What Is Conveyancing? A Plain-English Guide for First-Time Buyers
What Is Conveyancing? A Plain-English Guide for First-Time Buyers
Your offer has been accepted. You are officially "Sold Subject to Contract." Now everyone tells you to instruct a conveyancer — but what does that actually mean, and what are you paying them to do?
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from one person to another. In England, it is not optional, and you cannot do it yourself on a mortgaged property. But it is also not a black box. Understanding what your conveyancer does — and when — will help you know what to chase, what to worry about, and what to leave alone.
What a Conveyancer Actually Does
Your conveyancer (either a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, or a licensed conveyancer regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers) acts as your legal representative throughout the purchase. Their job is to:
- Review the draft contract and supporting documents provided by the seller's solicitor
- Order and analyse property searches (more on these below)
- Raise enquiries with the seller's side on anything unclear or concerning
- Review the mortgage offer and liaise with your lender
- Advise you on the results and flag any risks
- Manage the exchange of contracts and the transfer of funds on completion
- Register the change of ownership at HM Land Registry
One important distinction: your conveyancer also acts for your mortgage lender in the same transaction. This is standard practice in England and does not create a conflict of interest — but it does mean you are technically not their only client.
The Conveyancing Timeline
The national average for a conveyancing transaction in England is around 12 weeks from offer acceptance to completion, though this can stretch to 16 weeks or longer in complex chains or where searches are slow.
The process breaks down roughly as follows:
Weeks 1–2: Instruction and setup You instruct the conveyancer, complete ID checks (Anti-Money Laundering verification), and provide evidence of your deposit funds.
Weeks 2–6: Searches and surveys Your conveyancer orders property searches. Simultaneously, you arrange an independent survey and your mortgage lender orders a valuation.
Weeks 4–10: Enquiries and contract review The conveyancer reviews the contract pack, raises enquiries with the seller's solicitor, and waits for replies. This stage is often where delays occur.
Weeks 10–12: Exchange of contracts Once all enquiries are resolved and the mortgage offer is confirmed, both sides sign identical contracts and exchange them physically. You pay a deposit (typically 10% of the purchase price) to your solicitor. The transaction becomes legally binding.
1–2 weeks after exchange: Completion The remaining funds transfer, keys are released, and ownership registers at HM Land Registry.
Conveyancing Searches Explained
One of the first things your conveyancer will do is order a bundle of property searches. These are investigations into third-party records that reveal anything that could affect the property's value, safety, or legal status. They typically cost £250 to £400 in total.
Local Authority Search This reveals any planning proposals near the property — road schemes, compulsory purchase orders, conservation area restrictions, tree preservation orders, and any enforcement notices already issued against the property. It is ordered from the local council and can take two to six weeks in some areas.
Water and Drainage Search Confirms whether the property is connected to mains water and public sewers, and whether any public water mains run through the garden. If a public sewer runs under the garden, you generally cannot build over it without special consent.
Environmental Search Assesses the historic land use around the property: contaminated land, landfill sites, radon gas risk, and flood risk from rivers, surface water, or coastal sources. If flood risk is flagged, your solicitor will need to verify that the property qualifies for building insurance — which is a mandatory condition of your mortgage offer.
Drainage and Chancel Search Less common but occasionally relevant. Chancel repair liability is an ancient obligation requiring property owners to contribute to the upkeep of a local church chancel. A chancel search confirms whether the property is affected.
These searches protect you, not the seller. If a search reveals something troubling — a proposed road through the garden, contaminated land, or a high flood risk — you can use this information to renegotiate the price, request that the seller take out indemnity insurance, or withdraw from the purchase before exchange (losing your search costs but avoiding a potentially serious financial loss).
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How to Choose a Conveyancer
This is one of the decisions where cheapest is rarely best. A slow or inexperienced conveyancer can add weeks to your transaction and, in a chain, that can cause the whole thing to collapse.
Solicitor vs licensed conveyancer Both are regulated and both can handle straightforward purchases competently. Solicitors have a broader legal training and can handle complex situations (disputed boundaries, unusual leasehold terms, planning issues). Licensed conveyancers focus specifically on property law and are often cheaper.
Online vs local Online conveyancers are typically cheaper and can be perfectly adequate for straightforward freehold purchases with no complications. A local solicitor has the advantage of knowing the area's quirks, being reachable by phone, and being easier to escalate to if something goes wrong.
What to ask before instructing
- Who will actually handle my case day-to-day? (Not the senior partner who quoted you)
- How do you communicate — email only, or can I call?
- What is your current workload, and how quickly do you turn around enquiries?
- What is your average time from instruction to exchange?
What to avoid Be cautious of estate agents who "recommend" a specific conveyancer and receive a referral fee for doing so. They are not acting in your interest in that moment. You are entitled to use any conveyancer you choose.
What Conveyancing Costs in 2026
For a standard freehold purchase, typical costs break down as:
- Solicitor's legal fees: £800 to £1,500 plus VAT (£960 to £1,800 total)
- Property searches: £250 to £400
- HM Land Registry fee: £20 to £65 depending on property price (for electronic submissions on purchases up to £500,000)
- CHAPS transfer fee: around £42
- ID and AML checks: around £24
If the property is leasehold, expect to add:
- Leasehold legal supplement: around £387
- Notice of Transfer fee (to freeholder): around £275
- Notice of Charge fee (to register mortgage): around £150
- Deed of Covenant: around £228
- Certificate of Compliance: around £275
The total "leasehold transaction penalty" adds roughly £1,495 in additional legal costs compared to a freehold purchase of the same price.
Conveyancing fees can sometimes be added to your mortgage (your lender's arrangement fee, for example, is frequently added to the loan). But search fees and legal fees must be paid from cash — they cannot be borrowed.
The England First-Time Buyer Guide includes a complete cost worksheet showing every expense you'll face at each stage of the purchase, so nothing catches you by surprise.
Common Reasons Conveyancing Gets Delayed
Knowing where delays typically originate helps you chase the right person at the right time:
- Slow local authority searches: Some councils take four to six weeks to return results. Your conveyancer cannot exchange until these are back unless they take out search indemnity insurance (some lenders will not accept this).
- Unanswered seller enquiries: If the seller's solicitor is slow to respond, your conveyancer can only wait and chase. Escalate through the estate agent if it drags past two weeks.
- Mortgage offer delays: Your lender's surveyor may flag issues that need resolving before they issue the formal offer.
- Chain collapse: If another buyer or seller in your chain encounters a problem, the whole chain pauses. There is no complete solution to this — only preparation and communication.
The Bottom Line
Conveyancing is not glamorous, but it is the mechanism that makes your purchase legally sound. Understanding what your conveyancer is doing — and why certain stages take the time they do — helps you stay calm when the process feels slow, and alert when something genuinely needs chasing.
Choose your conveyancer carefully, don't go purely on price, and treat them as a partner rather than a black box. The legal work they do before exchange is what protects you from buying a problem.
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