Conveyancing and the buying process, by nation

In short

In England, you are legally bound to buy only at exchange of contracts; until then an offer is not binding on either side. A solicitor, licensed conveyancer or CILEx practitioner does the legal work, and the change of ownership is registered with HM Land Registry. In Scotland, there is no exchange of contracts: the contract becomes binding when the missives are concluded, and the offer must be sent as a letter from your solicitor. A solicitor handles the whole legal process, and ownership is recorded in the Land Register. In Wales, as in England, you are legally bound to buy only at exchange of contracts. The guides say the process and the choice of solicitor, licensed conveyancer or CILEx practitioner are the same as in England; Wales has its own Land Transaction Tax. In Northern Ireland, nidirect says the sale becomes legally binding at exchange of contracts, with a deposit of at least five per cent usually paid then. A solicitor does the legal work, and ownership is recorded in the Land Registry or, for unregistered land, the Registry of Deeds.

The table

“—” means the guide does not state it. Download the data: conveyancing-system.json (CC BY 4.0, cite Payotte with a link).

• Wales: Registry inferred from the England-and-Wales sequence in the England guide; no Wales-specific registry page.