Buying, selling or dealing with a lease in England? Here's how conveyancing works, the stamp duty you'll pay as at 4 November 2026, how far leasehold reform has got, and the property solicitors we list in 8 cities.
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What a property solicitor does
A conveyancing solicitor, or a licensed conveyancer, carries out the legal checks on a property and transfers ownership from the seller to the buyer. On a purchase, that work includes the searches, stamp duty and registering you as the owner. Property solicitors also advise on leases and act when a property matter becomes a dispute.
Buying a home, from offer to registration
Once your offer is accepted, your conveyancer runs the legal side through exchange, completion and registration with HM Land Registry.
- Searches. Your conveyancer orders the local authority searches and tells you whether you need others, such as flood risk or a mining report. They only stay valid for a certain number of months.
- Enquiries. Questions go to the seller's conveyancer about the property and the title, and the seller normally needs to answer them.
- Mortgage. Your lender must confirm the mortgage before exchange. Its valuation is not a survey and won't protect you if something is wrong with the property.
- Exchange. Signed contracts are swapped and you pay the deposit. Both sides are now bound: a buyer who pulls out may lose the deposit and have to compensate the seller. The property is your responsibility from this day, so have buildings insurance in place.
- Completion. The rest of the money goes to the seller's conveyancer and the property is yours.
- Registration. Your conveyancer files the stamp duty return, pays the tax and applies to register you as owner. A transfer of registered land doesn't take effect in law until it's registered, and a sale of unregistered land must be sent for first registration within 2 months.
Land Registry fees. As at 4 November 2026, the fee for an online application to register a transfer of a whole title depends on the price, and has applied since 9 December 2024:
| Price | Fee |
|---|---|
| Up to £80,000 | £20 |
| £80,001 to £100,000 | £40 |
| £100,001 to £200,000 | £100 |
| £200,001 to £500,000 | £150 |
| £500,001 to £1 million | £295 |
| Over £1 million | £500 |
Paper applications, and online applications for new leases or transfers of part of a title (common on new builds), pay higher Scale 1 fees, from £45 to £1,105.
How long registration takes. HM Land Registry's page, updated on 30 October 2026, gives the age of applications in August 2026:
- Updating an existing title: just over 30% are automated and done within minutes. Over half of the rest take 19 weeks, and most are done in about 9 months
- New leases and transfers of part: half take about 9 months, and almost all are done in about 10 to 12 months
- First registrations: half take about 8 months and almost all about 11 months
Stamp duty in England, as at 4 November 2026
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is charged in slices, so each rate applies only to the part of the price inside its band. As at 4 November 2026 the rates were unchanged by the Budget on 28 October 2026. Wales has Land Transaction Tax (LTT) instead, with its own rates.
| Part of the price | Normal rate | If you'll own more than one home |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% | 5% |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | 2% | 7% |
| £250,001 to £925,000 | 5% | 10% |
| £925,001 to £1.5 million | 10% | 15% |
| Above £1.5 million | 12% | 17% |
- First time buyers: nothing up to £300,000, then 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000. Over £500,000 the relief can't be claimed at all
- Higher rates: they don't apply if the new home replaces your main residence and you sold the old one in the 3 years before completing. If the old home is unsold on completion day you pay them, but you can claim the extra back if you sell within 36 months, making the claim within 12 months of the sale or of the original return's filing date, whichever is later
- Buyers living abroad: a further 2% usually applies if you weren't in the UK for at least 183 days in any 12 month period running from a year before completion to a year after it. If you only meet the test after completion, you can claim the 2% back
- The deadline: the return and the tax are due within 14 days of completion
| Price | First time buyer | Moving home | Additional home |
|---|---|---|---|
| £275,000 | £0 | £3,750 | £17,500 |
| £450,000 | £7,500 | £12,500 | £35,000 |
| £550,000 | £17,500 (no relief) | £17,500 | £45,000 |
Our worked examples at the rates as at 4 November 2026, for a UK resident buyer. A non-resident mover on the £450,000 home pays a further £9,000.
Selling a home
When you sell, your conveyancer prepares the contract and answers the buyer's enquiries using information you give, so the sale moves as fast as you supply it. You're bound once contracts are exchanged.
