Exchange is the point at which a purchase becomes legally binding in England and Wales. MoneyHelper advises checking surveys and searches are complete. A checklist prevents an urgent date obscuring unresolved defect or missing document.
Every transaction differs and your conveyancer controls the legal process. The surveyor explains condition; specialists, lenders and insurers answer their own parts.
Understand the report
Read scope, limitations, ratings, risks, investigations and legal referrals. Ask focused questions and record inaccessible areas.
Do not replace the written report with a verbal summary or rating count.
Resolve uncertainty
Complete recommended checks where results affect the decision. Obtain permission for invasive work and written findings.
If investigation cannot happen, discuss residual risk and decide consciously.
Quantify and allocate
Obtain comparable repair quotations after scope is known. Separate urgent work from maintenance.
Ask about approvals, guarantees, lease responsibility and agreed seller work.
- Report read.
- Investigations complete.
- Quotes reviewed.
- Legal referrals resolved.
- Mortgage and insurance confirmed.
Confirm the transaction
Check searches, written mortgage offer, deposit, insurance, completion date and fixtures through the appropriate advisers. Survey approval alone is not readiness.
Tell the conveyancer about unresolved matters. Withdrawal after exchange can have serious consequences.
Confirm who will hold each final answer: the conveyancer for legal documents, the lender or adviser for finance, the insurer for cover and the surveyor for physical interpretation. A single unanswered email should not disappear simply because everyone assumes another professional is dealing with it. Record the answer and any condition attached to it in the same checklist.
Record the agreed position
If the seller has agreed repairs, a price change, access for further investigation or provision of documents, make sure the conveyancer knows. Informal assurances from an agent or contractor may not form part of the contract. Ask what evidence of completed work will be supplied and whether inspection before exchange or completion is appropriate.
Keep a post-completion copy of the survey, specialist reports, quotations and legal replies. They provide a starting point for planned maintenance, insurance discussions and future alterations. Conditions can change after inspection, so report any significant new leak, damage or event before exchange and ask whether updated professional advice is needed.
Carry out a final viewing as advised by your conveyancer and confirm that the property’s apparent condition and agreed contents have not materially changed. A final viewing is not another survey and cannot reopen concealed areas, but it can reveal fresh damage, removal of items or incomplete promised work. Report concerns before completion rather than waiting until keys are collected.
Advice for your property
Get the right professional inspection
Online guidance is useful, but it cannot account for the construction, condition and history of an individual property. Tell us what you are buying or need valued and we will explain the appropriate service.
Authoritative sources and further reading
The guide is general information, not property-specific, structural, legal, tax or financial advice. Source pages can change; consult the relevant professional for your circumstances.