Conveyancing for First-Time Buyers: Timeline, Costs and What Can Go Wrong (Part 8)

Part 8: Conveyancing — The Legal Process of Buying a Home

This is Part 8 of 12 in the "Buying your first home — month by month" series. ← Part 7: Making an Offer and Negotiating the Price | Part 9: Surveys and Valuations →

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Your offer has been accepted. Congratulations — the emotional hurdle is cleared.

Now the legal process begins. Conveyancing is the transfer of legal ownership from seller to buyer, and in England and Wales it is one of the more frustrating aspects of buying property. It is paper-heavy, often slow, and can feel opaque if no one has explained what is actually happening at each stage.

This guide demystifies the full conveyancing process: what happens at each stage, what the costs are, where delays come from, and what you can do to keep the transaction moving.

Step One: Instruct Your Solicitor (Day 1)

The most important thing you can do on the day your offer is accepted is instruct your solicitor. Not tomorrow. Not once the memorandum of sale arrives. Today.

Instructing means formally appointing your solicitor or licensed conveyancer to act on your behalf, completing their client care paperwork, passing identification (usually a photo ID and a utility bill or bank statement), and paying an initial payment on account (typically £250–£500, credited against the final bill).

Why the urgency? In England and Wales, an accepted offer is not legally binding. Either party can walk away until contracts are exchanged. The faster you progress to exchange, the less time there is for the sale to collapse — whether from another buyer making a higher offer (gazumping), the seller changing their mind, or a survey uncovering problems.

Every week the solicitor sits uninstructed is a week of delay with zero legal protection for you.

Choosing between a solicitor and a licensed conveyancer

Both can carry out residential conveyancing. The practical differences:

• Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Some are specialists in property; others are general-practice firms where conveyancing is one service among many.
• Licensed conveyancers are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) and specialise exclusively in property transfer. They can be equally competent and sometimes cheaper.

For a first-time buyer with a standard freehold purchase, either is fine. For complex transactions (leasehold with a short lease, shared ownership, new-build with government scheme involvement), a specialist solicitor with a track record on that type of transaction is worth the extra cost.

Look for CQS accreditation — the Conveyancing Quality Scheme run by the Law Society is the standard kitemark for quality residential conveyancing.

The "panel" problem

If you have a mortgage offer, your lender maintains a panel of solicitors they will work with. If your chosen solicitor is not on the lender's panel, you will need to pay for a separate solicitor to handle the lender's side of the transaction — adding cost and complexity. Before instructing, confirm your solicitor is on your lender's approved panel.

Most conveyancing solicitors are on the major lenders' panels. Smaller local practices sometimes are not.

The Full Conveyancing Timeline

Here is what a typical 12–16 week freehold purchase looks like, week by week:

The timeline above assumes a cooperative seller, a straightforward title, and searches that return promptly. Leasehold purchases, properties with planning complications, or sellers who are slow to respond to enquiries can push timelines to 20–24 weeks.

The Searches (Weeks 2–8): What They Are and Why They Take So Long

Property searches are the formal enquiries your solicitor submits to public bodies. They reveal information about the property that would not be visible on an inspection and that the seller may not even be aware of.

The standard search pack

1. Local authority search (LLC1 and CON29)

This is the most important search. It reveals:

• Planning history for the property (planning permissions granted or refused, conditions attached)
• Building regulations approvals and completion certificates
• Road adoption status (is the road in front of your property maintained by the council or is it private?)
• Planning enforcement notices (has the seller built something without permission?)
• Tree Preservation Orders affecting trees on the plot
• Conservation area designation
• Listed building status
• Contaminated land registers

The local authority search is split into two parts: the LLC1 (Local Land Charges Register) and the CON29 (additional enquiries). Most local authorities can now return both digitally.

Timing: 2–8 weeks. This is the wildcard. Some London boroughs take 6–8 weeks to return local authority searches. Rural councils often return in 2–3 weeks. You cannot speed this up once submitted; it depends entirely on the council's current workload. Some conveyancers use personal searches (carried out by a company visiting the local authority, rather than a direct submission) to get results faster — these are accepted by most lenders but some buyers and lenders prefer official search results.

Cost: £100–£250 (varies by council).

