What to Do After Accepting an Offer on Your House

Congratulations on accepting an offer on your house. The next few weeks involve conveyancing, paperwork and coordination with your buyer's solicitor, but understanding what happens next removes most of the stress. From here, you are working towards two key milestones: exchange of contracts and completion day, with several steps to complete in between.

An accepted offer in England and Wales is not legally binding. The property is marked "sold subject to contract," which means either you or your buyer can still withdraw at any point before contracts are exchanged, without facing legal penalties. This differs from Scotland, where an accepted offer through the conveyancing solicitor typically forms a binding contract much earlier in the process.

This matters for your planning because nothing is guaranteed until exchange. A meaningful share of sales in England and Wales fall through before that point, so avoid making irreversible commitments, such as booking removal vans non-refundably or handing in notice on rented accommodation, until contracts are exchanged. Keep momentum going by responding promptly to your solicitor and estate agent, since delays on your side create opportunities for the buyer to reconsider or for a better offer to tempt them away.

• Instruction: you appoint a conveyancing solicitor or licensed conveyancer to handle the legal work, if you have not already done so.
• Enquiries: your buyer's solicitor raises questions about the property, which you answer through your own solicitor.
• Exchange: both sides sign identical contracts and the sale becomes legally binding, usually 1 to 2 weeks before completion.
• Completion: money changes hands, keys are handed over, and the sale is finalised.

The moment your estate agent confirms the offer is accepted, a short list of practical actions will keep your sale moving quickly and reduce the risk of delays once conveyancing begins.

Confirm sale agreed with your estate agent

Ask your estate agent to send written confirmation of the agreed price, the buyer's position (first-time buyer, chain-free, part of a chain) and any special conditions to both you and your conveyancer. This memorandum of sale becomes the reference point your solicitor uses to draft contracts.

Decide whether to take the property off the market

Most sellers ask their agent to mark the property "sold subject to contract" and stop viewings. This reduces the risk of a rival buyer gazumping the sale but also means you lose backup interest if your buyer pulls out later. Discuss with your agent whether continuing to accept backup offers suits your situation.

Instruct a conveyancer

If you have not already appointed a solicitor, do this immediately, since delays here hold up everything that follows. Your conveyancer needs your name, address, ID documents and the property title number to open a file and begin the conveyancing process. If you are also buying, check whether the same firm can handle both transactions to simplify communication.

Gather your property documents

Start collecting the paperwork your solicitor will need early, since waiting until asked adds days to the timeline.

• Proof of identity: passport or driving licence plus a recent utility bill for anti-money-laundering checks.
• Mortgage details: your current lender's name and outstanding balance, so your solicitor can arrange redemption.
• Guarantees and warranties: any FENSA certificates, boiler guarantees, or building work certificates for the property.
• Leasehold paperwork: your lease, service charge accounts and ground rent details, if applicable.

Selling a house is not simply a case of waiting for your solicitor to handle everything in the background. You have specific legal responsibilities during conveyancing, and how quickly you complete them has a direct effect on how fast your sale progresses.

Property Information Form (TA6)

The TA6 form asks detailed questions about the property: boundaries, disputes, alterations, guarantees, utilities and environmental matters such as flooding or Japanese knotweed. Answer every question honestly and thoroughly. Giving false or misleading information can expose you to a legal claim from the buyer after completion, even if the issue only comes to light years later.

Fittings and Contents Form (TA10)

The TA10 form lists exactly what is included in the sale, from light fittings and curtain poles to garden sheds and kitchen appliances. Being precise here avoids disputes at completion, when a buyer might otherwise expect items you intended to take with you. Agree verbally with your buyer through the estate agent on anything borderline before you complete the form.

Title deeds and lease documents

Your solicitor needs the official copies of your title from the Land Registry, and if you own a leasehold property, a copy of the lease itself. Most title information is now held electronically, so your solicitor can usually obtain this directly, but locate any physical deeds, planning permissions or building regulation certificates you hold, since these speed up the process considerably.

Responding to buyer enquiries

Once your buyer's solicitor reviews your TA6, TA10 and title documents, they raise formal enquiries: follow-up questions about anything unclear or missing. Answering these within a day or two, rather than letting them sit for a week, is one of the most effective ways to keep your sale on schedule. Delayed responses are one of the most common causes of slow conveyancing on the seller's side.

While your solicitor works through your side of the paperwork, your buyer is progressing several parallel steps of their own. Understanding what they are doing helps you interpret updates from your estate agent and anticipate what comes next.

Most buyers need a mortgage, so shortly after their offer is accepted they submit a full mortgage application to their lender. This typically takes 2 to 4 weeks to process, during which the lender arranges a valuation of your property, usually a brief visit by a surveyor acting on the lender's behalf to confirm the property is worth what your buyer is paying.

Many buyers also commission their own, more detailed survey, either a HomeBuyer Report or a full structural survey, particularly for older or unusual properties. This is where delays or complications most often arise from the seller's perspective. If the survey uncovers problems such as damp, subsidence, or an ageing roof, your buyer may come back requesting a price reduction or asking you to carry out repairs before completion.

