Congratulations! Having your offer accepted is something worth celebrating.
After what may have been weeks – or even months – of searching, viewing properties and weighing up decisions, you’ve reached an important milestone.
It’s also perfectly normal for the excitement to be followed quite quickly by another thought:
“So… what happens now?”
Although your offer has been accepted, there are still several important stages to complete before the property becomes yours. In England, the transaction doesn’t become legally binding until contracts are exchanged, and much of the work between those two milestones happens behind the scenes.
Understanding what’s happening, who’s doing what, and what you should expect along the way can make this part of the journey feel considerably less mysterious.
What Happens Immediately After My Offer Is Accepted?
Once the sale is agreed, the legal and financial parts of the purchase begin to move forward.
If you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to instruct a solicitor or conveyancer.
If you’re buying with a mortgage, you’ll ideally have obtained an Agreement in Principle before beginning your property search, giving you an indication of how much you may be able to borrow. Once your offer is accepted, your lender or mortgage broker can progress the formal mortgage application for the property you’ve chosen.
The estate agent will issue a memorandum of sale, providing the buyer, seller and their respective solicitors or conveyancers with the information needed to begin progressing the transaction.
From this point, several things happen at the same time rather than neatly one after another.
Your solicitor begins the conveyancing process. Your mortgage application progresses. Searches are ordered. You arrange your survey. The seller’s solicitor supplies the contract documentation. Questions – referred to as enquiries – may then be raised about the property or paperwork.
That overlap is one reason the process can feel difficult to follow from the outside.
Is My Mortgage Valuation the Same as a Survey?
No – and the distinction is worth understanding.
If you’re buying with a mortgage, the lender will arrange a valuation to help establish whether the property provides adequate security for the amount it is lending.
That valuation is primarily for the lender’s benefit. It isn’t a detailed assessment of the property’s condition.
A home survey serves a different purpose.
Although a buyer’s survey isn’t a legal requirement in England, having the property’s condition independently assessed before you become legally committed to the purchase is advisable.
Depending on the age, condition and complexity of the property, a RICS surveyor may recommend a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 Home Survey. A conventional newer property in good condition may require a less detailed inspection, while an older, altered, unusual or run-down property may justify a more comprehensive survey.
So confirmation that your lender’s valuation has been completed doesn’t mean the property has been thoroughly inspected on your behalf.
What Are Searches and Enquiries – and Why Can They Take Time?
Your conveyancer’s job isn’t simply to transfer money and change the name on the title.
They need to investigate the legal position surrounding the property and help you understand what you’re buying.
Property searches provide information from local authorities and other relevant bodies that wouldn’t necessarily be apparent from viewing the home.
Your solicitor or conveyancer will also review the documentation supplied by the seller and raise enquiries where information is missing, unclear or requires further explanation.
Some questions can be answered quickly. Others require information from the seller, managing agent, freeholder, local authority or another third party.
This is one reason a transaction can appear to have gone quiet even when work is continuing behind the scenes.
Why Does It Sometimes Feel as Though Nothing Is Happening?
Because quite often, the most important work at this stage isn’t particularly visible.
There may be periods when you’re waiting for searches, replies to enquiries, mortgage documentation, survey information or paperwork from elsewhere in the chain.
And current transaction times aren’t necessarily short. Rightmove reported that, as of March 2026, the average period from a sale being agreed to completion was around 167 days, or 5½ months – although individual transactions can be considerably faster or slower.
A period without an obvious update therefore doesn’t automatically mean something has gone wrong.
But that doesn’t mean you should feel unable to ask what’s happening.
Keeping communication open with your solicitor, mortgage adviser or broker and estate agent can help you understand which stage has been reached, what’s outstanding and whether anything is needed from you.
Sometimes the most useful question isn’t simply:
“How long will this take?”
but:
“What are we currently waiting for?”
What Should I Be Doing While All This Is Happening?
Although much of the work is being handled by professionals, you still have an important role.
Respond promptly when your solicitor, lender or broker asks for information or documents.
Arrange an appropriate survey of the property. Although a buyer’s survey isn’t legally required in England, having one is advisable. If you’re unsure which level is appropriate, a qualified surveyor can advise you based on the property’s age, type and condition.
Read the information and reports you’re sent rather than simply waiting to be told that everything is ready.
And ask questions when something isn’t clear.
Before exchange, you’ll want your mortgage offer in writing where applicable, your searches and survey completed and any issues arising from them understood and addressed, your deposit funds ready, and a completion date agreed.
This isn’t simply administrative preparation.
It’s your opportunity to understand the property and the commitment you’re about to make.
What If My Survey or Lender’s Valuation Raises a Concern?
A survey identifying an issue doesn’t automatically mean the purchase should stop.
Properties – particularly older ones – aren’t expected to be flawless.
What matters is understanding what has been found, how significant it is and what it may mean for you.
Depending on the issue, you might seek further specialist advice, obtain estimates for work, decide you’re comfortable proceeding as agreed or discuss the findings further before deciding what to do.
Separately, your lender’s valuation may come in below the price you’ve agreed to pay. This can affect how much the lender is prepared to advance and may mean reconsidering your financing or discussing the agreed price.
In either case, new information isn’t necessarily a reason to panic or immediately walk away.
It’s a reason to understand the information before deciding what to do with it.
When Does the Purchase Actually Become Legally Binding?
For a conventional property purchase in England, the critical point is exchange of contracts.
Until contracts have been exchanged, the buyer or seller can still withdraw from the transaction.
Before exchange, you’ll want your mortgage offer in writing where applicable, the legal work and searches completed, survey matters considered, your deposit arrangements in place and the completion date agreed.
Once contracts are exchanged, both parties are legally committed to the transaction.
That’s why an accepted offer is an important milestone – but exchange is a very different milestone.
And What Happens at Completion?
Exchange creates the legal commitment.
Completion is when the purchase completes and the property becomes yours.
Your solicitor transfers the purchase funds to the seller’s solicitor and, once completion has been confirmed, the keys can be released to you.
The period between exchange and completion is agreed between the parties. MoneyHelper indicates that this is often around 7–28 days, although circumstances vary and exchange and completion can happen on the same day.
And then, finally…
You get the keys.
A Final Thought
Having an offer accepted can feel as though you’ve reached the end of the property search.
In many ways, however, you’ve simply entered a different part of the journey.
Solicitors, lenders, surveyors, estate agents and sometimes several other parties are now working on different pieces of the same transaction.
There may be periods of activity followed by periods of waiting. Questions may arise. A survey might reveal something unexpected. A chain can affect everybody’s timescale.
Understanding that doesn’t make every transaction quicker.
But it can make the process considerably easier to follow.
And perhaps the most useful question during this stage isn’t:
“Why is nothing happening?”
but:
“What are we currently waiting for – and is there anything I need to do?”
Sometimes simply knowing the answer can make the waiting feel very different.
Thinking About Buying a Property?
If you’re considering buying a home and would like to talk through your requirements, I’d be happy to have an initial conversation about what you’re looking for and how I may be able to assist.
Whether you’re already searching, preparing to begin or buying in the UK from overseas, understanding both the property and the process can help you approach your purchase with greater clarity.
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This resource provides general information about the property-buying process in England and should not be regarded as legal, financial, mortgage or surveying advice. Individual circumstances and transactions vary, and appropriate professional advice should be sought where required.