There is a stage in almost every house move when the conveyancing solicitor appears to have disappeared into a fog of searches, enquiries and unexplained paperwork.
You may have provided your identification, paid money on account and signed several forms. The estate agent may be asking for an update. The removal company wants a date. Yet from where you are sitting, nothing much seems to be happening.
I remember that feeling from my own house moves. Once an offer has been accepted, it is tempting to think that the difficult part is over and the remaining legal work should be little more than transferring some money and changing a name at HM Land Registry. In reality, this is where the detailed investigation begins.
Quick answer: A conveyancing solicitor deals with the legal work involved in buying or selling a property. For a buyer, that includes checking the title, arranging searches, investigating legal risks, dealing with the mortgage lender, explaining the contract and registering the purchase. For a seller, it includes preparing the contract papers, answering the buyer’s enquiries, dealing with any existing mortgage and transferring the property on completion.
A good conveyancer does not merely push a transaction towards completion. Their job is to make sure that you understand what you are agreeing to, that foreseeable legal problems are investigated and that the transfer of the property and money is handled correctly.
This guide covers residential conveyancing in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different systems.
Contents
- What is conveyancing?
- Is a conveyancing solicitor the same as a conveyancer?
- When should you instruct a conveyancing solicitor?
- What does a conveyancing solicitor do for a buyer?
- What does a conveyancing solicitor do for a seller?
- What happens if you are buying and selling?
- What does a conveyancing solicitor not do?
- Why does conveyancing take so long?
- How can you help the transaction progress?
- How should you choose a conveyancing solicitor?
- Frequently asked questions
What is conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the legal process by which ownership of land or property is transferred from one person to another. It covers the work carried out before contracts are exchanged, the exchange itself, completion and the legal formalities that follow.
The process is necessary because buying a home involves far more than taking possession of a building. You may also be acquiring rights over a driveway, obligations to contribute towards a private road, restrictions on alterations, responsibility for shared drains or the benefit and burden of covenants created many decades ago.
The title plan may not show the precise legal boundary in the way you expect. An extension may require further investigation. A lease may contain expensive or unusually restrictive terms. A mortgage lender may refuse to lend unless a particular defect is resolved.
Most of these matters cannot be identified simply by viewing the property. They emerge from the title, searches, contract papers, replies to enquiries and other legal documents.
My step-by-step guide to the residential conveyancing process explains how the transaction progresses from an accepted offer to moving day.
Is a conveyancing solicitor the same as a conveyancer?
The terms are often used interchangeably, but they are not identical.
A conveyancing solicitor is a qualified solicitor who undertakes property work. Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and have broader legal training, although an individual solicitor may specialise almost entirely in residential property.
A licensed conveyancer is a specialist property lawyer regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. Licensed conveyancers are authorised specifically to carry out conveyancing and related work.
You may also deal with a chartered legal executive, paralegal or experienced conveyancing executive working within a regulated firm and under appropriate supervision. Many firms use “conveyancer” as a convenient general term for the person handling the transaction.
Both solicitors and licensed conveyancers can provide an excellent service. The more useful questions are whether the individual handling your matter has suitable experience, whether the firm is properly regulated, who will supervise the work and whether the firm can act for your proposed mortgage lender.
When should you instruct a conveyancing solicitor?
A seller can instruct a conveyancer before the property goes onto the market. This allows identification checks, title documents and property forms to be dealt with early, so that the contract pack can be prepared promptly after an offer is accepted.
A buyer will usually instruct a conveyancer when an offer is accepted, although there is no harm in researching firms and obtaining quotations beforehand. Waiting until the estate agent begins chasing for the solicitor’s details can lose several useful days.
There are situations in which legal advice should be obtained even earlier. Anyone considering buying at auction should have the legal pack reviewed before bidding because a successful bid will normally create an immediate binding commitment. New-build purchases also tend to involve short reservation deadlines and extensive documentation, so early instruction is sensible.
