Buying or selling a property in England and Wales involves more than agreeing a price and waiting for completion. A conveyancer handles the legal and administrative work behind the scenes, from carrying out checks and managing contracts to handling funds and registering ownership. Their role is to ensure the transaction is legally secure, completed correctly, and free from hidden risks.
Conducting Legal Checks and Due Diligence
A key role of a conveyancer is checking the property’s legal status. For buyers, this involves ordering searches and carrying out detailed checks to identify potential concerns that could affect the property’s value, use, or future saleability.
Common searches include:
- Local authority searches – to reveal planning permissions, building regulation approvals, road schemes, or enforcement notices.
- Environmental searches – to identify risks such as flooding, subsidence, or contaminated land.
- Water and drainage searches – confirming connections to mains services and clarifying responsibility for drainage systems.
Your conveyancer will also review the property’s title held by HM Land Registry to confirm who owns it, where the boundaries lie, and whether there are any rights of way, restrictions, or covenants in place. For sellers, this stage typically involves answering enquiries raised by the buyer’s conveyancer and ensuring all information provided is accurate.
Managing Contracts and Legal Documents
Conveyancers prepare and review the contract for sale to ensure it’s accurate and protects their client’s interests. For buyers, this means checking key details like price and conditions; for sellers, it ensures obligations are clear. Once agreed, the conveyancers arrange exchange of contracts, making the transaction legally binding.
Handling Funds and Financial Arrangements
Conveyancers are responsible for ensuring all financial elements of the transaction are handled securely and correctly. They work with mortgage lenders, check mortgage offers, and confirm funds are available when needed.
They also calculate and arrange payment of any Stamp Duty Land Tax, transfer completion funds, and ensure existing mortgages are redeemed. On completion day, the purchase price is sent to the seller’s conveyancer so the transaction can complete in accordance with the contract.
Acting as the Main Point of Contact
A conveyancer coordinates communication between all parties involved, including buyers, sellers, estate agents, lenders, and other conveyancers in the chain. They keep the process moving by providing updates, explaining legal matters clearly, and resolving any issues promptly. This coordination is particularly valuable when several linked transactions are taking place at once.
Completion and Registration
On completion, your conveyancer confirms funds have transferred, notifies all parties, and ensures keys are released.
After completion, they register the change of ownership with HM Land Registry and make sure any mortgage is properly recorded. Registration is a crucial step – legal ownership is only fully updated once it is complete.
Who Can Act as a Conveyancer?
In England and Wales, conveyancing can be carried out by property solicitors, chartered legal executives specialising in conveyancing, or licensed conveyancers who focus solely on property transactions.
Why Use a Conveyancer?
A conveyancer does more than handle paperwork. They protect your legal position, identify risks, and guide you through what can otherwise be a complex and stressful process—helping to avoid delays, unexpected costs, and future issues.
If you are thinking about buying or selling a property, contact our Residential Conveyancing team on 01603 677077 or email info@spiresolicitors.co.uk.
