Residential property
Selling a home: get the title and property information ready early.
Organise ownership, mortgage, property information and transaction dependencies for a clearer conveyancing process.
The selling process
A complete, accurate starting pack helps the buyer investigate.
A seller's conveyancer usually confirms title, obtains mortgage information where relevant, prepares the contract pack and gathers property forms and supporting documents. The buyer's legal adviser reviews that material and raises enquiries before exchange.
Early preparation can expose missing permissions, leasehold information, ownership issues or mortgage details before a target date becomes urgent. Answers should be accurate: uncertainty is better identified than concealed or guessed.
Your property file
Start with title, occupation and property history.
Gather evidence of identity and ownership, mortgage account details, guarantees, planning or building-regulation papers, and information about alterations, boundaries and disputes. Leasehold sellers may also need a management information pack and details of service charges or planned works.
If an owner has died, a name has changed, the property is jointly owned or a person in occupation is not an owner, mention this at the outset. The appropriate documents and signatories can then be checked.
- Title and ownership circumstances
- Mortgage or secured lending to be redeemed
- Alterations, guarantees and permissions
- Lease, management company and service-charge information
Contract and enquiries
The buyer must be able to assess the legal proposition.
The contract pack sets out the title and proposed terms. Enquiries may ask about documents, rights, restrictions, occupiers, boundaries, works and discrepancies. Some questions are legal; others may need the seller, managing agent, lender or another professional to respond.
A seller should not speculate. Give the conveyancer the facts and available evidence so responses can be framed accurately.
Exchange and completion
Do not treat a preferred date as binding too early.
The seller and buyer generally become legally bound when contracts are exchanged. Before then, the chain, finance and legal work may still change. Once exchange occurs, the completion date and contract obligations have legal effect.
On completion, the buyer's funds are applied in accordance with the completion statement, including mortgage redemption and agreed payments. Keys are normally released through the agreed arrangement once completion is confirmed.
Instruction questions
Ask what the estimate includes and what may change it.
A written quote should distinguish legal fees from VAT and third-party payments, state the work included, and explain assumptions such as tenure, lender count or unregistered title. Linked sale-and-purchase work should be clear as separate matters even where the timelines interact.
Conveyancing fees are not yet published. A useful quote should explain the assumptions, legal work, likely third-party payments and factors that could change the figure.
What to organise
What to share when you are selling a home
- 01
Who owns or occupies the property?
Include every registered owner and any relevant death, name change or person in occupation.
- 02
Gather the property file
Find permissions, guarantees, leasehold papers and details of alterations or disputes.
- 03
Explain the finance
List mortgages, secured loans and any related purchase or onward chain.
- 04
State the timetable
Share proposed dates and their reason without presenting them as already guaranteed.
Questions to clarify
Common questions at this stage.
These answers are general orientation for England and Wales, not advice on a particular matter.
Can legal preparation begin before a buyer is found?
A seller can often choose a conveyancer and begin identity, title and document preparation before an offer is accepted. The useful scope depends on the property.
What if planning or guarantee papers are missing?
Tell the conveyancer early. Do not approach an authority, insurer or third party on an assumed solution until the legal position and options have been considered.
When is the sale binding?
In England and Wales, the parties are generally bound when contracts are exchanged, not when an offer is accepted.
Official starting points
Check the current source.
These official links support general orientation only. They do not replace advice about a particular matter.
Your next step
Get the sale ready for a first legal conversation.
Note the people, dates, key documents and practical outcome. Use an approved secure channel before sharing confidential or identifying information.