You are not obliged to use the firm recommended by the estate agent, developer or mortgage broker. A recommendation may be convenient, but you remain free to choose your own conveyancer. It is worth finding out whether the person making the recommendation will receive a referral fee.
What does a conveyancing solicitor do for a buyer?
The buyer’s conveyancer is there to investigate the legal title, explain the contractual commitment and ensure that the buyer and any mortgage lender can acquire a legally acceptable interest in the property.
That deceptively simple description involves several distinct stages.
Opening the file and checking your identity
Before carrying out substantive work, the conveyancer will confirm your identity, address and instructions. They will also ask how the purchase is being funded.
Buyers are commonly asked to provide bank statements, savings records, payslips, investment statements, evidence of an inheritance or documents relating to the sale of another property. Where a relative is contributing towards the deposit, the person making the gift will usually have to provide identification and evidence showing where their money came from.
These questions can feel intrusive, particularly when the savings have accumulated gradually over many years. They are not an accusation of wrongdoing. Conveyancing is considered vulnerable to money laundering and property fraud, and solicitors are required to understand both the source of the money used in the transaction and, where appropriate, the wider source of the client’s wealth.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority provides further information about anti-money laundering checks carried out by solicitors.
Reviewing the contract and title
The seller’s conveyancer sends a draft contract pack to the buyer’s conveyancer. In an ordinary registered sale, this will usually include the draft contract, official copies of the registered title and title plan, the seller’s property information form and a fittings and contents form.
The buyer’s conveyancer examines the title to establish whether the seller is entitled to sell the property and exactly what is being transferred. They will check matters such as rights of way, rights to use services, restrictive covenants, mortgages, restrictions, rentcharges and obligations affecting shared facilities.
This is not simply a search for dramatic defects. Some of the most important issues are small pieces of legal wording that do not match the reality on the ground. A house may be reached over a private drive without an adequate right of access. A garage may stand outside the registered title. The title may require consent before alterations are made, but no consent can be found for an existing extension.
If the property is leasehold, the conveyancer must also investigate the lease, its remaining length, service charges, ground rent, restrictions, insurance arrangements and the requirements of the landlord or management company. Leasehold transactions usually involve considerably more paperwork than straightforward freehold purchases.
An unusual freehold payment obligation may require particular care. My guide to buying a house with a rentcharge explains one example.
Checking the seller’s property information
The seller will normally complete forms dealing with matters such as boundaries, disputes, alterations, guarantees, services, occupiers and notices affecting the property.
The buyer’s conveyancer checks the replies against the title, search results and other documents. Where something is incomplete, inconsistent or potentially important, they will raise enquiries with the seller’s conveyancer.
The conveyancer cannot guarantee that every answer provided by the seller is true. They have not lived at the property and generally do not inspect it. Their role is to identify matters requiring clarification, obtain available supporting evidence and advise you about the legal significance of the information received.
Sellers must take these forms seriously. An inaccurate answer can sometimes result in a property misrepresentation claim after completion.
Arranging conveyancing searches
The buyer’s conveyancer will usually arrange a package of searches. These commonly include a local authority search, drainage and water search and environmental search. Depending on the location and the property, additional searches may be recommended for matters such as mining, flooding, ground stability, infrastructure or chancel repair liability.
Searches reveal information that is not necessarily apparent from the title documents or a viewing. A local authority search, for example, may show planning decisions, building regulation records, road proposals, enforcement notices and whether the property lies within a conservation area.
However, searches have defined limits. They do not amount to a general investigation of everything that has ever happened at the property. A lack of adverse information does not prove that every alteration was built properly or that no neighbour dispute has gone unreported.
Searches are not generally imposed by one universal law requiring the same package for every purchase. The appropriate searches depend on the property, location, buyer’s circumstances and mortgage lender’s requirements. A cash buyer can sometimes decide not to order a particular search after receiving advice, but doing so involves accepting the risk that the missing search might have revealed something important.