- Before marketing: you must order an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for buyers before the home goes on the market. It's valid for 10 years, and you can be fined if you don't get one
- The listing: National Trading Standards guidance says listings should show the price, the council tax band and the tenure
- Pulling out: a seller who backs out after exchange may have to pay the buyer's costs and compensation
- A let property: from 1 May 2026 the Renters' Rights Act 2025 ended assured shorthold tenancies for private lets in England, and section 21 no fault evictions with them, subject to transitional rules. Ask what tenancy the buyer takes on
Leasehold: what has changed and what hasn't
As at 4 November 2026, some leasehold reforms are in force, the service charge changes start from 1 April 2027, and the end of marriage value still has no start date.
- Ground rent: most new long leases of a home granted for a premium from 30 June 2022 can't charge more than a peppercorn (retirement home leases from 1 April 2023). Ground rent on older leases hasn't changed
- No two year wait: since 31 January 2025 you can claim a lease extension on a flat, or buy the freehold of a leasehold house, without owning it for two years first
- Right to manage: since 3 March 2025, buildings with more commercial space can qualify
Service charge dates. Regulations made on 25 October 2026 (SI 2026/1128) set the timetable for most of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024's service charge changes:
- 6 November 2026: the sections start only so regulations can be made. Leaseholders gain nothing new that day
- 1 April 2027: fixed service charges come under the statutory rules, landlords must give notice of future demands, leaseholders get rights to request information, and new rules on legal costs in leasehold disputes begin (not for proceedings issued earlier)
- 1 November 2027: standard service charge demands, accounts and annual reports for landlords other than social landlords, plus limits on insurance costs and schedules of administration charges
- 1 November 2028: standard demands, accounts and annual reports for social landlords
Still no start date. As at 4 November 2026 there was no start date for the ban on new leasehold houses, 990 year lease extensions, the valuation change that removes marriage value, or the right to buy out your ground rent. Until then, extensions and freehold purchases are valued the old way.
Building safety. The Building Safety Act 2022 protects leaseholders with a qualifying lease in a building with at least two homes that is at least 11 metres high or has at least 5 storeys. No service charge can be made for cladding remediation. Your share of other safety defect costs is capped at £15,000 in Greater London and £10,000 elsewhere (higher for leases worth over £1 million), and is nil if the landlord was responsible, the landlord's group passes a net worth test, or the lease was worth under £325,000 in London or £175,000 elsewhere. These protections don't apply where the leaseholders have bought the freehold together using the legal right to do so (collective enfranchisement), or the building is commonhold.
Property disputes and complaints
Most leasehold disputes go to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), not a court. It deals with service charge disputes, leasehold enfranchisement, some rent cases, HMO licence disputes and Building Safety Act applications such as remediation orders, and its land registration side hears disputes over changes to the register.
- Contacts: the tribunal works through regional offices, listed by the Judiciary of England and Wales. Market rent cases, such as a challenge to a rent increase, have their own contacts: 0300 303 5857 or [email protected]
- Court claims: housing and money claims go to the county court. Go by the court or tribunal named on your papers
- Free help: if you qualify for legal aid, Civil Legal Advice on 0345 345 4345 can help with housing if you're at risk of eviction, and with debt if your home is at risk
A complaint about your conveyancer. Complain to the firm first. It has up to eight weeks to put things right. If it doesn't, or you're unhappy with its answer, you can go to the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333, normally within one year of the problem, and within six months of the firm's final response if it told you about that limit.
How to choose and check a firm
Check the firm on the SRA register, compare the costs pages firms must publish, and agree how bank details will be confirmed before you send money.
- SRA register: you can look up any SRA regulated solicitor or firm on the Solicitors Register
- Published costs: under the SRA Transparency Rules, a firm advertising residential conveyancing must publish the total cost or a range, likely disbursements, VAT, the key stages and timescales, and who does and supervises the work
- CQS: the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme accredits firms, not individual solicitors, on competence, risk management and client service. Accredited firms must follow the Conveyancing Protocol
- Lexcel: the Law Society's legal practice quality mark, held by firms, for practice management and client care
Questions to ask:
- Who handles my file day to day, and who supervises them?
