Legal News | 28.09.26

What to expect from the legal process of buying a property

For many people, buying a property is one of the biggest financial commitments they will make and a process they may only experience a few times in their lives. Understandably, the legal aspects can seem daunting. Below is an overview of the key stages involved in a typical residential property purchase.

Searches and enquiries
Once your offer has been accepted, you may wish to instruct a surveyor to carry out a survey of the property. This can provide you with more information about the property and identify issues such as damp, structural defects or other maintenance concerns. A survey can help inform any enquiries raised by your solicitor and may be used to support a renegotiation of the purchase price.

The first stage in the legal process is where your solicitor will receive all the initial documentation from the seller’s solicitor as part of what is called the ‘contract pack.’ This will include lots of information about the property including:

• The legal title of the property which will provide information about any rights benefiting the property and any restrictions affecting its use;
• The Property Information Form (TA6) providing information about boundaries, disputes, rights and informal arrangements, guarantees and other certificates; and
• The Fittings and Contents Form (TA10) confirming what items are included within the sale.

Your solicitor will also obtain searches which will normally include:

• Local Authority Search – provides information about planning permissions, building regulations, conservation areas and any enforcement action.
• Highways Search – confirms whether the roads serving the property are publicly maintained.
• Water and Drainage Search – confirms connections to mains water and drainage and identifies the location of public sewers.
• Environmental Search – highlights potential issues such as contamination, subsidence and flood risk.

If the property is leasehold, further enquiries will be made of the landlord or management company. This will help provide information about management of the building including insurance, service charges and ground rent.

Having reviewed this information, your solicitor will raise any necessary enquiries of the seller’s solicitor to clarify any issues that have been picked up in the searches or contract pack. Once all enquiries have been satisfactorily answered and documents approved, you will be asked to sign the contract and other relevant documents in readiness to exchange.

Exchange of contracts
Exchange of contracts is a significant milestone in the transaction. At this stage, the buyer and seller become legally committed to completing the sale on an agreed completion date.

A deposit, usually 10% of the purchase price, is normally paid on exchange. Once contracts have been exchanged, withdrawing from the transaction could result in financial penalties.

Completion
Completion is the day ownership of the property transfers to you. Your solicitor will send the purchase funds to the seller’s solicitor and, once completion has taken place, you will be able to collect the keys and move into your new home.

After completion
There are still a number of important steps for your solicitor to deal with after completion, including:

• Paying any Stamp Duty Land Tax. This must be paid within 14 days of completion – your solicitor will action the payment on your behalf (note that for first time buyers stamp duty only has to be paid on properties over £300,000)
• Registering your ownership of the property at HM Land Registry.

How Wansbroughs can help
If you are looking for a conveyancer to handle your sale or purchase, please contact our Residential Property Team at property@wansbroughs.com or on 01380 733367 for more information.