A Guide to Property Purchase Procedure

England and Wales

Pre-contract

• Buyer raises pre-contract enquiries of the seller
• Buyer carries out due diligence, ordering all necessary searches (land charges search, coal mining reports, enquiries of local authority, and so on)
• Seller deduces title and issues draft contract, which will incorporate the standard conditions of sale. It is now market practice for the seller to provide sales packs that include the contract, searches and replies to its enquiries, etc
• Parties negotiate draft contract

Contract

• The contract consists of two copies of the same document (the original and the counterpart)
• The seller signs the original contract and the buyer signs the counterpart
• To create the contract, the buyer's and the seller's respective solicitors exchange contracts. This can be done personally but is more commonly done by telephone. The solicitors agree the completion date and the date and time of exchange, and each undertakes to send its copy of the contract to the other solicitor. The buyer's solicitor undertakes to send the deposit
• A deposit of 10% of the purchase price is usually paid

Post-contract

• Buyer prepares draft transfer of the property, which is agreed between the parties before being signed by the seller
• Buyer raises requisitions on title
• Completion occurs

Balance of purchase price sent to seller's solicitor Seller's solicitor undertakes to send transfer and title deeds once the money is received

Post-completion/settlement

• Buyer's solicitor submits the Stamp Duty Land Tax return and the cheque for the duty to the Inland Revenue. Upon receipt of the SDLT certificate, the buyer's solicitor submits the transfer and certificate to the Land Registry within the 30-day priority period