There is more detail in my guide explaining what conveyancing searches cover and why they matter.
Raising legal enquiries
Once the initial papers and search results have been reviewed, the buyer’s conveyancer sends enquiries to the seller’s conveyancer.
These are not supposed to be an indiscriminate questionnaire about every imaginable concern. They should address matters arising from the title, forms, searches, survey or circumstances of the transaction.
The enquiries might ask for evidence of planning permission, building regulation approval, guarantees, rights over neighbouring land, service charge information or the release of an old restriction. Several rounds of correspondence may be needed where the first reply raises another question or supporting documents are missing.
This part of the process often looks like inactivity from the buyer’s perspective. In reality, the conveyancer may be waiting for information from the seller, local authority, landlord, management company, lender or another third party.
Explaining what is included in the sale
The conveyancer will check the fittings and contents form and ensure that the contract reflects what the parties have agreed to include or remove.
This is worth reading carefully. Buyers sometimes assume that an appliance, shed, light fitting or garden feature is included because it appeared in the estate agent’s photographs. The contractual paperwork, rather than the photograph, will usually determine what the seller is obliged to leave.
My separate guide explains how fixtures and fittings are dealt with in a house sale.
Dealing with your mortgage lender
If you are buying with a mortgage, the conveyancer will usually act for both you and the lender. The two clients have overlapping interests, but the conveyancer owes duties to each of them.
The lender wants to know that the property provides acceptable security for its loan. Your conveyancer must therefore check the mortgage conditions, comply with the lender’s instructions and report certain title defects, incentives or unusual arrangements.
This can create a point that buyers do not always appreciate: You cannot necessarily ask the conveyancer to keep a material property problem from the lender. If the conveyancer is obliged to report it, they cannot put your wish to proceed ahead of their professional duty to the lender.
Many lenders will only allow firms on their approved conveyancing panel to act for them. Choosing a firm that is not on the panel may result in the lender appointing a second firm, creating extra work, expense and delay. The UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains the instructions followed by conveyancers acting for participating lenders.
Checking how joint buyers will own the property
Where two or more people are buying together, the conveyancer should establish how they intend to own the beneficial interest.
Joint tenants own the property together without distinct shares passing under their wills. When one joint tenant dies, the interest normally passes automatically to the survivor.
Tenants in common can own separate shares, which may be equal or unequal. Each owner’s share can pass under their will or intestacy. A declaration of trust may be advisable where buyers are contributing different amounts or want a more detailed agreement about ownership and sale.
This is an area in which apparently simple choices can have significant consequences. The conveyancer should explain the options, although separate advice may be required if the buyers’ interests conflict.
Reporting to you before exchange
Once the legal investigation is sufficiently complete, the conveyancer will report to you on the property and contract. This may be called the report on title or purchase report.
It should explain the ownership, rights, restrictions, search results, replies to enquiries, mortgage terms and any unresolved risks. You will usually be asked to sign the contract and other documents, provide the deposit and confirm that you wish to proceed.
A lengthy report can be daunting, but it should not be treated as paperwork to sign unread. This is the point at which the legal findings are brought together. Ask about anything you do not understand, particularly a restriction or obligation that could affect how you intend to use the home.
Exchanging contracts
An accepted offer is not normally legally binding in England and Wales. Either party can usually withdraw or seek to renegotiate while the transaction remains subject to contract.
Exchange of contracts creates the binding agreement. The conveyancers agree the final terms and completion date and carry out the formal exchange, usually by telephone using an established professional formula while holding their clients’ signed contracts.
A deposit is normally dealt with on exchange. Ten per cent of the purchase price is the traditional contractual deposit, although a smaller amount is frequently agreed where the buyer has a high mortgage or the deposit is tied up in a related sale.
Once exchange has taken place, withdrawing or failing to complete can have serious financial consequences. My guide to exchange of contracts explains the legal effect in more detail.
