Solicitor or conveyancer: which do I need?

Buying or selling a home in England or Wales means legal work, and you have a straight choice about who does it. A solicitor or a licensed conveyancer can both handle your conveyancing, and both are qualified to act in the sale or purchase of a property¹. A licensed conveyancer is an alternative to a solicitor, qualified for exactly this work¹. Many lenders will not release mortgage money unless a solicitor or licensed conveyancer is acting for you, so in practice the choice is usually which one, not whether.

The cost is the part most people want first. Average conveyancing fees when buying a house range from around £500 to £1,150 plus disbursements, and legal fees on their own run between £300 and £1,500, usually linked to the value of the property². On top of that, disbursements such as local searches and Land Registry registration can add up to £700 or more². Selling is cheaper: expect between £600 and £800 in legal fees².

The work itself is the same whoever you pick. Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer investigates the legal title, runs searches, deals with Land Registry, arranges payment of Stamp Duty and other charges, collects and transfers money, gives legal advice and draws up contracts⁴. What changes between firms is the fee, the speed and how well they explain what is happening.

Solicitor or licensed conveyancer: both can do your conveyancing

The two titles describe different training routes to the same job. A conveyancer is an alternative to a solicitor, qualified to act in the sale or purchase of a property¹. A solicitor is a broader legal qualification, and conveyancing is one of the things solicitors do. For a standard purchase or sale, the work is identical and the outcome is the same.

What matters more than the title is whether the firm meets your lender's criteria. Lenders check the firm before it can act for you and for them, and some have rules about who they will accept⁸. HSBC, for example, requires four or more solicitors, licensed conveyancers or regulated managers at the firm where the mortgage is over £2 million⁵. If you pick someone your lender will not accept, you may have to start again, so it is worth checking before you instruct.

If you are buying and selling at the same time, the same solicitor can deal with both matters⁷. Some lenders require the same firm for both transactions on a let-to-buy, though not all do⁹. Using one firm for both can simplify the timing, because the sale money and the purchase money move through the same hands.

There is no rule that one is cheaper. Fees depend on the property, the lender and the firm, not the job title. The practical test is a written quote that separates legal fees from disbursements, and a clear answer on what happens if the purchase falls through.

What conveyancing covers

Conveyancing is the legal process involved in property transactions¹. Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer takes care of all the legal aspects of buying your home, including investigating legal title and searches, dealing with Land Registry, payment of Stamp Duty and other charges, collecting and transferring money, legal advice, and drawing up contracts⁴.

A large part of the job is asking questions of the seller. These are known as preliminary enquiries, and they can cover disputes, boundaries, planning constraints and permissions, rights of way, restrictive covenants, guarantees and insurance policies, and services⁴. The local authority search checks listed building status, conservation area status, local area plans and compulsory purchase orders⁴. Depending on the age or location of the property, your solicitor or licensed conveyancer may also recommend an environmental search and a mining search⁴.

For a leasehold purchase, your solicitor or licensed conveyancer will send a Managing Agents Questionnaire to the seller's representative⁴. That is how the management company's rules, service charges and any planned works come to light before you are committed.

Early on, your solicitor or licensed conveyancer will draft a terms of engagement, a document outlining the basis on which they will act for you and which sets out their charges⁴. Read it. It is the document that fixes what you are paying for and what is excluded.

Conveyancing fees: typically £850 to £2,000 including VAT

Quotes vary widely, and the range in the sources reflects that. Average conveyancing fees when buying a house run from around £500 to £1,150 plus disbursements². Legal fees alone cost between £300 and £1,500, usually linked to the value of the property². One lender puts legal fees at around £2,000 including VAT⁵, and another gives a range of £850 to £1,500 including VAT⁶.

Selling is cheaper than buying. Expect to pay between £600 and £800 in legal fees when selling a house². A cost of moving breakdown puts conveyancing at £1,050 for buying and selling an averagely priced property², and a separate estimate puts the average cost in England at £2,182¹⁰.

Some schemes cover part of the cost. The Help to Stay scheme in Wales covers conveyancing costs up to £1,000 plus VAT¹². On a Right to Buy purchase, legal fees typically run at £500 to £700¹¹.

Fees are usually quoted on the assumption that your case is standard and straightforward, unless you have already told your solicitor that additional work will be needed¹³. That is the sentence to watch: anything unusual, from a leasehold flat to a boundary dispute, can move the quote.

Searches and other costs on top of legal fees

Disbursements are fees shown separately from the standard legal fees charged by a solicitor or conveyancer, and they include stamp duty, search fees and Land Registry fees¹. When buying a house they could add up to £700 or even more, usually for third party services such as local searches². Local property searches are typically around £250 to £300 on top of the legal fees⁶, and local searches alone run from £250 to £450².

For a leasehold sale there is usually an additional charge of between £100 and £300 for the extra legal work involved¹⁰. Leasehold purchases also bring the Managing Agents Questionnaire, which the management company usually charges for⁴.

Solicitors' charges are based on how much time they spend on your case, so get an estimate before you start, but be aware that fees may go up as your case progresses¹⁴. Where you can, agree a fixed fee with your solicitor, because fees depend on the work needed¹⁵.

Money held by your solicitor usually counts as capital, including compensation payments¹⁶. That matters if you are means-tested for benefits, because money sitting in a client account can affect an award.

How long does conveyancing take?

In England and Wales, the conveyancing process takes between 6 to 12 weeks, on average, to complete⁵. Another source puts it at up to 12 weeks on average for buying or selling⁶. The two figures are not identical, so treat six to twelve weeks as the working range rather than a promise.

For a remortgage the process is quicker. In England and Wales, the conveyancing process for a remortgage takes between 4 and 8 weeks on average to complete⁶, and when remortgaging the conveyancing process is typically quicker than if you were to buy or sell a property⁵.