2. Drainage and water search

Confirms that the property is connected to the public sewer and water supply. Reveals whether any public sewers run through the property (relevant for building extensions — you cannot build over a public sewer without consent from the water company).

Timing: 1–5 days. Returned quickly via the water company's digital system.

Cost: £35–£75.

3. Environmental search

Checks the property for historical land uses that could indicate contamination (former industrial sites, landfill, petrol stations), flood risk (fluvial and surface water), ground stability and radon levels.

Timing: 1–3 days. Also quick — returned digitally.

Cost: £35–£80.

Additional searches in specific circumstances

• Coal mining search — required in former coalfield areas (Yorkshire, South Wales, Nottinghamshire, County Durham, parts of Scotland). Coal Authority charges approximately £37.
• Chancel repair search — checks whether the property is in an area where the owner might be liable to contribute to church chancel repairs. This is a medieval liability that still exists in some areas. A one-off insurance premium of £20–£40 eliminates the risk permanently.
• Tin mining search — required in Cornwall and parts of Devon.
• Commons registration search — checks whether land adjacent to the property is registered common land.
• Highways search — confirms road and footpath adoption status in more detail than the local authority search.

Enquiries (Weeks 4–10): The Back-and-Forth

Once the draft contract and title documents have been received from the seller's solicitor, your conveyancer will raise "enquiries" — formal written questions about the property and the title.

These cover:

• Planning and building regulations — are there any consents that lack completion certificates? Has work been carried out without permission?
• Boundaries — does the boundary of the title deed match what you see on the ground? Who is responsible for which fences or walls?
• Rights and obligations — are there any rights of way over the property? Any restrictive covenants (e.g. "no further development" or "not to be used for business purposes") that limit what you can do with the property?
• Disputes — has the seller had any disputes with neighbours about boundaries, noise, parking or access?
• Guarantees — are there any guarantees in place for recent building work (e.g. a FENSA certificate for windows, a HETAS certificate for a log burner)?
• Service charge and ground rent accounts (leasehold only) — how much is the annual service charge? Is there a reserve fund? Have there been any recent major works invoiced to leaseholders?

The seller's solicitor collects the seller's answers and responds in writing. If answers are incomplete or raise further questions, your solicitor raises further enquiries. This back-and-forth is often where transactions slow down — particularly if the seller is slow to respond, or if there are planning irregularities that require retrospective consent or indemnity insurance.

What to do if there is a planning issue

It is common for a first-time buyer to discover during the enquiries stage that the seller built a conservatory without building regulations approval, or added a loft conversion without planning permission.

This does not necessarily kill the transaction. Options include:

1. Indemnity insurance — a one-off insurance policy (typically £100–£500) that protects you (and your lender) against enforcement action. Widely used and accepted by most lenders for older breaches (typically 4 years old for change of use, 10 years for operational development).
2. Retrospective consent — the seller applies for a Certificate of Lawful Development or retrospective planning permission. This adds weeks to the timeline but provides a clean legal record.
3. Price reduction — you negotiate a price reduction to account for the cost and uncertainty of addressing the issue after purchase.
4. Walk away — if the issue is serious enough, this is always an option before exchange.

The Mortgage Offer

While searches and enquiries are ongoing, your lender is completing their own process in parallel. After a mortgage application is approved in principle, the full formal mortgage offer requires:

1. Property valuation — the lender's surveyor visits (or, increasingly, uses an automated valuation model for standard properties) to confirm the property is worth what you are paying.
2. Affordability assessment — the final underwriting check on your income, outgoings, and any other open credit commitments.
3. Mortgage offer issued — typically 3–6 weeks after application if no complications arise.

Once the mortgage offer is issued, your solicitor receives a copy. They check the offer conditions, ensure the property title meets the lender's requirements, and note any special conditions (e.g. a requirement to hold funds back until a specific repair is completed).

Mortgage offers are typically valid for 3–6 months. On a new-build, some lenders extend to 12 months. If your transaction is taking longer than expected, contact your lender to confirm the offer validity — it can usually be extended if you request it before expiry.

