is valid for 10 years. Your conveyancer will need your identification, your answers on the property information forms, and copies of planning permissions, building regulations completion certificates, guarantees and warranties for work done while you have owned the property. If you have had an extension, a loft conversion, replacement windows or electrical work, find the paperwork before you list the property.

Tell your conveyancer about anything that affects the property, such as a dispute with a neighbour, a notice from the council or work done without approval. Wrong or incomplete answers on the property information forms can leave you liable to the buyer after completion. On completion the property must be empty unless the contract says otherwise, and anything you have agreed to leave, such as fitted appliances, must still be there.

What causes delays, and what to do first

The common causes of delay are a chain in which one buyer or seller is not ready, a mortgage offer or valuation that takes longer than expected, a leasehold management pack that was ordered late, paperwork for past building work that cannot be found, and searches that take time to come back. Where the property belonged to someone who has died, the sale cannot complete until the grant of probate or letters of administration has been issued.

If you are buying, have your identification, proof of your deposit and a mortgage agreement in principle ready before you make an offer, and instruct your conveyancer as soon as the offer is accepted. If you are selling, instruct a conveyancer when you put the property on the market, order the energy performance certificate, gather your guarantees and building paperwork, and if the property is leasehold ask for the management pack straight away. Answer your conveyancer's questions quickly, because an unanswered question can hold up everyone in the chain.

We agree the scope and cost of our work with you in writing before we start, and we set out the other costs you will pay, such as search fees, HM Land Registry's fee and the tax.

Frequently asked questions

When does buying a house become legally binding?

Buying a house becomes legally binding when contracts are exchanged. Before exchange, either the buyer or the seller can withdraw, even if an offer has been accepted and searches have been done. After exchange, a buyer who fails to complete may lose the deposit and have to compensate the seller for other losses. The completion date, when ownership passes and you get the keys, is fixed at exchange.

How much Stamp Duty will I pay as a first-time buyer?

In England, first-time buyers pay no Stamp Duty Land Tax on the first £300,000 of the price and 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000, so a £400,000 home costs £5,000. If the price is over £500,000, the relief is not available and the standard rates apply to the whole price. Everyone buying must be a first-time buyer, and the property must be your main home.

Do I pay the higher rates of SDLT if I haven't sold my old home yet?

Usually yes, because buying the new home means you will own more than one residential property. You pay the higher rates, 5 percentage points above the standard rates, and can claim a refund if you sell or give away your previous main home within three years of buying the new one. The refund must be claimed within 12 months of that sale or of the filing date of the return, whichever is later.

What searches does a buyer need?

A buyer normally needs a local authority search, a drainage and water search and an environmental search. The local authority search covers planning decisions, building control, road schemes, tree preservation orders and conservation areas. The drainage and water search confirms connection to the public sewer and water supply, and the environmental search covers risks such as flooding and contamination. Your conveyancer may recommend others for the area, and your lender may require particular searches.

What is the difference between joint tenants and tenants in common?

Joint tenants own the whole property together, and when one dies the property passes automatically to the survivor, whatever the will says. Tenants in common own separate shares, which can be unequal, and each can leave their share by will. You choose when you buy, and you can change from one to the other later. Buyers contributing different amounts, or with children from earlier relationships, should consider owning as tenants in common.

How many years should be left on a lease when I buy a flat?

There is no legal minimum, but lenders set their own minimum remaining term, and a shorter lease reduces the value of the flat. Once a lease has 80 years or less to run, a statutory extension costs more because the premium includes half of the marriage value. If the lease is close to or below 80 years, ask whether the seller will start a statutory extension claim and assign its benefit to you on completion.

What does a seller need to provide to a conveyancer?

A seller needs to provide identification, completed property information forms, and copies of planning permissions, building regulations certificates, guarantees and warranties for any work done. An energy performance certificate must be ordered before the property is marketed. For a leasehold flat, the seller also needs the information pack from the landlord or managing agent, which is best ordered as soon as the flat goes on the market.

Sources & further reading

• GOV.UK — Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates
• GOV.UK — Higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax
• GOV.WALES — Land Transaction Tax rates and bands
• GOV.UK — How to buy a home
• HM Land Registry — Practice guide 12: official searches
• legislation.gov.uk — Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2025
• GOV.UK — Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022
• GOV.UK — Joint property ownership

This article is general information, not legal advice. The law changes and depends on your circumstances — always take advice on your specific situation before acting. Last reviewed 17 September 2026. AD Solicitors is a trading name of AD Solicitors Limited, a recognised body regulated by the SRA (no. 8011228).