Conveyancing: what your solicitor does for ten weeks.

Choosing a solicitor or conveyancer

• A solicitor or a licensed conveyancer; both are fine and regulated.
• Get a fixed-fee quote in writing including VAT, searches, Land Registry fees and bank transfer fees. £1,000 to £2,000 all-in is typical.
• Ask how they communicate (online portal, email, phone) and who you will deal with day to day.
• Your broker or the agent may recommend one; you can use anyone you like. Check reviews and check they are on your lender's panel.
• Instruct them the day your offer is accepted, or before.

What happens, in order

1. Onboarding: ID checks, source of funds (your deposit trail, gift letters), signing their terms.
2. Draft contract arrives from the seller's solicitor with the title, the property information forms (what is included, disputes, boundaries, building work) and, for leasehold, the lease and management pack.
3. Searches: local authority (planning, roads, notices), drainage and water, environmental (flooding, contamination), and others as needed (mining, chancel). One to four weeks depending on the council.
4. Enquiries: your solicitor asks the seller's solicitor questions raised by the searches, the forms and your survey. This is where weeks disappear; answers come back slowly.
5. Mortgage offer arrives and your solicitor checks its conditions.
6. Report on title: your solicitor writes to you explaining what you are buying and anything to be aware of. Read it.
7. Sign the contract and transfer. Pay the deposit to your solicitor.
8. Exchange contracts. Now binding. Completion date fixed.
9. Completion: your solicitor draws down the mortgage, sends the money, you get the keys, they pay the stamp duty and register you at the Land Registry.

How to keep it moving

• Return every form the day it arrives.
• Have your ID and deposit evidence ready before they ask.
• Book the survey early so its findings can go into the enquiries.
• A polite weekly check-in email to your solicitor and to the agent (who chases the seller's side).

A note on the numbers. Thresholds, schemes and typical costs are correct as far as we know at the time of writing and are for England and Northern Ireland unless we say otherwise. Rules change and lenders differ. Check the current position, and get advice from a qualified broker before you commit.