What does a conveyancing solicitor do?

What does a conveyancing solicitor do for you exactly when they handle the legal side of your house sale and/or purchase? It's good to have an overview of what you're paying for and what to expect

Angela Kerr Director, Editor

A conveyancing solicitor handles the legal side of your home sale or purchase. They are a fully qualified legal expert who will guide you through the entire process of your property transaction from preparing contracts to arranging searches to exchanging contracts and the day of completion.

What is a conveyancing solicitor?

A conveyancing solicitor specialises in helping clients with the legal side of buying or the legal side of selling a property. They are a fully qualified practising conveyancer or solicitor who will guide you through the entire transaction.

As a qualified conveyancer or solicitor they will also have an understanding of other aspects of the law which can help when you are buying or selling a property. It could be they can talk you through the legal ramifications of something that has come up in your survey or searches. Alternatively, they may be able to help you draw up a will or a deed of trust that is needed after a property sale or purchase.

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What does a conveyancing solicitor do?

A conveyancing solicitor will handle most of the property transaction when you buy or sell a home. Their job is to ensure the process goes smoothly on the legal front and to represent your best interests. This means they will handle everything from requesting searches to drawing up contracts. Their tasks include examining the following:

Freehold or leasehold

Your conveyancing solicitor will read through the draft contract and documents sent by the seller’s solicitor to discover whether the property you’re buying is freehold or leasehold. If it’s a house it should be freehold, but most flats int he UK are sold as leasehold.

The difference is important as if it is freehold you own the building and the land it stands upon, but if it is leasehold you have a long lease on just the property. Leasehold conveyancing involves extra work for your solicitor as they will need to establish how long the lease on the property will last, what fees (ground rent, service charges etc) you will need to pay to the freeholder and what restrictions exist. So there is a lot more involved.

If you are buying or selling a leasehold property your conveyancing solicitor can also advise you on whether a lease extension is necessary and explain the (often significant) cost implications. Find out more with our guide to leasehold vs freehold – what ‘s the difference.

New Build?

If you’re buying a new build home from a developer then there is also lots more to consider. The legal side of buying a new build home is more complex than the standard conveyancing process when buying. That’s because the potential for something to go wrong is much higher with a new build purchase. See our guide on new build conveyancing and questions to ask when buying a new build.

Local Property Searches

Whatever type of house you’re buying, your conveyancing solicitor will start the legal investigations by conducting a number of local searches to ensure you know as much as possible about what you are buying and the surrounding area. This includes checking for flood risks, ground contamination, radon gas and ground stability.

Searches can also uncover issues such as chancel repairs – where the owner of a property is liable to pay for repairs to the local church – or restrictive covenants. Your conveyancing solicitor can help you understand what all these searches mean and translate the often archaic language used.

A good conveyancing solicitor can also help you tackle any problems turned up by the searches. For example, they may recommend an indemnity policy to protect your from chancel repairs. This is where a good conveyancing solicitor earns their fees – problem solving so your property transaction stays on track.   

Get instant quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancing solicitors that cover your area.

Survey next steps

In our recent 2024 survey of homeowners, 40% of people wrongly believed their conveyancer will check the condition and structure of the building. However, this is not the case. Whether you get a building survey is down to you, the buyer, and you are responsible for organising and paying for it. Your conveyancing solicitor will not assess the condition of your property. This is the job of the surveyor you appoint. However, in the event you get a less than favourable survey report of the home you want to buy, your conveyancing solicitor may be able to advise on dealing with next steps. For example, they could write to the sellers solicitor with a copy of the report explaining what needs to be fixed before exchange or help you negotiate money off the sale price.

Legal documents

Your conveyancing solicitor will also provide you with documents and forms that you will need to fill in if you are selling a property or read through if you are buying.

These include the fittings and contents form (TA10) and the property information form (TA6). The first one (TA10) lists what is included in the sale from the sink to the owner’s garden gnome collection. The second (TA6) should give all the facts on the property from where the boundaries are to who supplies the utilities. You need to be familiar with these forms and a good conveyancing solicitor will go through both with a fine tooth comb looking for any issues.

If you are buying a property with someone else your conveyancing solicitor can also help you draw up a Deed of Trust to stipulate exactly what percentage of the property you each own and what will happen if the property is sold.

Exchange of contracts

Your conveyancing solicitor will handle the exchange of contracts. This is where, once your solicitor is satisfied that all the searches have been completed and any issues dealt with, the seller’s conveyancer draws up the contract of sale and both parties exchange signed contracts. At this point the buyer pays a deposit and the property transaction becomes legally binding.

Completion Day

On completion day your conveyancing solicitor will be responsible for ensuring the funds are transferred and then inform the estate agent that the keys can be released.

After completion

Your conveyancing solicitor’s work doesn’t end on completion day. Once the transaction has taken place they will arrange for any taxes to do with the transaction to be paid such as Stamp Duty or Capital Gains Tax.

Your solicitor will also send all the necessary paperwork to the Land Registry so that the transfer of ownership is properly recorded. XX

A conveyancing solicitor does a great deal of work whether you are buying or selling a property. A good solicitor can make all the difference to a transaction, whether that’s finding solutions to problems so you can still buy your dream home or explaining in layman’s terms legal terminology such as chancel repairs or restrictive covenants.

