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Conveyancing process explained: For Buyers
This is a guide explaining what is conveyancing and what is the conveyancing process when buying a home. Conveyancing involves legally transferring home ownership from the seller to the buyer. It starts when your offer on a house is accepted and finishes when you receive the keys.


Who does the conveyancing?
A solicitor or conveyancer usually conducts the conveyancing process, but it is possible (although difficult) to do it yourself as long as you are not taking out a mortgage, as the solicitor will act for you and the mortgage company.

First stages
3. Your solicitor will write to your sellers solicitor to confirm they are instructed and request a copy of the draft contract and any other details, such as the property's title and the standard forms.

Legal Work
4. Your solicitor will examine the draft contract and supporting documents and raise enquiries with the seller's solicitor. You will be expected to go through the forms the seller has completed and let the solicitor know if you have any queries or concerns. In particular you will want to double check the tenure of your new home: is it leasehold or freehold? If leasehold, don't rely on your solicitor to check for the length of the lease. Leases below 85 years are a problem, can be costly to extend and you need to have owned the property for 2 years before you are eligible to do so. Leases under 60 years are best avoided.
-Local authority searches: are there plans for a motorway in your new garden?  This costs between £70 and £400 depending on the Local Authority and usually takes 1-2 weeks, but can take up to 6 weeks
-Checking the 'title register' and 'title plan' at the Land Registry– these are the legal documents proving the seller's ownership. The title register check costs £3 and the title plan check costs £3. Both are legally required to sell.
-Checking flood risk – this can also done at the Land Registry. If you are getting an Environmental Search you might not buy this one separately as the environmental search will contain much more thorough flood information and maps.
-Water authority searches – find out how you get your water and if any public drains on the property might affect extensions or building works.The water authority search will cost between £50 and £75.
-Tin Mining searches in Cornwall
-Mining searches in various parts of the UK and Cheshire Brine searches

Your mortgage

Signing Contracts
-that all enquiries have been returned and are satisfactory
-that fixtures and fittings included in the purchase are what you expected
-A completion date has been agreed between the two parties, which is usually 1 to 12 weeks after exchange of contracts


Exchanging contracts

How do I exchange of contracts?
14. If you are in a chain your solicitor/conveyancer will do the same thing, but will only release it if the other people in the chain are all happy to go ahead. This means if one person pulls out or delays, then everyone in the chain gets held up. For more, see How do I break the housing chain?
-the seller has to sell or you can sue them

Between exchange and completion
18. You should organise the moving
19. The solicitor will send you a statement showing the final figure to pay, which will ned to be cleared into your solicitors bank account at least one day before completion.

On completion day
20. Completion takes place when the seller's solicitor confirms that they have received all the money that is due. Once this happens the seller should drop the keys at the estate agents for your collection. You can then move in.

After completion
21. Your solicitor will tie up some loose ends:
-Pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on your behalf. See Five things you need to know about Stamp Duty
-Notify the freeholder if the property is leasehold
-Give you a bill for their payment

22. You will want to collect together all your paperwork from the purchase of your new home, including the estate agent's brochure, to file away and keep safe for when you move again.
– information courtesy of hoa.org.uk