The period between exchange of contracts and completion can take anywhere between one day and several weeks⁴. That gap is set by agreement, not by the legal work, and it is where chains most often stall.

Your solicitor will give you an overview of what they will do for you in return for the fee and an estimate of how long they think it will take¹³. Hold them to it. If the estimate slips, ask what has changed.

From instruction to completion, step by step

Conveyancing consists of several complex steps, and each one must be carried out properly to ensure a smooth completion⁸. The sequence below is the standard one for a purchase in England and Wales.

1. Instruct your solicitor or licensed conveyancer. Arrange this as soon as your offer on the property is accepted⁷. Your lender will check whether the firm meets its criteria before it can act⁸.
2. Legal work. Your firm investigates the legal title and drafts the contract⁴.
3. Searches. Local authority searches check listed building status, conservation area status, local area plans and compulsory purchase orders, and other searches such as environmental and mining may be recommended depending on the property⁴.
4. Enquiries. Preliminary enquiries go to the seller's side covering disputes, boundaries, planning, rights of way, restrictive covenants, guarantees and services⁴.
5. Sign and exchange contracts. Once contracts are exchanged, you are legally bound to purchase the property and the deposit must be paid to the seller⁴.
6. Pay Land Registry fees and Stamp Duty Land Tax. You must pay these at this stage, and your solicitor will arrange it for you⁴.
7. Completion. Your solicitor must transfer the funds to the seller or licensed conveyancer on the agreed completion date, which finalises the sale⁴.
8. Registration. The property is registered in your name, and in Scotland the solicitor gets the disposition, the deeds and the keys¹⁷.

Any interest earned on the deposit during the period is kept by the solicitor or, in England and Wales, the licensed conveyancer, and should be passed on to the seller at completion¹⁸.

Remortgaging and leasehold purchases

Whether you need a solicitor for a remortgage depends on what is changing. If you are sticking with the same lender and simply transferring to a different mortgage product, you may not need a solicitor, and the lender might treat it as a product transfer with minimal fees¹⁹. If you are remortgaging with your current lender, you will not need a solicitor, as this is a product transfer and does not need extra legal work⁷.

Move to a new lender and the position changes. If you are moving to a new lender, borrowing more, changing ownership, or having your home revalued, you will need a solicitor or conveyancer¹⁹. A solicitor is needed to close the existing mortgage from the previous lender, as well as for Land Registry and title checks⁷. Where you are adding or removing a joint owner, a solicitor will need to amend the deeds and draw up an ownership agreement¹⁹.

One practical trap on a remortgage: the conveyancer cannot accept copies of the redemption statement supplied by you to complete the purchase⁶. The lender has to send it directly. If you are holding the paperwork, pass it to the lender rather than the conveyancer.

Leasehold purchases add work at both ends. Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer sends a Managing Agents Questionnaire to the seller's representative⁴, and on a leasehold sale there is usually an additional charge of between £100 and £300 for the extra legal work involved¹⁰.

If you are repaying a Help to Buy equity loan, your conveyancer sends a letter of undertaking telling the scheme your completion date, your home's value and your agreement to pay the correct amount²⁰. That is a separate step from the purchase itself and needs to be built into the timetable.

Scotland and Northern Ireland work differently

Conveyancing in Scotland and Northern Ireland works differently compared to England and Wales⁶. The biggest difference is who is allowed to do the work.

In Scotland, the eligible conveyancer is a solicitor or advocate within the meaning of section 65 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980, or a conveyancing practitioner as defined in section 23 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990²¹. You will need a conveyancing solicitor to help you buy a home, a type of solicitor that specialises in property purchases²². Their work includes making offers on properties, communicating with the seller's solicitor, checking the title deeds, negotiating the contract, dealing with the paperwork, transferring funds and taxes for the purchase, putting the property in your name, and arranging joint ownership if you are buying with someone else²².

In Northern Ireland, the eligible conveyancer is a person enrolled as a solicitor of the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland under the Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order 1976²¹. The Law Society of Scotland and the Law Society of Northern Ireland regulate solicitors in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively²³. In Northern Ireland, problems with conveyancing are dealt with by the Law Society of Northern Ireland¹⁸.

Before choosing a solicitor in Scotland, get a few quotes to compare the cost, and ask about the total cost including taxes, whether the fee is fixed, when you will pay, and what you will owe if your offer is unsuccessful²². That last question matters more in Scotland, where offers are often made through a closing date.

If you are buying through the Open Market Shared Equity scheme in Scotland, you need a solicitor to act on your behalf, and the Scottish Government has its own solicitor who will handle work involving its equity share²⁴.

What protects you, and where it stops

The main protection is the contract itself. Once contracts are exchanged, you are legally bound to purchase the property and the deposit must be paid to the seller⁴. If you pull out of the sale at this point, you may lose the deposit you put down and could be sued by the seller²⁵. From the seller's side, if the buyer pulls out after contracts were exchanged, you can sue them for any loss this causes you and you may be able to keep the deposit¹⁸.

Before exchange, you are not bound. That is the window in which you can walk away, and it is also the window in which a seller can accept a higher offer from someone else.

If something goes wrong with the firm, there is a route to complain. In Northern Ireland, problems with conveyancing are dealt with by the Law Society of Northern Ireland¹⁸. In England and Wales, complaints about a solicitor or licensed conveyancer go to the firm first and then to the relevant professional body.

If you are struggling with mortgage arrears while a purchase or remortgage is going through, free help is available. StepChange offers mortgage help¹⁵, and Citizens Advice can advise on problems with buying and selling a home¹⁸. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland offer the same service²⁶.