Conveyancing explained: what your solicitor actually does when you buy a home
Buying a home involves a lot of legal work happening in the background, most of which buyers never see in detail. Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from seller to buyer, and understanding roughly what a conveyancing solicitor is actually doing at each stage makes the whole process considerably less opaque.
Once an offer is accepted, the buyer's solicitor requests a draft contract and title documents from the seller's solicitor, and begins a set of standard searches. A local authority search checks things like planning permissions, building regulation records and any road schemes affecting the property. A water and drainage search confirms how the property connects to the water supply and sewers. An environmental search flags issues such as flood risk or contaminated land history. Depending on the property's location, further searches — a mining search in former coalfield areas, for example — may also be needed. These searches exist to uncover problems that would not be obvious from simply looking at the property, and a solicitor will raise queries with the seller's solicitor if anything comes back unexpectedly.
Searches are one part of what are called disbursements — third-party costs the solicitor pays out on your behalf, separate from their own legal fee. Disbursements typically include the search fees themselves, a Land Registry fee to register the change of ownership, anti-money-laundering identity checks, and, for leasehold properties, a management information pack from the freeholder or managing agent, which tends to add a further cost on top of a freehold purchase. It is worth asking for a full breakdown of expected disbursements early on, since they are billed alongside the solicitor's own fee but are not the same thing.
On cost, conveyancing solicitor fees for a fairly standard freehold purchase in England and Wales commonly sit somewhere in the region of £900 to £1,800 plus VAT, with disbursements adding a further few hundred pounds on top — actual figures vary by firm, region and the complexity of the transaction, and leasehold purchases tend to cost more than freehold ones because of the extra paperwork involved with the freeholder or management company. It is worth getting a written quote that separates the solicitor's fee from disbursements and VAT, so you can compare like with like across different firms, and worth asking whether the fee is fixed or could increase if the transaction becomes more complicated — for example if a chain falls through and has to be rearranged, or if the searches raise unexpected issues.
Once searches are back, queries resolved and mortgage funds (if applicable) are in place, the transaction moves toward exchange of contracts — the point at which the sale becomes legally binding. At exchange, buyer and seller sign identical contracts, the solicitors formally exchange them, and the buyer pays a deposit, commonly around 10% of the purchase price, though this can vary by agreement. Before exchange, either side can generally walk away without a legal penalty, though they will likely have already spent money on searches, surveys and legal fees along the way. After exchange, neither side can pull out without serious consequences — a buyer who withdraws after exchange typically loses their deposit.
Completion is a separate, later step, usually somewhere between one and four weeks after exchange, though same-day exchange and completion also happens in some transactions. On completion day, the buyer's solicitor sends the remaining balance of the purchase price to the seller's solicitor, ownership is formally transferred, and the keys are released — typically via the estate agent — once the seller's solicitor confirms the money has arrived. The buyer's solicitor then registers the change of ownership, and, where relevant, pays any Stamp Duty Land Tax due, with HM Land Registry.
None of this is a recommendation of any specific solicitor or conveyancer, or of any particular fee structure. This article is general information, not legal advice. Our directory lists conveyancing solicitors by area, and getting a clear written quote covering both the legal fee and expected disbursements, before instructing anyone, remains the most reliable way to compare options.
Frequently asked questions
Exchange of contracts is the point the sale becomes legally binding — contracts are signed and a deposit paid, and pulling out afterwards has serious consequences. Completion, usually one to four weeks later, is when the remaining money is transferred, ownership formally changes hands, and keys are released.
Disbursements are third-party costs a solicitor pays on your behalf as part of the transaction — typically search fees, a Land Registry registration fee, anti-money-laundering identity checks, and, for leasehold properties, a management information pack fee. They are separate from the solicitor's own legal fee.
Solicitor fees for a fairly standard freehold purchase commonly sit in the region of £900 to £1,800 plus VAT, with disbursements adding a further few hundred pounds. Actual costs vary by firm, region, and whether the property is freehold or leasehold, so a written, itemised quote is worth getting before instructing anyone.
Searches — local authority, water and drainage, and environmental, among others depending on location — uncover issues that are not visible from viewing the property, such as planning history, flood risk, or drainage arrangements. A solicitor raises queries with the seller's side if anything unexpected comes back.