Exchange of contracts is the moment English house-buying has been building toward: before it, anyone can walk away freely; after it, the purchase is legally binding and backing out forfeits your deposit. Phase 5 covers the short, intense run-up — final legal review, a completion date the chain can hit, insurance, and the deposit transfer — then the exchange itself and the logistics sprint after it.
Two moments, not one
English purchases complete in two stages. Exchange makes the contract binding and fixes the completion date; completion — typically one to four weeks later — is when money moves and you get keys. The gap exists for logistics: removals, final mortgage drawdown, the chain's coordination. Same-day exchange-and-complete happens, but compresses every risk into one morning.
The readiness checklist
Your conveyancer will not exchange until: mortgage offer issued and valid, searches back and acceptable, enquiries answered, report on title reviewed and signed, deposit funds cleared in their client account, buildings insurance arranged from exchange, and the whole chain aligned on a date. Phase 5's steps walk each item; your job is to complete yours fast and chase the rest.
Raise doubts now or hold them forever
This is the last free exit. A doubt raised the week before exchange costs a hard conversation; the same doubt after exchange costs your deposit. If anything material is unresolved — a survey worry, a lease term, a funding wobble — say it now, plainly, to your conveyancer.
Your action list
Practical tips
- The buyer who returns signed documents same-day moves the whole chain's exchange forward by days.
- Ask your conveyancer to talk you through the exchange mechanics in advance — knowing the choreography removes most of the anxiety.
What can go wrong
- After exchange, withdrawal typically forfeits your 10% deposit and can bring further liability — the point of no return is real.
- A chain 'agreeing a date in principle' is not exchange; nothing is fixed until the conveyancers say exchanged.
- PropertySquares provides education, not financial or legal advice. Verify current rules and obtain advice for your circumstances before acting.