A mortgage valuation that comes in below the agreed price, known as a down-valuation, is a related risk. If the lender values the property lower than the sale price, your buyer may need to find additional deposit funds or renegotiate. Down-valuations affect a meaningful minority of sales, particularly in fast-moving markets where asking prices have risen quickly. Being aware of this risk means a renegotiation request will not come as a complete surprise.

A request to renegotiate after your offer has been accepted is unsettling, but it is common enough that having a clear approach ready will help you respond calmly rather than react emotionally.

If the buyer asks for a price reduction after survey

Ask your estate agent or solicitor to request the surveyor's report, or a summary of the specific issues raised, in writing. A vague request for money off with no supporting detail is weaker than one backed by genuine, costed repair quotes.

How to assess whether the request is reasonable

Compare the requested reduction against the actual cost of the repair. If a survey identifies a £2,000 repair and the buyer asks for a £2,000 reduction, that is proportionate. A request for £10,000 off the back of a minor cosmetic issue is not, and you are entitled to push back or decline outright.

When to stand firm vs when to compromise

If your local market is strong and you could find another buyer quickly, you have more room to stand firm. If your sale is part of a long chain, or the market has slowed, a modest compromise may be worth accepting to avoid the sale collapsing and starting the search for a buyer again. Read our guide on negotiating after an offer for a full framework on weighing these factors.

Understanding gazundering

Gazundering is when a buyer lowers their offer shortly before exchange, often with little or no justification, knowing you are under pressure to complete. Because an accepted offer is not legally binding until exchange, buyers can legally do this, though reputable buyers rarely do. Our guide to gazumping and gazundering explained covers how to protect yourself and respond if it happens to you.

Exchange of contracts is the point at which your sale becomes legally binding. Until this moment, either party can walk away without penalty, but once contracts are exchanged, neither side can pull out without serious financial and legal consequences.

At exchange, your solicitor and the buyer's solicitor confirm that both signed contracts are identical, agree the completion date, and exchange a deposit, typically 10% of the purchase price, which the buyer forfeits if they fail to complete. From your side as the seller, exchange is largely administrative: your solicitor confirms details by telephone with the buyer's solicitor and updates you once it is done.

Completion, when the remaining balance is transferred and you hand over the keys, usually happens 1 to 4 weeks after exchange, though same-day exchange and completion is possible for simpler transactions. On completion day itself, arrange for your removals to be finished by an agreed time, take a final meter reading, and leave keys with the estate agent as instructed. Our full breakdown of exchange of contracts and completion covers what happens hour by hour on the day itself.

Selling a house involves several costs beyond the conveyancing legal fee itself, and knowing what to expect helps you budget accurately for your move.

Your solicitor's legal fee for a standard freehold sale typically costs less than the equivalent purchase transaction, since there is no Stamp Duty Land Tax return or new mortgage to register. See our full breakdown of conveyancing fees explained for a detailed comparison across firm types. On top of the legal fee, you will usually pay estate agent commission, calculated as a percentage of the sale price, an Energy Performance Certificate fee if yours has expired or was never obtained, and if you have an outstanding mortgage, a redemption fee charged by your lender for closing the loan early or transferring it.

The table below shows typical ranges for each cost so you can estimate your total selling costs before completion.

Most sales proceed without major drama, but a handful of common problems account for the majority of sales that collapse or get delayed after an offer is accepted. Knowing what to watch for means you can react quickly rather than being caught off guard.

• Buyer pulls out: since an accepted offer is not binding until exchange, your buyer can withdraw at any point beforehand. Keep your property informally available with your agent if you are concerned about this risk. Read more about what to do if you are pulling out of a sale or facing a buyer who does.
• Chain collapse: if another link in your chain falls through, your own sale can stall even though your buyer remains committed. Ask your agent to monitor chain progress and flag problems early.
• Gazundering: a last-minute price reduction request shortly before exchange, discussed in more detail above.
• Down-valuation: your buyer's lender values the property below the agreed price, forcing a renegotiation or requiring your buyer to find extra deposit funds.
• Slow searches or enquiries: delays at the local authority or with your own response times can add weeks to the process, so respond to every request from your solicitor as quickly as possible.

Many sellers are also buying their next home, which adds a layer of coordination on top of everything else described in this guide.

Your solicitor will try to align the completion date on your sale with the completion date on your purchase, so that the funds from selling your current home can be used to complete your onward purchase on the same day. This requires careful timing across two separate chains, and any delay to either transaction can affect the other.

If timings cannot be perfectly aligned, options include short-term bridging finance to cover a gap, or negotiating a rent-back arrangement with your buyer that lets you stay in the property for a short period after completion while your onward purchase catches up. Both options carry additional costs, so discuss them with your solicitor and mortgage adviser early rather than leaving them until the final weeks. If you made an offer on your next property before your own sale was agreed, our guide to making an offer before selling your house explains how to manage that situation and what sellers in a chain typically expect from you.