The buyer will also usually need suitable buildings insurance from exchange, subject to the contract, lender’s requirements and nature of the property. See my guide to arranging house insurance on exchange.
Preparing for completion
Before completion, the buyer’s conveyancer carries out final searches, requests mortgage funds and prepares a completion statement showing the money required from the buyer.
The conveyancer will need cleared funds in good time. Sending the balance at the last minute can put completion at risk, particularly where a bank imposes transfer limits or carries out additional security checks.
You should always verify the firm’s bank details using a trusted telephone number before transferring a large sum. Email accounts can be compromised, and a genuine conveyancing firm will not object to a careful client independently checking where the money is going.
Handling completion and registration
On completion day, the buyer’s conveyancer sends the purchase money to the seller’s conveyancer. Once the seller’s conveyancer confirms receipt, completion takes place and the estate agent can normally release the keys.
The buyer’s conveyancer then deals with the tax return and HM Land Registry application. In England, a Stamp Duty Land Tax return and any tax due will usually need to reach HMRC within 14 days of the effective date, which is commonly completion. In Wales, Land Transaction Tax is administered by the Welsh Revenue Authority and normally has a 30-day filing and payment period.
The official rules are explained in the government guidance on Stamp Duty Land Tax and the Welsh Government’s Land Transaction Tax guidance.
The conveyancer applies to HM Land Registry to register the transfer, the buyer’s ownership and any new mortgage. Leasehold purchases may also require notices, certificates, deeds of covenant or payments to the landlord or management company.
Registration does not always happen immediately. HM Land Registry may take considerably longer with complex applications, new leases or first registrations than with simple updates. A pending application does not usually prevent the buyer from living in the property, although it should be monitored until registration is complete. Current information is available from HM Land Registry’s processing-times guidance.
My completion-day guide explains what happens when the money is transferred and the keys are released.
What does a conveyancing solicitor do for a seller?
The seller’s conveyancer has a different job. They must establish that the seller is entitled to sell, prepare the contractual documents, deal with the buyer’s enquiries and ensure that the title can be transferred on completion.
Obtaining the title and initial information
The conveyancer obtains the registered title and plan or, for an unregistered property, investigates the paper title deeds. They check the names of the registered owners, mortgages, restrictions and other entries affecting the title.
The seller will be asked to complete property information and fittings and contents forms. Leasehold sellers will normally complete an additional leasehold information form and arrange for a management information pack from the landlord, managing agent or management company.
The seller, not the solicitor, has the first-hand knowledge needed to answer questions about boundaries, disputes, alterations and the condition of services. The conveyancer can explain what a question means, but should not invent an answer or make assumptions on the seller’s behalf.
Careful, accurate forms can save a surprising amount of time later. A rushed answer such as “not known” may simply lead to a further enquiry, while an inaccurate answer can create liability long after the seller has moved.
Preparing the contract pack
The seller’s conveyancer prepares the draft sale contract and assembles the supporting title documents and forms. These are sent to the buyer’s conveyancer for investigation.
The contract will identify the parties, property, price and proposed completion arrangements. It may also contain special conditions dealing with a particular feature of the transaction.
If the property is being sold by personal representatives, attorneys, trustees, a company or someone who is not yet the registered owner, additional evidence of authority may be required.
Answering the buyer’s enquiries
The buyer’s conveyancer will raise enquiries after reviewing the title, forms and searches. The seller’s conveyancer deals with the legal questions and asks the seller for information or documents where necessary.
Some questions can be answered quickly. Others may require copies of planning documents, guarantees, electrical certificates, management-company information or evidence relating to an old extension or right of way.
A seller should not take every enquiry as an accusation that something is wrong. The buyer is being asked to commit a large sum of money and needs an adequate legal explanation of what is being acquired.
