Selling: getting your side ready before you go on market
The documents your buyer's solicitor will ask for. Get them together before you list and you'll shave up to two weeks off your sale.
- 5 min read
- 22 March 2026
Most of the delay in a sale happens because the seller's solicitor is scrambling for documents that could have been gathered weeks earlier. Here's what to have ready before your property goes on market.
Title and ownership
- Title deeds (or the TR1 if you've owned since before 1990). - Any restrictive covenants or easements that affect the property. - If you own with someone, check how you hold it (joint tenants vs tenants in common), relevant for divorce, estate, or one-party sales.
Property information
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), required by law before you can market the property. - Gas safety certificate (if you've rented it out). - Electrical installation condition report (if you've done any major electrical work).
Building consents
- Planning permission documents for any extensions, conservatories, or loft conversions. - Building regulations completion certificates for the same. - FENSA or CERTASS certificates for replacement windows/doors. - Boiler installation certificates (GasSafe).
Leasehold (if applicable)
- Your lease document. - Management pack info, or at least the name of your managing agent and your reference.
Financial
- Mortgage redemption statement (your solicitor will request this nearer completion, but know your mortgage provider and account reference).
Having all of the above ready at point of listing usually takes 1 to 2 weeks off the total transaction time. Your solicitor will love you.
Last reviewed 26 August 2026. This guide describes process rather than quoting rates, so nothing in it depends on a figure that changes at a fiscal event.
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