Property solicitor what happens next is a common question after you instruct a conveyancer to handle a sale or purchase. The process usually involves reviewing documents, carrying out searches, raising enquiries and working towards exchange and completion. This guide explains the main stages, what your solicitor needs from you, likely delays and the costs to check before proceeding. It also highlights when local rules or a different type of legal specialist may be relevant.
What Your Property Solicitor Does First
After you instruct a property solicitor, the firm will normally confirm your identity, explain its terms of business and ask you to provide information about the transaction. For a purchase, this may include your mortgage offer or broker details, the source of your deposit and information about the property. For a sale, the solicitor will usually need completed property information forms, details of alterations and planning documents where relevant. The firm may also ask you to pay money on account for searches or other initial expenses.
Your solicitor then opens the legal file and contacts the other side’s conveyancer or estate agent. On a purchase, the seller’s solicitor sends a draft contract pack containing information such as the title register, title plan and property forms. On a sale, your solicitor prepares and sends the contract pack after checking the title and your answers. The work is not simply checking whether a property looks suitable; it is checking whether the legal ownership, rights and obligations are acceptable to you and any mortgage lender.
The initial checks and contract pack are important because mistakes or missing information at this stage can affect everything that follows. Read the forms carefully before signing them and tell your solicitor if anything is inaccurate, including details about boundaries, disputes, guarantees, extensions or neighbour arrangements. Do not assume that an estate agent’s description is a substitute for formal legal information. If you are unsure how to answer a question, ask your solicitor rather than guessing.
Searches Enquiries and Title Checks
For a purchase, the solicitor usually orders searches from relevant authorities and organisations. These can include a local authority search, a drainage and water search and an environmental search, although the exact package varies with the property and location. Additional searches may be sensible where there are concerns about mining, flooding, development, commons, highways or other local matters. Searches are separate from a survey: a survey examines the physical condition of the building, while conveyancing searches investigate legal and environmental information.
The solicitor also examines the title to identify who owns the property and whether there are restrictions, covenants, rights of way, rent charges, lease terms or other obligations. Leasehold purchases require further checks, including the remaining lease term, service charges, ground rent provisions, building insurance arrangements and planned major works. Your mortgage lender may impose its own requirements, and the solicitor must often report issues that could affect the lender’s security. A short lease, unusual covenant or missing consent may need specialist advice before you commit.
Once the documents and searches have been reviewed, the solicitor raises pre contract enquiries with the other side. These questions might ask for evidence of planning permission for an extension, clarification of a boundary, confirmation that building regulations were followed or details of a management company’s charges. The answers should be considered alongside the documents, not treated as a formality. If an answer reveals a problem, possible responses include requesting further evidence, seeking an indemnity policy where appropriate, renegotiating, requiring a remedy or deciding not to proceed before exchange.
What You Need To Do During Conveyancing
Your solicitor cannot complete the transaction without timely information and decisions from you. Return forms and identification promptly, provide documents requested by the firm and tell it about changes such as a new mortgage, change of address, relationship breakdown or alteration to the property. If you are buying with another person, discuss whether you will own the property as joint tenants or tenants in common and whether a declaration of trust is needed. These choices can have consequences for what happens if one owner dies, sells or contributes a different amount.
Keep your lender, broker, estate agent and solicitor informed if dates change or if your circumstances affect funding. A mortgage offer can have conditions or an expiry date, and the solicitor may need to satisfy lender requirements before funds can be requested. You should also arrange a suitable buildings insurance policy from the point required by the contract or lender, rather than waiting until moving day. Do not transfer completion money using bank details received unexpectedly by email; independently verify payment instructions because conveyancing fraud is a significant practical risk.
A property information forms mistake can create problems even after completion, particularly where the buyer later discovers that an answer was incomplete or misleading. Before signing, check matters such as disputes, notices, guarantees, alterations, parking arrangements and shared access. Ask who is responsible for any repair or outstanding work and obtain written confirmation where possible. Your solicitor can explain the legal significance of the information, but you remain responsible for providing honest and complete factual answers.
Exchange Completion And Costs
Exchange of contracts is the point at which the agreement normally becomes legally binding. Before exchange, the parties may still be able to withdraw, although there can be financial or contractual consequences in some circumstances. Your solicitor should confirm that searches, enquiries, title checks, mortgage arrangements and funds are sufficiently advanced before recommending exchange. You should also agree a completion date and understand what happens if a linked transaction is delayed.
