Two transactions, one file, one completion date.
Moving usually means selling and buying at once, with the proceeds of one paying for the other. We put both legs with a single panel firm and prepare the whole file before it is instructed, so the two halves of your move stay in step instead of drifting apart.
What it covers
Both halves of the move, run as one job.
A sale and a purchase are two separate legal transactions. Doing them together does not merge them, it just means one firm is responsible for keeping them aligned.
On the sale, your conveyancer obtains the title, drafts the contract and assembles the pack for your buyer’s solicitor, then answers their pre-contract enquiries. On the purchase, the same conveyancer reads the contract pack and the title on the property you are buying, orders the searches, raises enquiries and satisfies your lender’s conditions.
The two then have to converge. Contracts are exchanged on both on the same day, with one completion date agreed across the whole chain. On completion, your sale money is received, your existing mortgage is redeemed, and the balance goes straight out again to fund the purchase, along with the new mortgage advance. Your conveyancer runs those movements in a specific order, which matters for Stamp Duty as well as for whether you get your keys.
If you only need one side of this, the buying and selling pages cover each on its own.
Done before instruction
Twice the paperwork, finished in advance.
A combined move has roughly double the documents and double the points of failure, which is exactly why doing the groundwork first pays off more here than anywhere else. It is typically 2 to 3 weeks off the front of the transaction.
- 01
Identity and AML checks
Credas-verified digital identity for everyone on both sides of the move, done online in about ten minutes. No ID charge.
- 02
Source of funds
Your deposit, your sale proceeds and any gifted money, evidenced and reviewed upfront rather than chased mid-chain.
- 03
Sale documents gathered
EPC, planning and building regulation certificates, guarantees and, on a leasehold sale, the lease and managing agent details.
- 04
Purchase searches started early
Searches on the property you are buying are scoped and underway before the firm is instructed, not after.
- 05
One firm for both legs
We match you to a panel firm that can act on the sale and the purchase, and that fits your lender and both property types.
What it costs
One quote, both legs itemised.
We do not publish a price list, because a real quote depends on both values, both tenures and both postcodes. The moving cost estimator is the quickest way to see the whole shape of a combined move before you ask us for a figure.
Inside the fixed fee
- One fixed fee covering both legs, agreed before you instruct anyone
- No file opening fee and no ID verification charge
- No admin surcharges at completion
- Your contract pack drafted and issued on the sale
- Contract pack, title, searches and enquiries reviewed on the purchase
- Both exchanges and both completions co-ordinated on the same day
Outside it, and never hidden
- Searches and other third-party disbursements, itemised in your quote
- Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase, which is paid to HMRC
- Leasehold supplements, quoted separately for each leg that needs one
Step by step
From enquiry to instructed firm.
Four steps, and the onboarding happens once rather than twice. The full journey is set out on how it works.
- 01
Tell us about both moves
The property you are selling and the one you are buying, values, postcodes and tenures. The form asks about both legs and still takes about three minutes.
- 02
We review it and come back
Our team prepares one case file covering the sale and the purchase, and gets in touch within one business day with your fixed-fee quote.
- 03
You complete onboarding once
One identity check, one document upload, one portal, covering both transactions rather than doing everything twice.
- 04
Your conveyancer runs both
The same named conveyancer drives the sale and the purchase towards a single exchange and a single completion date.
Where combined moves stall
Co-ordination, timing, and the chain.
A combined move is not twice as hard as a purchase. It is harder than that, because the two halves have to land on the same day.
One file, not two
The sale and the purchase move at different speeds, and when two firms hold the two halves, keeping them in step becomes an email thread. One firm sees both, so a delay on one side is visible on the other the same day.
Same-day completion
In practice the two normally exchange and complete on the same day, with the proceeds of your sale funding the purchase. That means the removal van, the mortgage drawdown and the keys all hang on one sequence being run in the right order.
The chain either side
Above you sits your seller's onward move, below you sits your buyer and theirs. The completion date is set by the slowest party in the whole chain, which is why being ready to exchange early is the only leverage anybody in the middle actually has.
Common questions
Moving questions, answered plainly.
Do I need two solicitors for a sale and a purchase?
- No. One panel firm can act on both, and it is usually better that it does. A single named conveyancer holding both halves of your move can sequence the exchange and completion without negotiating with a second firm, and you only complete onboarding once.
Do both transactions complete on the same day?
- Almost always, because the money from your sale is what funds your purchase. Your conveyancer exchanges on both, fixes one completion date, and runs the completions in the correct order on the day. The order matters for tax as well as for logistics.
Will I pay the additional property Stamp Duty surcharge?
- Not where you are replacing your main residence and the sale completes before, or on the same day as, the purchase. If the sale slips and you end up owning both, the surcharge applies upfront and is reclaimable when the old home sells, subject to HMRC’s time limits. There is more on this in our guide to the additional-property SDLT surcharge.
Is the fixed fee one fee or two?
- You get a single quote covering both legs, agreed before you instruct anyone. It is fixed from day one, with no file opening fee, no ID charge and no admin surcharges at completion. Third-party disbursements and Stamp Duty sit outside it, itemised, as they do on any transaction.
What if one side falls through?
- The other leg can usually continue, though a collapsed sale often means a purchase cannot be funded. Your panel firm may charge an abort fee at their discretion on the leg that fails, with the terms in the client care letter they issue you. Disbursements already paid to third parties are generally not refundable.
What if one property is leasehold and the other is freehold?
- That is common and entirely normal. The leasehold leg carries its own clearly quoted supplement and its own timing risk, because the management pack is usually the slowest document in the transaction. Both are shown in your quote before you instruct anyone.
More of these on the full FAQ page.
Other services
Other services
- Buying a homeFixed-fee conveyancing for your purchase, with searches started early.
- Selling a homeYour contract pack and protocol forms ready before a buyer is found.
- RemortgageSwitching or renewing your deal, with your lender's requirements met.
- Transfer of equityAdding, removing or buying out an owner without selling the property.
- Auction conveyancingLegal pack reviewed before you bid, and a firm ready for a 28-day clock.
Ready when you are
Keep both halves of your move in step.
Tell us about the property you are selling and the one you are buying. We come back within one business day with a fixed fee covering both legs.