Conveyancing Explained: What Happens After An Offer Is Accepted?
Conveyancing Explained: What Happens After An Offer Is Accepted?
Once an offer has been accepted on a property, there’s still an important legal process to complete before the sale is legally binding and the keys can change hands.
This process is called conveyancing.
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from one person to another. It involves a lot of checks, paperwork and communication between solicitors, buyers, sellers, mortgage lenders and other parties involved in the transaction.
Understanding what happens behind the scenes can make the process much easier to navigate.
How long does conveyancing take?
There’s no fixed timeframe for conveyancing, as every property and transaction is different.
As a general guide, the average time from an offer being accepted to completion is around 16 weeks, although it can be quicker or considerably longer depending on the circumstances, how complicated the chain is and whether anything happens to cause delays.
If there’s a chain involved, for example, your sale may depend on several other transactions progressing at the same time.
It’s also worth remembering that an accepted offer does not mean the property is legally sold. In England and Wales, the transaction only becomes legally binding once contracts have been exchanged.
So, what happens between accepting an offer and finally handing over or collecting the keys?
1. Your solicitor gets to work
The first step is appointing a conveyancing solicitor. Your solicitor will deal with the legal side of the transaction, including preparing and checking contracts, carrying out searches, responding to enquiries and making sure everything is in place for exchange and completion.
The earlier you appoint your solicitor, the better. Getting the process started promptly can help avoid unnecessary delays later.
You can get an instant estimate from our recommended conveyancing solicitors here.
2. Contracts and property information
Your solicitor will prepare or review the draft contract and gather the information needed about the property.
For sellers, this includes completing forms such as the TA6 Property Information Form and TA10 Fittings and Contents Form.
These provide important information about the property and what is included in the sale.
It’s important to answer these questions accurately and honestly. If information is missing or unclear, your buyer's solicitor may raise additional questions, which can add time to the process.
3. Searches are carried out
The buyer's solicitor will usually arrange a series of property searches. These can uncover information that may affect the property, such as:
Planning and building regulation matters
Flooding and environmental risks
Mining activity
Water and drainage
Local developments or infrastructure projects
Other issues relating to the local area
Searches are an important part of the legal process because they help the buyer understand whether there are any potential issues that could affect the property or their ownership of it.
They are separate from a property survey, which looks at the physical condition of the building.
4. Legal enquiries are raised
Once the paperwork and searches have been reviewed, the buyer's solicitor may raise enquiries.
These are simply questions that need to be answered before the buyer and their solicitor are comfortable proceeding. They might relate to things such as:
Planning permissions
Building work
Rights of way
Property boundaries
Guarantees or certificates
Neighbour disputes
Leasehold arrangements
Who has the legal right to sell the property
Some enquiries can be answered quickly. Others may require documents to be located, information to be obtained from a third party or further investigation. This is one of the reasons conveyancing can take time.
5. Mortgage and survey
If the buyer is using a mortgage, their lender will need to complete its own checks before issuing a formal mortgage offer.
The lender may also carry out a valuation to make sure the property provides sufficient security for the mortgage.
The buyer may also choose to arrange an independent survey. Surveys aren't mandatory but they can help identify potential problems with the condition of the property.
If a survey or mortgage valuation highlights an issue, this can sometimes lead to further enquiries, renegotiation or, in some cases, the buyer deciding not to proceed.
6. Exchange of contracts
This is the big milestone. Once the solicitors are satisfied with the searches, enquiries, paperwork and other checks, the buyer and seller can agree to exchange contracts, which makes the sale legally binding.
Before exchange, a completion date will normally be agreed and the buyer will need to have their deposit ready.
At this point, the buyer is committed to purchasing the property and the seller is committed to selling it, subject to the terms of the contract.
Until exchange takes place, an accepted offer is generally not legally binding in England and Wales.
7. Completion – when the property is finally sold
Completion is the day the remaining purchase money is transferred from the buyer's solicitor to the seller's solicitor. Once the funds have been received, the sale is complete.
For the seller, this is the point at which you can finally say your property has sold.
For the buyer, it's the day they can collect the keys and move into their new home.
Your solicitor will also deal with the necessary legal and financial steps following completion, including transferring the property ownership and dealing with any mortgage requirements.
What can stop or delay a house sale?
Most conveyancing transactions make it through to completion, but problems can and do arise. Some of the most common causes of delays or sales falling through include:
Problems with the property - Searches or enquiries may uncover issues such as missing planning permissions, boundary disputes, restrictions on the property or other legal complications
Issues with the title - If there are problems with the property's title or questions about who has the legal right to sell it, these will need to be resolved before the transaction can proceed.
Mortgage problems - A buyer's mortgage application may be delayed, declined or changed following the lender's valuation or financial checks.
Survey problems - A survey can uncover issues with the property that cause a buyer to renegotiate the price or reconsider the purchase.
Leasehold complications - Leasehold properties can require additional information from landlords or management companies. Issues relating to the lease, service charges, ground rent or major works can sometimes cause delays.
Slow searches or enquiries - Local authority searches can take time, and some enquiries require information from third parties. The more complicated the questions, the longer the process can take.
Problems elsewhere in the chain - If you're buying and selling at the same time, your transaction may form part of a chain. This means your sale could be affected by something happening elsewhere in the chain – for example, a buyer experiencing mortgage problems, a probate property taking longer to deal with or a new-build property not being ready. Even if everything is progressing smoothly on your own sale, another transaction in the chain can cause delays.
A buyer or seller changing their mind - Until contracts are exchanged, an offer isn't legally binding. This means either party can withdraw from the transaction before exchange.
It can be frustrating, particularly when you've already invested time and money into the process, but it's important to understand what the process entails.
When selling or buying with Bayzos Estate Agents, we will always do what we can to prevent a sale or purchase falling through. Our sales progression team work closely with all parties, including solicitors and mortgage brokers to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible to completion.
How can you help keep things moving?
You can't control every part of the conveyancing process, but there are things you can do to reduce unnecessary delays.
Choose your solicitor early. Getting your conveyancer instructed as soon as possible means they can start preparing the paperwork.
Complete forms carefully. Make sure your property information is accurate and complete, and don't leave questions unanswered.
Respond quickly. If your solicitor, buyer or estate agent needs information from you, try to provide it as soon as possible.
Keep communication open. Regular contact with your solicitor and estate agent can help identify potential issues before they become bigger problems.
Be realistic about timescales. Even straightforward transactions can encounter unexpected delays, particularly when a chain is involved.
When is a property transaction complete?
An accepted offer is an important milestone, but it isn't the finish line.
There are several stages between accepting an offer and completing the sale, and conveyancing is what brings all the legal, financial and practical elements together.
Once contracts have been exchanged, the sale is legally binding.
Once completion has taken place and the funds have been transferred, the property is officially sold.
It might take a little patience to get there but keeping your paperwork organised, responding quickly and staying in touch with your solicitor and estate agent can all help keep your move on track.
Conclusion
Conveyancing can feel like a long and complicated part of moving home, but most of the work happens behind the scenes to make sure everything is legally in order. While delays can happen, staying organised, responding quickly to requests and keeping in regular contact with your solicitor and estate agent can help keep things moving. And once completion takes place, you can finally hand over or pick up the keys!
Looking for more advice on selling your property? Explore our other guides for practical tips on keeping your sale moving and avoiding common delays.