Preparing for Moving Day: What Happens Behind the Scenes?.

For buyers, the final stages of a property purchase can feel like a whirlwind with phrases such as exchange of contracts and completion being used. It’s natural to wonder what these terms actually mean and why they are so important.

Understanding these key milestones can help make the process feel a little less daunting and ensure you're fully prepared when moving day finally arrives.

What is exchange of contracts?

This is the point at which a property transaction becomes legally binding for both the buyer and seller.

Before the exchange:

• Each party’s conveyancer holds a signed contract from their client.
• During the exchange, the solicitors formally swap these signed contracts. This usually takes place over the telephone and is recorded on the contract.
• Once contracts are exchanged, neither party can withdraw without facing legal and financial consequences.

Exchange and completion can sometimes happen on the same day. This is known as a simultaneous exchange and completion. This is less common, particularly where there are multiple parties forming a chain of transactions.

More commonly, exchange and completion are separated by anything from a few days to a few weeks, or occasionally even months.

Preparing for exchange of contracts

Before exchange can take place, you will receive several documents to review and sign, including:

• Contract of sale
• Transfer Deed
• Mortgage Deed (where applicable)
• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) return for properties in England or Land Transaction Tax (LTT) return for properties in Wales

Your conveyancer will ask for you to transfer your deposit to their client account. This will be 10% of the purchase price, unless otherwise agreed.

If you are buying with a mortgage, your conveyancer cannot request the mortgage funds from your lender until they are satisfied that the property provides suitable security for the loan. Lenders place significant responsibility on conveyancers, who act for both the lender and the buyer, to ensure that any legal or title issues have been resolved before funds are released.

Before exchange of contracts takes place, all parties must agree a completion date. It is the exchange of contracts that legally commits everyone to that agreed moving date.

It is essential to have buildings insurance in place from the date of exchange, rather than completion.

Completion

Completion is the day legal ownership of the property changes hands and you are finally able to collect the keys and move into your new home.

On the day of completion, the buyers’ solicitors transfer the purchase funds to the sellers’ solicitors. Legal completion occurs when the sellers’ solicitors receive those funds.

Although the money is sent electronically, it passes through the banking system and can take anything from a few minutes to hours to arrive.

Once the funds have been received, the sellers’ solicitors notify the buyers’ solicitors and authorise the estate agents to release the keys. If the sale has been arranged privately, the buyer and seller will make arrangement for the keys to be handed over directly.

Only once completion has taken place can you officially move into your new home.