How conveyancing works: from offer to completion
The short answer
Conveyancing is the legal transfer of a property from seller to buyer. For a straightforward freehold purchase it runs eight to twelve weeks: your conveyancer checks the title, orders searches, raises enquiries, gets your mortgage offer in place, then exchanges contracts - the moment everything becomes binding - and completes, usually one or two weeks later.
The journey, stage by stage
- 1
Instruction and ID (week 1)
You instruct a firm, complete ID and source-of-funds checks, and pay searches on account. The seller's firm drafts the contract pack and sends it over.
- 2
Searches ordered (weeks 1-2)
Local authority, environmental and water searches reveal what the seller might not know and the survey can't see: planning history, flood risk, drains, road schemes. Local authority speed varies wildly by council - this is a common bottleneck.
- 3
Enquiries (weeks 3-8)
Your conveyancer questions the contract pack: boundaries, alterations, guarantees, disputes, leasehold management packs. Rounds of enquiry and answer are where chains quietly lose their weeks.
- 4
Mortgage offer and report (weeks 4-8)
The lender's valuation and offer land; your conveyancer checks its conditions and reports to you on everything - title, searches, enquiries - with the contract ready to sign.
- 5
Exchange
Deposits move, completion is fixed in law, and pulling out now costs the deposit. Insurance on the property becomes your responsibility from exchange in most purchases.
- 6
Completion (1-2 weeks later, sometimes same day)
Funds flow down the chain, keys release, and you move in. Your conveyancer then pays stamp duty and registers you at the Land Registry.
Your role in keeping it moving
Conveyancing is slower when inputs stall. Return ID and forms the day they arrive; get your survey booked early so its findings feed enquiries rather than restart them; answer your conveyancer's questions in hours not weeks; and chase your mortgage application in parallel, not in sequence. The chain moves at the speed of its slowest participant - the trick is making sure that's never you. Where the weeks actually go, and what else speeds them up, gets its own guide: why conveyancing takes so long.
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Compare conveyancing quotesCommon questions
When should I instruct a conveyancer?
The day your offer is accepted - or when you list, if selling; a seller with the contract pack ready starts every buyer's clock faster. Instruction costs little up front and waiting burns the cheapest weeks.
What's the difference between exchange and completion?
Exchange makes the deal legally binding and fixes the completion date; completion is the day money and keys actually move. The gap - typically a week or two - lets everyone book removals and order funds. Same-day exchange-and-complete happens, but it leaves no planning room.
What does all this cost?
Typically £900 to £1,800 in legal fees for a freehold purchase plus £350 to £700 disbursements - the full breakdown lives in our conveyancing fees guide and calculator.
Do I need conveyancing if there's no mortgage?
Yes - cash removes the lender's requirements, not the legal transfer, searches, or the hundred ways a title can bite. Cash purchases run faster, not lawyer-free.
Sources and further reading