The Report on Title

When your solicitor is satisfied that:

• all searches have returned with no blocking issues,
• all enquiries have been satisfactorily answered,
• the mortgage offer has been received and checked,
• the draft contract has been agreed,

…they will send you a Report on Title.

This is the formal document summarising:

• The nature of the title (freehold or leasehold, any incumbrances)
• The results of all searches
• The answers to enquiries and any issues that arose
• The terms of your mortgage offer
• The proposed completion date
• The funds required from you at exchange and completion (deposit + any balance due)

Read this carefully. If you do not understand something, ask your solicitor to explain in plain English. Do not sign the contract until you are satisfied with every point raised.

Practical tip: Your solicitor will ask you to sign two identical copies of the contract. One is retained by your solicitor; one goes to the seller's solicitor. Do not confuse signing the contract with exchange — the contracts are signed in advance but held unexchanged until both parties are ready. Exchange happens when the signed contracts are formally swapped and the deposit is transferred.

Exchange of Contracts: The Legally Binding Moment

Exchange is the moment that changes everything. Up to exchange, either party can withdraw without penalty (beyond losing money spent on legal fees and surveys). After exchange, both parties are legally committed.

What happens at exchange

1. Both solicitors confirm by telephone that they are ready to exchange (under Law Society formula B, the most common)
2. Your solicitor confirms that the deposit (10% of the purchase price) has been received — this is usually sent from your bank account to your solicitor's client account several days earlier
3. The solicitors simultaneously release their clients' signed contracts to each other
4. The completion date, previously agreed between the parties, is now fixed in law
5. Your solicitor immediately confirms exchange to you (and to your lender)

After exchange:

• Your 10% deposit is at risk if you withdraw from the purchase without grounds in the contract
• The seller is legally obligated to sell at the agreed price on the agreed date
• You are legally obligated to complete — if you cannot complete on the agreed date, you are in breach and can be charged penalty interest (at 4% above base rate per day on the outstanding balance)
• Buildings insurance must be in force from today — if the property burns down between exchange and completion, you as the buyer bear the risk

The deposit: how much and where it comes from

Contractually, the exchange deposit is 10% of the purchase price. On a £280,000 property, that is £28,000.

However, if your actual mortgage deposit is less than 10% (for example, a 5% deposit of £14,000), your solicitor will negotiate a "reduced deposit" clause with the seller's solicitor. Most sellers agree to accept 5% at exchange, with the remaining 5% due at completion. This is standard practice and rarely causes problems.

The deposit must be in cleared funds in your solicitor's client account before exchange. Do not send it on the morning of exchange — send it 2–3 working days in advance to allow for bank processing.

Cash buyers and chain-free transactions

If the seller is not buying onward and you have no chain below you, exchange and completion can sometimes happen on the same day. This is faster but requires everyone to be fully prepared: all searches returned, all enquiries answered, mortgage offer in hand. In practice, it means having everything ready 3–4 weeks in advance, then fixing a simultaneous exchange/completion date.

What Can Go Wrong: Common Reasons Transactions Fall Through

Around 30% of agreed property sales in England and Wales fall through before completion. This figure is higher than most buyers realise. Understanding the common causes helps you manage the risk.

1. Gazumping

After your offer is accepted but before exchange, the seller accepts a higher offer from another buyer. Entirely legal. Entirely devastating.

How to reduce the risk:

• Push hard to exchange within 6–8 weeks of offer acceptance — this is the most effective protection
• Request that the seller takes the property off the market (many will agree as a goodwill gesture)
• Consider Lockout Agreement / exclusivity clause (adds a small legal cost but creates a contractual obligation for the seller to deal exclusively with you for a set period)
• Purchase Home Buyer Protection Insurance — approximately £50–£100, covers your legal fees and survey cost if the sale falls through before exchange

2. Mortgage offer withdrawn or reduced

The lender's surveyor values the property below your purchase price ("down-valuation"). The lender will only lend against the surveyor's value, not the agreed price.

Example: You've agreed to pay £290,000. The lender's surveyor values the property at £275,000. Your lender will only advance funds based on £275,000. If you were planning a 10% deposit (£29,000), you now need to stump up £29,000 (10% of original price) plus the £15,000 gap — a total of £44,000 rather than £29,000 in cash. Or you renegotiate the price with the seller.