Equally, the buyer’s conveyancer should not use enquiries to demand information that only a surveyor, engineer or other specialist could provide. Proper conveyancing requires proportionate questions and useful answers, not correspondence for its own sake.
Resolving title problems
If a defect emerges, the seller’s conveyancer considers how it can be addressed. The solution might involve obtaining a missing document, arranging consent, varying the contract, providing a statutory declaration or purchasing an indemnity insurance policy.
Indemnity insurance is not a universal cure. It generally covers specified financial loss arising from an identified legal risk; it does not repair defective building work or make an absent right physically appear. The conveyancers must consider whether the policy genuinely addresses the buyer’s and lender’s concerns.
Dealing with the existing mortgage
Where the seller has a mortgage, the conveyancer obtains a redemption statement showing the amount required to repay it. They must ensure that the sale proceeds will be sufficient to discharge the mortgage and any other secured debts that must be removed from the title.
After completion, the seller’s conveyancer sends the required money to the lender and deals with the release of the mortgage. If the sale proceeds will not cover the secured borrowing and transaction costs, the shortfall must be resolved before exchange or completion.
Exchange and completion
The seller signs the contract and transfer document in readiness. Once the chain is ready, the conveyancer agrees the completion date and exchanges contracts with the buyer’s conveyancer.
On completion, the seller’s conveyancer receives the purchase money, confirms that the keys may be released and deals with the financial payments from the proceeds. These commonly include repayment of the mortgage, the conveyancer’s charges and, where authorised, the estate agent’s commission.
The remaining net sale proceeds are sent to the seller or used towards a connected purchase.
If completion is delayed after contracts have been exchanged, the consequences can be serious for everyone in the chain. My guide explains what happens when conveyancing completion is delayed.
What happens if you are buying and selling?
Many movers instruct the same firm to deal with their sale and purchase. The conveyancer must coordinate the two transactions so that the sale proceeds can be used towards the purchase and, ideally, both complete on the same day.
This is where a property chain becomes important. Your own legal work may be finished, but exchange cannot take place until every linked buyer and seller is ready and the whole chain has agreed a completion date.
The conveyancer communicates with the other firms, mortgage lender and estate agents, but they do not control the entire chain. A delay several transactions away can still prevent your exchange.
Using one firm for your sale and purchase can make the movement of money and documents easier. It does not mean the same individual or firm can ordinarily act for both opposing parties in the same sale. Conflicts of interest mean buyers and sellers will normally need separate representation. My guide considers whether a solicitor can act for both buyer and seller.
What does a conveyancing solicitor not do?
Some of the frustration surrounding conveyancing comes from expecting the solicitor to investigate matters that fall outside their role.
They do not survey the property
A conveyancer investigates legal title and documentary information. They do not normally inspect the roof, test the boiler, diagnose subsidence, identify damp or confirm that an extension is structurally sound.
Those are physical matters for an appropriately qualified surveyor or other specialist. A mortgage valuation is carried out principally for the lender and is not a substitute for the buyer’s own survey.
If a survey identifies a possible legal issue—such as an alteration without apparent consent—the conveyancer can investigate the legal paperwork. They cannot confirm the quality of the building work itself.
They do not guarantee the seller’s answers
The conveyancer can question inconsistencies and request evidence, but cannot independently verify everything the seller says about living at the property.
A neighbour dispute may have been concealed. A leak may be intermittent. Work may have been carried out without the seller retaining the relevant documents. Legal checks reduce risk, but they cannot remove every uncertainty from a property purchase.
They do not decide whether the property is good value
A conveyancer may explain legal risks that could affect value or resale, but they are not normally acting as a valuer, investment adviser or negotiator of the commercial price.
If a problem emerges, they can explain the legal position and how any agreed solution should be documented. The buyer must decide, with valuation or survey advice where appropriate, whether to proceed or renegotiate.
They cannot promise a completion date before exchange
Before contracts are exchanged, the transaction remains vulnerable to searches, mortgage conditions, unanswered enquiries and problems elsewhere in the chain.