What does a conveyancing solicitor do when you are buying a property?

Your conveyancing solicitor is there to make sure you know exactly what you are buying, search out any issues that could cause you problems and come up with solutions that keep your transaction on track.

For buyers, a conveyancing solicitor handling a property purchase will take care of:

• Property searches: Request relevant property searches and assess them for any issues affecting the property.
• Title deeds: Request title deeds and check the boundaries, ownership and any charges or restrictions on the property.
• Mortgage lender requests: Ensure your mortgage lender has any information they need.
• Stamp Duty: Advise you on any tax due as part of the purchase.
• Land Registry: Make sure the transfer of ownership is documented correctly and is legally binding.
• Communications: They will pass any queries you have about the property onto the seller’s solicitor.
• Contracts: Drawn up the contracts for exchange and make sure all conditions are met.
• Finances: They will receive money from you and your mortgage lender and hand it on to the buyer’s solicitor on exchange and completion days.
• Completion: Make sure all the conditions of the contracts have been met and hand over the money to the seller’s solicitor.
• Advice: Provide legal advice to you throughout the conveyancing process.

Find out more with our step-by-step guide to the conveyancing process for buyers.

What does a conveyancing solicitor do when you are selling a property?

Your conveyancing solicitor is there to ensure that your legal rights are protected and that a legal sale of the property takes place. This means they’ll handle a lot of the communication with your buyers, ensure all the legal paperwork is completed correctly and that any tax bills arising from the sale are paid.

A conveyancing solicitor handling a sale will take care of:

• Title deeds: Examine and verify ownership, boundaries and any restrictions.
• Property Information Forms (e.g. the TA6): Providing you with forms to complete where appropriate and handing the completed form to the buyer’s solicitor.
• Communications: they are the point of contact between you and the buyer’s solicitor.
• Contracts: Ensure the contract of sale is fair and accurate.
• Exchange of contracts: Coordinate the exchange of contracts and ensure all conditions are met.
• Capital Gains Tax: Ensure any tax is calculated correctly and the bill settled.
• Financial transactions: All money involved in the transaction will go via your conveyancing solicitor.
• Advice: Provide legal advice to you throughout the conveyancing process.
• Completion: Make sure all the conditions of the contracts have been met and receive the money from the buyer.

Find out more with our simple guide to the conveyancing process for sellers.

How to choose a conveyancing solicitor?

Choosing a conveyancing solicitor comes down to three things: cost, reputation and lender approval. You don’t want to pay the earth, you want a conveyancing solicitor with a good reputation for getting the job done and, if you are getting a mortgage, they will need to be on your lender’s panel.

The first step to choosing the right conveyancing solicitor is to check with your mortgage lender to get details of their panel. Most lenders will only deal with certain conveyancers and solicitors. If you opt for a solicitor who isn’t on their panel you may have to pay your bank’s representation fees – typically around £200.

You can get quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancing solicitors with our free tool. Shopping around will ensure you don’t end up paying over the odds.

It’s not necessarily best to go with the cheapest option. A bad conveyancing solicitor can cause significant delays to the transaction and, in the worst case, could cause the sale or purchase to collapse. You want a solicitor who you can get hold of swiftly, keeps you up-to-date and has an eye-for-detail.

If you use our conveyancing comparison tool it includes ratings and reviews for all the firms that provide quotes. That means you can strike a balance between cost and reputation to choose the best possible conveyancing solicitor.

Once you have whittled down your choices then ask them some questions to see how their service works. Ask then who will handle your case, how often you can expect to hear from them and are there any extra fees now included in the quote you have received. Our guide to questions to ask a conveyancing solicitor will help.

What is the difference between a conveyancer and a solicitor?

Alongside conveyancing solicitors, you may come across licensed conveyancers. The difference between them comes down to their legal qualifications. A licensed conveyancer is a legal professional focussing on residential property. A conveyancing solicitor is a qualified lawyer with extensive active training in many aspects of law.

A licensed conveyancer is fully insured and regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. They handle property transactions every day and will operate in almost an identical way to a solicitor.

A solicitor is a qualified lawyer regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. They can offer other legal services such as handling a divorce or helping someone who is going to court for criminal matters.

Find out more about whether a conveyancer or solicitor is best for your transaction in our guide to choosing the right solicitor or conveyancer.

A solicitor is likely to be more expensive than a licensed conveyancer due to them having more qualifications. You can find out more about charges in our Conveyancing Fees guide or get instant quotes now from regulated and reviewed conveyancers that cover your area.

Can I do conveyancing myself?

You don’t have to use a solicitor or a licensed conveyancer when you buy or sell a home if there is no mortgage. Technically, you can do it yourself. DIY conveyancing means you do all the legal legwork yourself from reading through searches to drawing up the contract.

However, it’s worth remembering the old saying: “a man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client”. The legal conveyancing process is complicated and if you make a mistake, it could cost you far, far more than the fees you would have paid to a conveyancing solicitor.

If there is a mortgage involved in the transaction, then DIY conveyancing isn’t usually an option – the lender won’t allow it. Find out more with our complete guide to DIY conveyancing.

Frequently Asked Questions