Options:

• Renegotiate the purchase price to the surveyed value (most sellers prefer this to losing the sale)
• Commission an independent RICS survey and challenge the down-valuation (success rate is modest but possible if there are comparable sales to support your price)
• Fund the gap from your own savings

3. Survey revealing significant defects

A structural survey returns with damp penetration, roof issues, subsidence, Japanese knotweed or other significant defects. You face a choice: renegotiate, accept the risk, or withdraw.

Tip: Withdraw only after getting at least two contractor quotes for the remediation cost. Then go back to the seller with a specific reduction request. Most sellers prefer to accept a reduction over losing a buyer and relisting.

4. Seller pulling out

The seller changes their mind — they decide not to sell, a higher offer arrives (see gazumping), or circumstances change (relationship breakdown, job move). You cannot prevent this before exchange, but moving quickly to exchange reduces the exposure window.

5. Chain collapse

If you are in a chain, anyone in the chain pulling out breaks the entire chain. The buyer below you or the seller above your seller can collapse the transaction through no fault of your own.

Mitigation: Chain-free purchases (new-build, vacant property, repossession) carry far less risk. If you are in a chain, maintain regular contact with your solicitor and estate agent to monitor chain status.

6. Searches revealing a problem

A local authority search returns with a planning enforcement notice, or an environmental search reveals the property is in a flood risk zone. Your solicitor will advise on whether the issue is material.

Most search results that flag something turn out to be manageable — but some (particularly severe flood risk, contaminated land, or active enforcement notices) may affect your lender's willingness to proceed.

Five Practical Tips to Speed Up Your Conveyancing

1. Instruct your solicitor before viewing properties

Have your chosen solicitor ready to instruct on the day your offer is accepted. Pre-completing the client onboarding paperwork, providing ID documents, and paying the initial payment on account in advance means you lose no time at the critical opening stage. Some conveyancers allow pre-registration without a specific property, so you can simply provide the property address when an offer is accepted.

2. Respond to your solicitor within 24 hours — always

Conveyancing transactions fail at the pace of the slowest responder. Your solicitor can issue enquiries the day they receive the draft contract, but if you take a week to reply to questions about the property forms, you have added a week to the timeline for free. Set up email notifications for your solicitor's messages and treat them as priority.

3. Have your deposit funds in a single account, accessible

Do not rely on selling investments or transferring funds from a Notice ISA on the week of exchange. Have your 10% deposit (or your actual deposit amount if lower) sitting in a current account or instant-access savings account by the time your solicitor requests it. Delays caused by funds not being available on exchange day are entirely preventable.

4. Chase proactively — politely but persistently

Your solicitor manages dozens of transactions simultaneously. You are not the squeaky wheel; you are just one of many. A polite call or email every 10–14 days asking for a progress update is perfectly normal and helps. Ask specifically: "Have all searches returned? Are there any outstanding enquiries? What is the current blocker?"

5. Get a survey before enquiries are finished

Commission your own RICS survey (Level 2 or Level 3 — see Part 9 of this series) as soon as the offer is accepted, without waiting for searches or enquiries. Survey results often raise additional enquiries or renegotiation points. Running the survey in parallel with the legal process — rather than sequentially after exchange — can save 3–4 weeks.

Conveyancing Costs: What You'll Pay in 2026

Here is a realistic breakdown of total legal costs for a first-time buyer purchase in England in 2026:

Additional costs for leasehold purchases:

If Help to Buy equity loan or Shared Ownership is involved, add a further £200–£400.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (England and Northern Ireland) — FTB relief 2025/26:

On a £280,000 FTB purchase: £0 SDLT. On a £350,000 FTB purchase: 5% × £50,000 = £2,500 SDLT. On a £550,000 FTB purchase: standard rates apply (no relief) = £17,500 SDLT.

Leasehold: The Additional Complications

If you are buying a leasehold property (most flats, some houses), the conveyancing process has additional layers that add both time and cost.