On completion, the buyer’s solicitor sends the purchase money and the seller’s solicitor authorises release of the keys. The seller should have moved out by the contractual time, while the buyer can usually collect keys through the estate agent once completion is confirmed. After completion, the buyer’s solicitor deals with post-completion steps such as paying any applicable property tax, registering the change of ownership and registering the mortgage. Registration can take time, especially where the Land Registry or a complex title is involved, but ownership is supported by the completed transaction and evidence submitted for registration.
Ask for a written conveyancing costs estimate that separates the solicitor’s legal fee from VAT, search fees, Land Registry charges, bank transfer fees, leasehold or management-pack charges and any likely additional work. A fixed fee may still exclude matters such as title defects, gifted deposits, shared ownership, lease extensions or a failed transaction, so read the conditions carefully. The phrase accident claim fees explained relates to a different area of law and should not be used to assume that property work is funded in the same way. Similarly, an immigration lawyer indefinite leave to remain application has different rules, evidence and charging arrangements; always ask the relevant specialist for a written estimate.
If you are buying in Northern Ireland, the process and terminology can differ from conveyancing in England and Wales. Someone searching for a conveyancing solicitor Belfast should check that the practitioner is authorised to practise in the relevant jurisdiction and understands local requirements, including the applicable land registration and property procedures. Scotland has a separate system too, so a solicitor’s location alone is not enough to establish that it handles the correct type of transaction. Confirm the jurisdiction, scope of work and total likely charges before instructing.
Common Delays And How To Deal With Them
Property transactions are often delayed by missing information rather than one dramatic legal problem. Common examples include a slow local authority search, an incomplete title plan, an absent planning certificate, unanswered enquiries, a management company that has not supplied a leasehold information pack or a lender that has not issued final instructions. Chains create additional uncertainty because your completion depends on several connected buyers and sellers. Your solicitor can chase outstanding items and explain their effect, but cannot control every participant.
If a survey identifies defects, you may need to obtain quotations, seek specialist reports or reconsider the price before exchange. A legal issue such as an absent right of way, restrictive covenant or lease term may require a deed, consent, insurance or a change in your plans. Do not exchange simply to meet an informal target date if important questions remain unanswered. Once contracts are exchanged, withdrawing or failing to complete may expose you to serious financial and legal consequences, depending on the contract and circumstances.
When communication becomes difficult, ask your solicitor for a concise written update identifying what has been received, what remains outstanding, who is responsible and what decision is needed from you. Keep a record of important instructions and check whether an issue is legal, financial, structural or practical, as different professionals may need to address it. If you believe your solicitor has made an error, use the firm’s complaints procedure first and consider independent advice about your options. Check that the firm is regulated, for example by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales, or by the relevant regulator for the jurisdiction involved.
The main delay warning signs are repeated unanswered enquiries, unexplained requests for urgent money, uncertainty about title ownership and pressure to exchange before you understand the documents. These signs do not automatically mean a transaction will fail, but they justify asking precise questions. Request confirmation of the legal issue, the proposed solution, any extra cost and whether the lender must approve it. A clear paper trail helps you make an informed decision and can reduce misunderstandings between the parties.
Key Takeaways
The answer to property solicitor what happens next is usually a sequence of legal checks rather than one single event. Your solicitor gathers information, reviews the title, orders searches, raises enquiries, satisfies lender requirements and prepares for exchange and completion. The pace depends on the property, the quality of the paperwork, the other side, the lender and any chain. It is sensible to allow time for questions and corrections rather than treating an estate agent’s suggested date as guaranteed.
You can help by returning accurate forms, supplying documents quickly, checking cost estimates and reporting changes in your circumstances. Before exchange, make sure you understand the title, searches, survey findings, lease terms, mortgage conditions, completion arrangements and consequences of becoming legally bound. Ask for explanations in writing where an issue is important, particularly if you are being asked to accept a risk or pay an additional charge.
Finally, use a solicitor regulated for the relevant part of the UK and seek specialist help where the transaction is unusually complex. Property law, immigration work and personal injury funding are separate areas, so terms such as conveyancing solicitor Belfast, immigration lawyer indefinite leave to remain and accident claim fees explained should be considered in their proper context. This article is general information, not legal advice; confirm the current position, likely costs and recommended action with your regulated solicitor before making a commitment.