A conveyancer can work towards a preferred date, but should not guarantee that you will move on it. Booking non-refundable removals or giving notice on rented accommodation before exchange can leave you exposed if the date changes.
They cannot ignore legal or regulatory requirements
Pressure from a buyer, seller or estate agent cannot require a conveyancer to overlook an unresolved title issue, inadequate identity evidence or a lender-reporting obligation.
Occasionally, the most important thing a solicitor does is refuse to take a shortcut. That may feel obstructive in the moment, but the alternative can be a defective title, lost mortgage funding or a much more expensive problem after completion.
Why does conveyancing take so long?
There is no single answer. Some delay is avoidable, but much of the process depends on information passing between several organisations and households.
A straightforward freehold purchase with no chain may move quickly. A leasehold sale involving a slow management company, missing consents, several linked transactions and a new mortgage will not.
Common causes include incomplete seller forms, slow search results, mortgage-offer conditions, gifted-deposit checks, missing planning documents, leasehold management packs, title defects, survey findings and difficulty agreeing a completion date across the chain.
Communication also matters. A technically capable conveyancer carrying an excessive caseload may struggle to provide updates promptly. Conversely, frequent requests for an update cannot make a local authority return a search or a management company produce a pack more quickly.
The most useful update is not simply “nothing has changed”. A good conveyancer should be able to explain what is outstanding, who is responsible for providing it and what can be done next.
How can you help the transaction progress?
Provide identification and source-of-funds evidence as soon as it is requested. Leaving financial checks until just before exchange can create a late problem, particularly where money has moved between several accounts or comes from a gift, inheritance or overseas source.
If you are selling, complete the property forms carefully and locate planning permissions, guarantees, building regulation certificates and other useful documents early. Do not guess at an answer because you want to return the form quickly.
If you are buying, submit the mortgage application and arrange the survey promptly. Tell the conveyancer about anything important you noticed during the viewing or survey; they will not necessarily know that the conservatory, parking space or garden access is central to your decision.
Respond quickly when a decision or signature is required, but take the time to understand what you are signing. Keep the conveyancer informed of proposed holidays, notice periods, school dates or other genuine timing constraints.
Most importantly, do not conceal a problem in the hope that it will go unnoticed. Late surprises cause far more disruption than issues raised honestly at the beginning.
How should you choose a conveyancing solicitor?
Price matters, but the cheapest headline figure is not necessarily the cheapest transaction. Compare what is included, which expenses are additional and what happens if the matter becomes more complicated or falls through.
My guide to conveyancing fees and disbursements explains how quotations are commonly structured.
Ask who will carry out the day-to-day work and whether you will have a named contact. Find out how updates are provided, how quickly the firm generally responds and who covers the file during absence.
Relevant experience matters. Leasehold flats, unregistered land, auctions, new builds, shared ownership and unusual rural titles can require different knowledge from an ordinary registered freehold sale.
Where you need a mortgage, confirm that the firm can act for your chosen lender. Changing conveyancer after the lender discovers that the firm is not on its panel can be costly and frustrating.
A local office is not essential. Modern conveyancing can be handled effectively by telephone, email, secure portals and post. Local knowledge can sometimes be useful, but experience, communication, lender approval and the ability to identify unusual issues are generally more important than physical proximity.
You should also check that the firm is regulated and understand its complaints procedure before instruction.
Frequently asked questions
Do I legally need a solicitor to buy a house?
A cash buyer is not generally prohibited from carrying out their own conveyancing. In practice, it is a difficult and risky undertaking. The buyer must investigate the title, deal with the contract and searches, transfer money securely, submit any tax return and register the purchase correctly.
Where a mortgage is involved, the lender will normally require a regulated conveyancer to protect its interests and comply with its instructions. DIY conveyancing is therefore rarely a realistic option for a mortgaged purchase.
Do I need a solicitor when selling without a mortgage?
