Buying your first home is exciting — and, frankly, a bit bewildering. From the moment your offer is accepted to the day you pick up the keys, you'll hear a stream of terms you've probably never encountered before: conveyancing, searches, exchange, completion. This is your step-by-step guide to the whole process. No jargon, no waffle — just what happens, when, and what you need to do.
Step 1: Offer Accepted
You've found the property, made an offer, and it's been accepted. Congratulations — but don't hand your notice in on your rental flat just yet. In England, an accepted offer is not legally binding. Either party can walk away right up until exchange of contracts. This is called being "subject to contract", and it's one of the things that makes the English conveyancing system so nerve-wracking.
What to do now: instruct a conveyancing solicitor; progress your mortgage from a mortgage in principle to a full application; and book a survey — your lender's basic valuation is not a substitute for a proper homebuyer's survey.
Step 2: Instruct a Conveyancing Solicitor
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership from seller to buyer. Don't leave this until your mortgage offer arrives — the sooner you instruct, the sooner your solicitor can start. They will open a file and carry out anti-money-laundering identity checks, request the draft contract pack from the seller's solicitor, apply for searches, and raise enquiries.
The contract pack includes the draft contract, the title register (the Land Registry record of ownership), and the property information forms — the TA6 (disputes, planning, boundaries) and the TA10 (fixtures and fittings included in the sale).
Step 3: Searches
Your solicitor orders a set of property searches on your behalf:
- Local authority search — planning history, road adoption, enforcement notices
- Environmental search — flood risk, contaminated land, ground stability
- Water and drainage search — connection to public sewer and water supply
- Chancel repair liability search — whether the owner could be liable to contribute to church repairs
Searches can take a few days to several weeks depending on the local authority. Your solicitor reviews the results and flags anything that needs following up.
Step 4: Mortgage Offer
Your lender carries out its own valuation and, once satisfied, issues a formal mortgage offer — its binding commitment to lend (subject to completion). Your solicitor receives a copy and "reports on title" to the lender, confirming the legal title is satisfactory for lending.
Step 5: Enquiries
Once your solicitor has reviewed the contract pack, searches and title, they raise enquiries — written questions to the seller's solicitor about boundaries, planning consents, guarantees, or anything flagged by the searches. This is usually the longest and least predictable stage, as sellers can take time to gather paperwork.
Step 6: Exchange of Contracts
Exchange is the moment the deal becomes legally binding. At exchange you pay a deposit (typically 10%), a completion date is fixed, and the signed contracts are exchanged. The gap between exchange and completion is usually one to four weeks, though it can be the same day.
Step 7: Completion
Completion is the day ownership transfers to you. Your solicitor transfers the purchase funds, receives confirmation they've arrived, and tells the estate agent to release the keys. They then handle Land Registry registration and submit the SDLT return to HMRC — all within 14 days of completion.
How Long Does It All Take?
A typical first-time buyer transaction takes 10 to 16 weeks from offer acceptance to completion. Common causes of delay: slow searches, unresolved enquiries (especially on older properties), slow responses from the seller's solicitor, mortgage delays, and chain complications. Staying responsive — returning calls and providing documents quickly — genuinely speeds things up.
What Can Go Wrong?
Transactions can fall through ("abort") at any point before exchange — a survey reveals structural issues, searches flag a problem, the seller accepts a higher offer ("gazumping"), a mortgage offer is withdrawn, or the chain collapses elsewhere. Instructing a solicitor early and keeping communication open with all parties is the best protection.
How Bonsai Law Can Help
Our residential team handles first-time buyer transactions every week. We keep you informed at every stage — not just when you chase us. If you've just had an offer accepted, or you're about to start looking and want to understand the process first, get in touch.
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