Conveyancing Solicitor UK: Role & Duties Explained

Overview

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of property from one person to another. A conveyancing solicitor, or a licensed conveyancer, is the professional who manages that process on your behalf. They act for you specifically, which means their duty is to protect your interests rather than the other side's.

On a purchase, they check that the seller genuinely has the right to sell, that no one else has a claim over the property, and that nothing hidden in the title or local area would make the property less valuable or less usable than you expect. On a sale, they respond to the buyer's enquiries, prepare the contract pack, and handle the discharge of any mortgage secured on the property.

Most conveyancers work on a fixed-fee basis for the legal work itself, with separate disbursements for things like search fees, Land Registry fees, and Stamp Duty Land Tax where applicable. Costs vary between firms, so it is worth comparing quotes.

Key steps

1. Checking the title and tenure. Your conveyancer pulls the official title from the Land Registry and works out whether the property is freehold or leasehold. Freehold means you own the building and the ground it sits on indefinitely. Leasehold means you own the right to occupy for a fixed period, with a landlord retaining the freehold, and you need to know the years left on the lease, the ground rent, and the service charge arrangements.
2. Running property searches. A standard purchase usually involves a local authority search, a drainage and water search, and an environmental search. These look at planning history, road adoption, nearby developments, flood risk factors, contamination, and similar issues. Depending on where the property sits, your conveyancer may recommend further searches such as mining, chancel, or flood-specific reports.
3. Reviewing seller disclosures. The seller completes standard forms, including the TA6 property information form and the TA10 fittings and contents form. Your conveyancer reads these carefully, raises written enquiries about anything unclear or concerning, and chases the seller's side until the answers are satisfactory. This is often where boundary disputes, unauthorised extensions, and unresolved planning issues come to light.
4. Handling the mortgage and contract. If you are borrowing, your conveyancer also acts for the lender in most cases, and must satisfy the lender's requirements before drawdown. They prepare a report on title for you, send the contract for signature, agree the completion date, and arrange the exchange of contracts, at which point the deal becomes legally binding and your deposit is committed.
5. Completing and registering. On completion day, your conveyancer sends the purchase money to the seller's solicitor, receives the keys release, and deals with Stamp Duty Land Tax where it applies. They then register you as the new owner at the Land Registry, notify the freeholder or managing agent on a leasehold purchase, and send you the updated title once registration is complete.

Common questions