What your solicitor checks on leasehold:

• Length of the remaining lease. Below 80 years remaining, the property becomes difficult or impossible to mortgage. Below 70 years, most buyers cannot get a mortgage at all. Lease extension costs escalate sharply below 80 years. If the lease has fewer than 90 years, factor in the cost of extending it before or immediately after purchase.
• Service charge accounts. How much is the annual service charge? Is there a sinking fund (reserve fund) for major works? Have there been recent Section 20 major works notices (which require leaseholders to contribute large sums for roof replacement, lift refurbishment, etc.)?
• Ground rent. Post-Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, new leases cannot charge ground rent above a nominal "peppercorn" amount. Older leases with escalating ground rents (doubling clauses) can make properties difficult to mortgage.
• Management company and freeholder. Is the management company responsive? Are the communal areas maintained? Are there any disputes between the freeholder and leaseholders?
• Building safety. For buildings above 11 metres (approximately 5 storeys), check whether an EWS1 certificate (External Wall System safety certificate) exists. Buildings with cladding issues post-Grenfell can be unmortgageable without it.

Get the management pack early — your solicitor should request it from the managing agent as soon as the property is identified. Management packs take 2–6 weeks to arrive and cost £150–£350, paid by the seller in most cases.

What the Conveyancer Actually Does for You

A common frustration among first-time buyers is the sense that "nothing is happening" during conveyancing. In reality, your conveyancer is:

• Reviewing the seller's title documents and checking for title defects
• Submitting and monitoring searches
• Reviewing property information forms (TA6, TA7, TA10) completed by the seller
• Raising and managing enquiries
• Reviewing the draft contract and negotiating any changes
• Checking the mortgage offer against the title
• Reporting to you on the title and all findings
• Coordinating the deposit transfer
• Organising the exchange of contracts
• Requesting the mortgage advance from your lender prior to completion
• Paying SDLT to HMRC after completion (within 14 days)
• Submitting the Land Registry application to register you as the new owner

Much of this is invisible to you. The frustration usually comes when searches take weeks because the local authority is backlogged, or when the seller takes two weeks to answer three enquiries. These delays are typically outside your conveyancer's control — though chasing helps.

The Completion Statement: Your Financial Summary

Before completion, your solicitor will issue a completion statement. This shows:

• Purchase price
• Mortgage advance (funds coming from your lender)
• Deposit paid at exchange
• Balance due from you (the "completion monies")
• SDLT payable
• Legal fees and disbursements
• Any adjustments (e.g. apportioned ground rent, service charge, council tax)

Check this carefully. The balance due from you at completion is the sum you need to transfer to your solicitor's client account, typically 3–5 working days before the completion date. Leaving it to the last minute risks delays if the bank transfer takes longer than expected.

Modelling Your Full Buying Costs

Once you know the likely solicitor costs and SDLT for your purchase, run the numbers through the calculators below to understand the full financial picture.

Series Navigation

This is Part 8 of 12 in the "Buying your first home — month by month" series.

• ← Part 7: Making an Offer and Negotiating the Price
• Part 9: Surveys and Valuations — Which Level Do You Need? →

All parts in the series:

1. Saving Your Deposit — how long it really takes, LISA, regional variation
2. Mortgage Affordability — income multiples, stress tests, self-employed applications
3. Stamp Duty and All Buying Costs — the true total cash required
4. Choosing Your Mortgage Deal — fixed vs tracker, 2-year vs 5-year
5. Completion Day and Moving In — what happens, the admin checklist
6. Part 6: Finding the Right Property (coming soon)
7. Part 7: Making an Offer and Negotiating the Price (coming soon)
8. Part 8: Conveyancing — Timeline, Costs and What Can Go Wrong ← you are here
9. Part 9: Surveys and Valuations (coming soon)
10. Part 10: Exchange of Contracts in Detail (coming soon)
11. Part 11: The Final Weeks Before Completion (coming soon)
12. Part 12: Life as a Homeowner — Your First Year (coming soon)

Sources

• Law Society: Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS)
• Council for Licensed Conveyancers: Find a licensed conveyancer
• HM Land Registry: Registration fees and services
• HMRC: Stamp Duty Land Tax — first-time buyers' relief
• gov.uk: Buying and owning a property — searches and enquiries
• Which?: Conveyancing guide — what solicitors do and how long it takes
• Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE): Your rights as a leaseholder
• Building Safety Act 2022: EWS1 and building safety for leaseholders