- Have you handled this kind of property, such as a leasehold flat or a new build?
- How will you give me your bank details?
Payment diversion fraud. Fraudsters send emails that look as if they come from your conveyancer, saying its bank account has changed. Firms very rarely change bank accounts. Ring the firm on a number you already have before paying anything. If you think you've been targeted, call your bank straight away and report it to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. Run by City of London Police, it replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025.
Sources
- How to buy a home, MHCLG, GOV.UK
- Conveyancing Protocol, The Law Society
- Land Registration Act 2002, s.27 and s.6
- HM Land Registry: registration services fees, GOV.UK
- HM Land Registry processing times, GOV.UK
- Stamp Duty Land Tax, GOV.UK
- Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates, GOV.UK
- Finance Act 2003, s.55
- Finance Act 2003, Schedule 4ZA, para. 3 and para. 8
- Stamp Duty Land Tax (Reduction) Act 2023, s.1
- Land Transaction Tax rates and bands, GOV.WALES
- Energy Performance Certificates, GOV.UK
- Part A material information guidance, National Trading Standards
- Renters' Rights Act 2025, s.2 and SI 2026/421, reg. 2
- Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, s.1 and SI 2022/694, reg. 4
- Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and s.27
- SI 2025/57, reg. 2 and SI 2025/131, reg. 2
- The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (Commencement No. 4 and Saving Provision) (England) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1128
- Building Safety Act 2022, Schedule 8, s.117 and s.123
- First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), GOV.UK
- Contact information for the Residential Property Division, all regions, Judiciary of England and Wales
- Civil Legal Advice, GOV.UK
- How to complain, Legal Ombudsman and Scheme Rules, April 2023
- Solicitors Register, SRA
- SRA Transparency Rules, SRA
- Conveyancing Quality Scheme, The Law Society
- Lexcel, the legal practice quality mark, The Law Society
- Report Fraud: new service from City of London Police, GOV.UK
Property Solicitors: common questions
How much stamp duty will I pay?
As at 4 November 2026, someone moving home in England pays nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the part up to £250,000 and 5% on the part up to £925,000, so £12,500 on a £450,000 home. A first time buyer pays nothing up to £300,000 and 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000, so £7,500 on the same home. The rates were unchanged by the Budget on 28 October 2026.
Can I claim first time buyer relief on a £550,000 home?
No. As at 4 November 2026 the relief can't be claimed at all if the price is over £500,000, so the normal rates apply to the whole price. On £550,000 that's £17,500.
I'm buying before my old home has sold. Will I pay the higher rates?
Yes, if you still own the old home on the day you complete. If you then sell it within 36 months of completing, you can claim the extra back, within 12 months of that sale or within 12 months of the filing date of the original return if that's later.
When am I legally committed to a purchase?
From exchange of contracts. Before that, either side can pull out. After it, a buyer who pulls out may lose the deposit and have to compensate the seller, and a seller who pulls out may have to pay the buyer's costs and compensation. Your buildings insurance should start at exchange.
Why is my purchase still not registered months after completion?
HM Land Registry is slow on some applications. Its figures, updated on 30 October 2026 for August 2026, show half of new leases and transfers of part take about 9 months, and half of first registrations about 8 months. You own and can live in the home from completion while you wait.
Do I have to own my flat for two years before extending the lease?
No. Since 31 January 2025 you can claim a lease extension on a flat, or buy the freehold of a leasehold house, without owning it for two years first. As at 4 November 2026 the new valuation method that removes marriage value still had no start date, so extensions are valued the old way.
When do the new service charge rules start?
Under regulations made on 25 October 2026, the first changes leaseholders will notice start on 1 April 2027, with standard demands, accounts and annual reports from 1 November 2027 for most landlords and from 1 November 2028 for social landlords. The 6 November 2026 date only lets the government make regulations.
What should I do if I get an email saying my conveyancer's bank details have changed?
Don't send any money. Firms very rarely change their bank accounts. Ring the firm on a number you already have, not one in the email, and confirm the details. If you think you've been targeted, tell your bank straight away and report it to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
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