Want to know how to do DIY conveyancing without a solicitor? Here’s the short version. Get your ID and title papers ready. Order your property searches early. Read every line of the contract before you sign anything. Stay in close contact with your mortgage lender the whole way through. That covers the basics. The rest of this guide walks you through each step in the right order, so you’re not guessing halfway through.
I’ve walked several clients through DIY conveyancing myself, mostly people who got stuck on a form or got scared by a search result that wasn’t actually a problem. The process works fine on its own. It just needs to be done step by step, or you’ll feel it three weeks later when the other side’s solicitor sends back questions you can’t answer.
How DIY Conveyancing Works, Step by Step
Start by setting up a Government Gateway account if you don’t have one. Most of the paperwork DIY conveyancing involves goes through this account, so you’ll use it to send forms to the Land Registry. You’ll need proof of ID, such as a passport or driving licence plus a recent bill, your property’s title number, a signed TR1 form to record the change of owner, and an AP1 form to apply for that change once it’s signed. Print two copies of each form: one to mark up as you go, one clean copy for signing.
Once that’s sorted, order your searches. A local search checks planning history and road status near the property. A water and drainage search checks the pipes and confirms the property is connected properly. Budget £300 to £500 and give it two to three weeks, sometimes longer depending on the council.
While you wait on searches, read the draft contract from the other side’s solicitor line by line. This step matters more in DIY conveyancing than almost any other, since nobody else is checking the wording for you. Check the boundary lines match what you think you’re buying. Check the move-out date works for you. Check the list of what stays in the house (fixtures, fittings) matches what was agreed. Write down anything unclear and get it answered before you go any further.
If you’re using a mortgage, call your lender in week one, not week four. Ask them directly if they’ll work with someone doing DIY conveyancing. Some lenders won’t release funds without a solicitor signing off on the title, and finding that out late can force you to bring in help halfway through, which costs more than starting with one.
Most of the slow part happens here: the other side raises questions, you answer them, they raise more. This back and forth is normal. It’s also where DIY conveyancing drags on longest, since each round can take days by post or email.
When both sides are happy, you exchange contracts. This means you and the other party (or your solicitors, if either side hired one for this part) confirm by phone that you’re both holding signed, dated copies, then swap them. A deposit, usually 10%, moves across at this point. Once contracts are exchanged, the deal is locked in. Pulling out after this has real costs, so don’t exchange until every question is answered.
Completion day is when the rest of the money moves, keys change hands, and you send your signed TR1 and AP1 to the Land Registry to make the new ownership official. This part of the process can take several weeks to finish even after the sale itself is done, so don’t panic if it’s not instant. It’s normally the last item on your DIY conveyancing to-do list.
A DIY Conveyancing Checklist You Can Use
Check your mortgage lender accepts DIY conveyancing before you start Order your title papers from the Land Registry Order your local and water/drainage searches Read the contract fully and write down every question Confirm the move-out date works for everyone involved Get your ID ready for the Land Registry’s checks Have your deposit ready and confirmed before exchange week Fill out TR1 and AP1 in advance, not on the day Save the direct phone number of the other side’s solicitor for exchange day
Mistakes I’ve Seen Clients Make
These are the DIY conveyancing mistakes that cost people the most, almost always because they got caught late instead of early. One client skipped the water and drainage search to save £150. Three weeks before completion, she found out a public sewer ran right under where she planned to build an extension. That search would have caught it in week two. Instead it delayed her completion by a month while she reworked her plans with her lender.
Another client signed her TR1 before the buyer’s solicitor confirmed the wording matched what both sides agreed. Once a form like that is signed and dated, fixing it means starting the paperwork over.
The third mistake I see often: people treat their mortgage lender’s rules as an afterthought. If your lender won’t accept your search results or wants a solicitor to sign off on the title, you need to know that before week one, not the week before completion.
When You Might Need Backup Help
Plenty of solicitors offer pay-as-you-go help. You do the day to day work yourself, and bring them in for one specific problem, such as an unclear boundary or a lease clause you don’t follow. This keeps most of the savings from DIY conveyancing while giving you someone to call if a search or a form throws up something you genuinely can’t judge on your own.
If you’re selling business premises as part of shutting a business down rather than a straightforward home sale, the property transfer is only one part of the process. Our How to Write a Business Closure Notice: A Complete Guide covers the customer, employee, and supplier side of closing up, which usually needs to happen alongside the sale, not after it.
Can I act as my own conveyancer?
Yes. Nothing in the law stops you from handling your own property sale or purchase. The main thing to check first is your mortgage lender, since some won’t release funds unless a solicitor or licensed conveyancer signs off on the title. Call them before you commit to going the DIY conveyancing route on your own.
What are the steps of conveyancing?
The price gets agreed first. Then someone checks the title and orders searches on the property. After that comes reading and agreeing the contract, then exchange, where both sides become legally bound. Completion is the last step, when the money moves and you get the keys. These are the same steps whether you hire a solicitor or handle DIY conveyancing yourself, the difference is just who’s doing the work.
Is a DIY will legal in the UK?
Yes, you can write your own will in England and Wales without a solicitor, as long as it’s signed by you and witnessed correctly by two people who won’t inherit anything under it. It’s legal, but mistakes in wording or witnessing are a common reason wills get challenged later, so it’s worth having someone check it if your estate isn’t simple.
Can you do conveyancing online?
Mostly, yes. Most DIY conveyancing today happens online from start to near the end. Land Registry forms can be filed online through the Government Gateway, searches can be ordered through websites instead of by post, and most contract talks now happen by email rather than in person. Some steps, like exchange of contracts, are still usually done by phone rather than a form, since both sides need to confirm at the same moment that the deal is locked in.
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