What Does a Conveyancer Do When Buying a House?

Conveyancing Is More Than Paperwork

When you pay £1,500–£2,500 in conveyancing fees, it can feel opaque — what exactly is happening during those eight to twelve weeks between offer acceptance and completion? The answer is a significant amount of legal work, due diligence, and coordination that most buyers never see. Understanding the process helps you know what to chase, when to expect updates, and how to avoid delays.

Use our [conveyancing calculator](/conveyancing-calculator) to estimate what your specific transaction should cost, then read on to understand what that money buys.

Stage 1: Instruction and Anti-Money Laundering Checks (Week 1)

When you instruct a conveyancer, the first thing they do is comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. This means verifying your identity (passport, driving licence), your address, and the source of your funds (deposit, mortgage, any gifted funds). They will ask for bank statements, gift letters from family members, and potentially documentation of how you accumulated your savings.

This stage takes one to five working days. Delays here — usually because buyers are slow to provide documents — are common and push back every subsequent stage.

Your conveyancer will also open a matter file, send you terms of engagement to sign, and collect funds on account (typically £300–£500) to cover initial disbursements.

Stage 2: Receiving and Reviewing the Contract Pack (Weeks 1–3)

The seller's solicitor prepares a contract pack and sends it to your conveyancer. This pack contains:

• The draft contract for the sale
• Official copies of the title register from HM Land Registry
• Title deeds (for older unregistered properties)
• Property Information Form (TA6) — the seller's answers to detailed questions about the property
• Fittings and Contents Form (TA10) — what is included in the sale
• Leasehold information (if applicable)

Your conveyancer reviews all of this carefully, looking for:

• **Title issues:** Unusual restrictions on use, missing rights of way, historical covenants, boundary disputes.
• **Planning issues:** Permitted development or planning permission not properly signed off, extensions without Building Regulations completion certificates.
• **Property information discrepancies:** Disputes with neighbours, known issues with the property, works carried out without consent.

If anything is unclear or problematic, your conveyancer raises **enquiries** with the seller's solicitor — formal written questions that must be answered satisfactorily before exchange.

Stage 3: Ordering Searches (Weeks 2–4)

Simultaneously, your conveyancer orders the standard search pack:

• **Local authority search:** Checks planning, enforcement, road adoption, tree preservation orders, and other council records. Takes one to three weeks depending on the local council.
• **Water and drainage:** Confirms mains water and sewer connections. Typically a few days.
• **Environmental search:** Checks flood risk, contamination, radon, mining. Typically a few days.
• **Chancel repair liability search:** Checks whether the property is subject to an ancient obligation to fund church repairs. Less common but worth checking.

Additional searches may be required depending on location — coal mining searches in former mining areas, tin mining searches in Cornwall, or flood reports in high-risk areas.

Stage 4: Mortgage Offer and Lender Requirements (Weeks 3–6)

If you are buying with a mortgage, your conveyancer also acts for your lender (this is standard practice — you pay one set of fees to cover both). The lender has its own requirements:

• Confirming the property is good security for the loan
• Checking title is clean
• Ensuring the leasehold (if applicable) meets their minimum lease term requirements
• Confirming buildings insurance is in place
• Checking that any third-party rights over the property do not affect their security

Your conveyancer must satisfy both you and your lender before exchange can proceed.

Stage 5: Exchange of Contracts (Week 6–10+)

Exchange is the legal moment at which the transaction becomes binding. Once contracts are exchanged:

• You are legally obligated to buy; the seller is legally obligated to sell.
• Your deposit (typically 10% of the purchase price) is transferred to the seller's solicitor.
• A completion date is agreed.

If you pull out after exchange without the seller's agreement, you lose your deposit. If the seller pulls out, they must pay you compensation. Exchange gives both parties the certainty to plan their move.

Before exchange, your conveyancer checks that all searches are back, all enquiries are satisfactorily answered, your mortgage offer is in place, and buildings insurance starts from exchange date.

Stage 6: Pre-Completion Checks and Transfer of Funds (Completion Day)

In the days before completion, your conveyancer:

• Requests the mortgage funds from your lender
• Prepares the Transfer Deed (TR1) — the document that legally changes ownership
• Conducts final Land Registry and bankruptcy searches
• Prepares a completion statement showing all funds to be transferred

On completion day, they transfer the full purchase price to the seller's solicitor via CHAPS (same-day bank transfer). Once received, the seller's solicitor confirms completion, the estate agent releases the keys, and you own the property.

Stage 7: Post-Completion (Week 10–14)

After completion, your conveyancer:

• Pays any Stamp Duty to HMRC within 14 days of completion
• Registers the change of ownership at HM Land Registry (can take several weeks in 2026 due to Land Registry backlogs)
• Sends you the registered title documents once registration is complete

This is the full scope of what your conveyancer does. When transactions feel slow, it is usually because of delays in receiving search results, waiting for enquiry responses from the seller's solicitor, or the Land Registry's own processing times — not because your solicitor is inactive.