It may be legally possible to conduct your own sale where no lender is involved, but the buyer’s conveyancer is unlikely to treat you as though you were a regulated legal professional. You would have to prepare the contract, prove the title, answer enquiries, deal with exchange and completion and transfer the property correctly.
You would also be handling a substantial payment without the protections and systems available through a regulated client account. Most sellers sensibly instruct a solicitor or licensed conveyancer.
How long does conveyancing take?
There is no fixed legal timescale. A reasonably straightforward transaction may complete within roughly eight to twelve weeks after an offer is accepted, but that is not a promise or universal average.
The length of the chain, search times, mortgage arrangements, survey findings, leasehold information and title problems can all make the process shorter or considerably longer.
Does a conveyancing solicitor arrange the survey?
Not normally. The buyer usually instructs and pays the surveyor separately. The conveyancer should be given a copy of any part of the survey that raises a legal question, such as uncertainty about boundaries, alterations, access or shared services.
Can my solicitor negotiate the purchase price?
The estate agent will often handle the commercial negotiation, but the buyer can instruct the conveyancer to communicate an agreed price reduction or other contractual change.
The conveyancer can advise on the legal consequences of a problem and make sure any agreement is properly reflected in the contract. They will not usually decide what reduction represents the property’s market value.
Can the same solicitor deal with my sale and purchase?
Yes. It is very common for the same firm to handle both transactions for a person who is moving home.
That is different from one solicitor acting for the buyer and seller on opposite sides of the same sale. Because their interests may conflict, the buyer and seller will normally have separate conveyancers.
Can you exchange and complete on the same day?
Yes, provided the parties, conveyancers and lenders are ready. However, exchanging and completing simultaneously removes the period of certainty that usually allows people to organise removals, transfer money and make final arrangements.
My guide considers the advantages and risks of exchanging and completing on the same day.
Does the solicitor receive the mortgage money?
Usually, yes. The lender sends the mortgage advance to the buyer’s conveyancer, who combines it with the buyer’s own funds and transfers the completion money to the seller’s conveyancer.
The buyer’s conveyancer must satisfy the lender’s conditions before requesting or using the mortgage advance.
What happens to the seller’s mortgage?
The seller’s conveyancer obtains the lender’s redemption figure and repays the mortgage from the completion money. They then arrange for the lender’s charge to be discharged from the registered title.
Will my conveyancer collect the keys?
No. The keys are normally held by the estate agent or occasionally by the seller. Once the seller’s conveyancer confirms that completion money has arrived, the estate agent is authorised to release them to the buyer.
What should I do if I am unhappy with my conveyancer?
Raise the issue with the person handling the file or their supervisor as soon as possible. A concern about communication or delay may be easier to resolve while the transaction is continuing.
If the matter is not resolved, use the firm’s formal complaints procedure. Depending on the nature of the complaint and the outcome, it may later be possible to refer the service complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
The work behind the keys
Most conveyancing work is invisible when it is done well. The buyer receives the keys, the seller receives the money and the title is registered without drama.
That can make the legal fee feel as though it has paid for little more than emails, forms and a bank transfer. In truth, the value often lies in the problem that was noticed before exchange: The missing right of way, defective lease provision, undisclosed restriction, unapproved alteration or mortgage condition that could not safely be ignored.
A conveyancing solicitor cannot make moving home entirely free from risk or stress. They cannot survey the building, control the chain or guarantee that another party will proceed. What they can do is investigate the legal position, explain the commitment you are making and ensure that the transfer is carried out as securely and correctly as possible.
When you are waiting impatiently for news, that work may feel slow and remote. But when the purchase is likely to be the largest financial commitment of your life, careful legal checking is not an obstacle placed in the way of the move. It is an important part of making the move safe.
Last legally checked: 1 August 2026
This guide is based on general principles of English and Welsh law, is intended for informational purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice or establish a professional relationship.
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