Buying and selling

Residential purchase

The legal work to buy a home, freehold or leasehold, from checking the title and searches through to completion, property tax and registration.

Get your itemised quote

Every cost on its own line: the law firm's legal fee, VAT, the searches and other third-party costs, and any property tax. Your quote opens as soon as you send the form.

Buying a home is usually the largest purchase you will make, and the legal work protects what you are paying for. Your conveyancer checks that the seller owns the property and can sell it, finds out about anything that affects it, such as rights of way, planning issues or flood risk, and makes sure your money only moves when it is safe to do so.

This service is for buying a house or flat, freehold or leasehold: the quote form asks which, and the lease of a leasehold home is reviewed too. It suits first-time buyers, people moving home and cash buyers alike. If you are also selling, the sale and purchase service links the two, and new builds and shared ownership homes have their own pages. Leasehold purchase says more about the checks on a lease.

You can get an instant, itemised quote online that separates the legal fee, VAT, searches and HM Land Registry fees, with an estimate of Stamp Duty Land Tax or its Welsh equivalent. When you are ready, Keyfolio introduces you to a regulated law firm that confirms the price and carries out the legal work.

What is involved

Once you instruct the law firm, the work usually follows this order:

Checks and paperwork: your identity, address and source of funds are verified, and the firm sends its terms of engagement for you to sign.
Contract pack: the seller's conveyancer sends the draft contract, the title documents from HM Land Registry and the seller's property information forms.
Searches: the local authority, drainage and water, and environmental searches are ordered, plus any the location calls for, such as a coal mining search.
Enquiries: your conveyancer raises questions about anything unclear, for example an extension with no building regulations sign-off or a shared driveway with no written agreement.
Mortgage: they check your mortgage offer, report to your lender and make sure its conditions are met.
Report and signing: you receive a report on the title, searches and contract, then sign the contract and transfer deed and send your deposit.
Exchange of contracts: the point where the deal becomes legally binding and the completion date is fixed. Pulling out after this usually means losing your deposit.
Completion: the rest of the price is sent to the seller's conveyancer and you collect the keys.
After completion: the firm files the property tax return, pays any tax due and registers you as the owner at HM Land Registry.

What the legal fee covers

Checking your identity and the source of your deposit and purchase money
Reviewing the draft contract, the title and the seller's property information forms
Ordering the property searches and explaining what they show
Raising and following up legal enquiries with the seller's conveyancer
A written report on the title, searches and contract before you commit
Arranging exchange of contracts and completion
Preparing and filing the property tax return
Registering your ownership at HM Land Registry

Costs you may see on top

Property searches, such as the local authority, drainage and water, and environmental searches
HM Land Registry fees for the final pre-completion search and for registering your purchase
Electronic identity checks for each buyer and the bank charge for sending completion money
Admin fees where they apply, for example for a gifted deposit, a Lifetime ISA or an unregistered title, and the fee for acting for your mortgage lender
Indemnity insurance if the searches or title reveal a gap that the seller cannot put right
Stamp Duty Land Tax, or Land Transaction Tax in Wales, which goes to the tax authority rather than the law firm
VAT on the legal fee and on some third-party costs

What to have ready

Photo identification and proof of address for each buyer
Your mortgage offer, or your agreement in principle if the offer has not arrived yet
Bank statements showing how you built up your deposit
Names and contact details of anyone giving you money towards the purchase
The estate agent's memorandum of sale, with the seller's conveyancer details
Your Lifetime ISA details if you plan to use one
Your ideal completion date and any date by which you must leave your current home

How long it takes

A freehold purchase commonly takes 10 to 16 weeks from instruction to completion, although no two transactions are the same. A leasehold purchase commonly takes 12 to 20 weeks, while the management pack and the landlord's answers come in. A seller with their paperwork ready, quick search results and an early mortgage offer often speed things up. A long chain, slow answers to enquiries, council search backlogs, title problems such as missing planning consent and lender conditions that need extra documents can all slow it down. Exchange and completion can happen on the same day, but many buyers leave a week or two between them so they can book removals with confidence.

Things to watch for

Do not book removals or give notice on a rented home until contracts have exchanged. Until then, either side can withdraw without penalty.
Fraudsters send fake emails that change bank details. Always confirm payment instructions by phone on a number you already know, and never act on an email alone.
Anyone giving you money will need to confirm in writing that it is a gift with no claim on the property, and their identity and funds will be checked too.
Visit the property again just before exchange to check nothing has changed, and confirm exactly which fixtures and fittings are included.
A survey and conveyancing cover different things. The surveyor looks at the building's condition, while your conveyancer looks at the legal title and searches, so you need both.

Questions people ask

Do I need a survey as well as a conveyancer?

It is sensible to have both. Your lender's valuation only tells the lender the property is worth what you are borrowing; it is not a survey. A survey by a chartered surveyor looks at the condition of the building, such as damp, roof problems or movement. Your conveyancer checks the legal side: ownership, rights, restrictions, planning and what the searches reveal. If the survey finds something, such as a removed chimney breast, tell your conveyancer so they can ask the seller for the right approvals.

How much deposit do I pay on exchange?

A deposit of 10% of the price is traditional, but many sellers accept less, especially in a chain where one deposit is passed up the line. Your conveyancer agrees the amount with the seller's conveyancer before exchange. The money needs to reach the firm as cleared funds a few days beforehand, so ask early how and when to send it, and confirm the bank details by phone.

Will I pay stamp duty?

In England and Northern Ireland, Stamp Duty Land Tax on a home is 0% up to £125,000, 2% from £125,001 to £250,000 and 5% from £250,001 to £925,000, with higher bands above. First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000 and 5% from £300,001 to £500,000. For example, a first-time buyer paying £350,000 would pay 5% of £50,000, which is £2,500. Wales has its own tax. Use the stamp duty calculator for an estimate.

Can I use a Lifetime ISA?

You can use a Lifetime ISA towards your first home if it costs £450,000 or less, you are buying with a mortgage and at least 12 months have passed since your first payment in. Your conveyancer has to request the money and your ISA provider pays it to them directly, so tell them at the start. Taking the money out any other way means a withdrawal charge of 25%, which the Budget on 28 October 2026 reduced to 20% from 29 October 2026 for a first home costing more than £450,000. The full rules are on GOV.UK.

Who does the work

Your matter is handled by a law firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or CILEx Regulation, or in Northern Ireland by a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. At the moment the law firms on our panel act for property in England and Wales, so for property in Northern Ireland we tell you whether a firm can act for you before we pass your details to anyone. The firm confirms who will work on your file, their experience and its terms before you instruct it. How we choose our firms.

Helpful guides

The other costs of your move

Stamp duty calculator: stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland, Land Transaction Tax in Wales
Moving costs calculator: the other costs of the move, from the survey to removals