Under

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

, exchanging contracts is the final step in a house purchase. It occurs after a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

conveyancer In most Commonwealth countries, a conveyancer is a specialist lawyer who specialises in the legal aspects of buying and selling real property, or conveyancing. A conveyancer can also be (but need not be) a solicitor, licensed conveyancer, or ...

has carried out all necessary searches, and there is agreement to the contract terms. Once each party has signed the contracts, and they have been exchanged, they are binding. The contracts will include a completion date, when the property becomes acquired by the purchaser. At exchange of contracts, any deposit needed has to be paid, and arrangements for building insurance must be made so that the property is insured from that day. Usually, the present insurer will cover this new property free of increased premium until the completion date. This is a system that occurs only under English law, and the exchange of contracts can occur many weeks or months after a sale offer has been agreed in principle. That contrasts with most other countries, where the house sale becomes legally binding very quickly.

References

Real property law Housing in England English land law {{Realestate-stub