Outstanding enquiries meaning

Outstanding enquiries mean that the seller's solicitor has questions that have yet to be answered. It is common for the seller's solicitor to partially reply to the legal enquiries and then send outstanding enquiries once they are obtained by the seller or their solicitor. Outstanding property enquiries that take the longest to answer are those relating to the council or a freehold management company.

What happens after enquiries when buying a house?

Once all of your questions are satisfied and the solicitor is happy from a legal perspective, they will report to you on all of their findings. This is called 'the report on title' and is a factual report that advises you of all the information the solicitor is aware of. The report flags up issues and goes into detail on these points. Many clients often think that at the end of the report it says - You should buy this property. Sadly this isn't the case and in fact the role of the buyer's solicitor is to advise you on whether the property is legally fit to purchase and not whether you should actually purchase it - that decision comes down to you. Along with the report which would normally be sent to you via email or post, will be the legal documents required for signing including: Contract of sale TR1 SDLT Form Mortgage deed Title plan

What if the seller's solicitor can't satisfy the enquiries?

There are occasions where you are unable to satisfy a legal enquiry and whether or not you can proceed or not may be outside of your control. Certain enquiries require the your mortgage lender will require and you won't be able to get a mortgage unless the enquiry is satisfied, or their is appropriate indemnity insurance in place to cover for any future liability. One of the most common examples of this is where the seller has completed building works that required building control sign off, however they haven't had the works signed off. A mortgage lender won't give you a mortgage without the building control sign off, so you could be left waiting for the seller to either get retrospective building control sign off, or you can agree to get an indemnity policy to protect against future liabilities caused by not having building control sign off. If the seller does not the answer to the enquiries, they must be transparent. Lying about the enquiries will mean that they misrepresent the property to you, in which case you might be able to sue.

What are legal enquiries when buying a house in 2026?

by:

Andrew Boast

Last Updated: 13/03/2026

Read by:

9,411

8 min read

Legal enquiries are the formal set of questions raised by a buyer's solicitor to the seller's legal representative to clarify specific details about a property’s title, physical condition, and legal standing. This critical stage of the conveyancing process occurs after searches are returned but before the exchange of contracts, serving as the final "due diligence" check to uncover hidden liabilities or title defects.

Because the principle of caveat emptor (buyer beware) applies to property transactions in England and Wales; these enquiries are your primary legal protection against inheriting costly issues—such as undocumented structural alterations or restrictive covenants—that could devalue your home or complicate a future sale.

Before you get to raising legal enquiries, you'll need to receive draft contracts and your property searches.

In this article

What
Are
Legal
Enquiries?

By Andrew Boast, CEO of SAM Conveyancing

When is it time to raise enquiries?

After an offer has been accepted, the seller's conveyancer prepares and sends the draft contract pack to the buyer's conveyancer. At this stage in the house-buying process, the buyer's solicitor raises conveyancing enquiries to determine the property's legal condition and identify any issues that would affect the transaction.

Property in the UK is sold under 'caveat emptor', Latin for 'buyer beware'; this means that the buyer is responsible for uncovering any nasty surprises before they exchange contracts.

The legal enquiries stage is the technical stage of the conveyancing process undertaken by the buyer's conveyancer. The solicitor reviews all of the following documents provided by the seller's solicitor:

Estate agent particulars
Contract of Sale
Property Information Forms including TA6, TA10 and (if leasehold) TA7
Sale memorandum
Title deeds
Title plan
Warranties and guarantees
(if leasehold) Lease
(if leasehold) Leasehold Management Pack

The seller's solicitor provides the buyer's solicitor with all the above documents (except the sales memo) in the draft contract pack.

The Most Common Examples of Property Legal Enquiries in 2026

These are the most frequently raised legal enquiries in 2026 for freehold and leasehold properties.

Freehold

Leasehold

Please correct the names of the buyers on the contract

The seller's solicitor drafts the contracts, and the buyers' names are often incorrect.

Please provide the Leaseholder Certificate

Leaseholder protections under the Building Safety Act 2022 largely protect qualifying leaseholders from historical cladding and building safety remediation costs. Crucially, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 now ensures these protections transfer to new owners and extended leases.

Please provide FENSA certificates

If the seller installed double-glazed windows or doors, then they should provide the FENSA certificate.

Please confirm that the service charge accounts will be settled on completion

The buyer's solicitor wants to ensure that the service charges the seller is liable for are paid for by completion.

Please confirm whether the seller has breached any restrictive covenants.

Restrictive Covenants restrict the use of the land; they might, for example, prohibit an extension or specify how the property can be used. If the seller has breached a restrictive covenant, they must rectify the breach, or the buyer must obtain indemnity insurance for the mortgage lender.

Please confirm if the seller has breached the leaseholder obligations

The seller is bound by the lease and should not breach any obligations to the freeholder.

Questions to ask a solicitor when buying a house

We've compiled a list of the top legal enquiries solicitors raise, what they mean, and the solution. We even rate how hard it is to reply to the enquiry. It's free to use, so click below and get searching.

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Expert Tip - Don't ignore an issue, as it'll affect your future sale

Many buyers see the legal enquiries stage as a barrier to finalising the exchange of contracts. What you should never do is ignore an issue discovered through legal enquiries because once you purchase the property, it becomes your problem.

The seller and the estate agent wash their hands of any problems as soon as you exchange contracts, and whereas some enquiries can be ignored with indemnity insurance, this insurance protects the mortgage lender, not the buyer. This could leave you with the same issue when you sell, and not all buyers are cavalier, ignoring these legal issues. It is better for a buyer to dig their heels in and fix an issue while it isn't their problem, so that when you sell, your future buyer won't try to knock you down on the sale price because of it.

Andrew Boast FMAAT

CEO of SAM Conveyancing

Average time from Enquiries to Completion of Legal Work

Stage in the Conveyancing Process

Time to Exchange of Contracts

How long do enquiries take after searches?

Conveyancing Searches, such as the local and drainage searches, are ordered within a few days of receiving the contracts from the seller. The searches come back at different times, especially the local search, because different councils have different turnaround times.

How long is the conveyancing process from raising enquiries to completion?

Freehold - 3 to 5 weeks
Leasehold - 4 to 6 weeks

There are delays which can cause the process to take longer, and we list these below.

What causes a delay with legal enquiries?

There are a number of reasons legal enquiries could be delayed, and it isn't always the buyer's solicitor who is slow.

No Protocol Forms

Some sellers issue contracts only at the start of the process, which means the buyer's solicitor cannot complete a title check until they receive the protocol forms. A title check is what the solicitor calls raising legal enquiries.

(If leasehold) No Leasehold/Freehold Management Pack

The seller orders the Leasehold Management Pack from the freeholder, and this process can take between 5 and 20 working days before it is received. A growing number of freehold properties are managed by a Freehold Management Company, who issue the management pack instead.

Probate Sale

If the seller has passed away, the executors need to obtain a Grant of Probate to allow the sale to proceed. A grant of probate can take up to 16 weeks to come through.

The other issue is that the seller isn't the original owner, so you are unlikely to get any replies to legal enquiries. You should proceed with caution on a probate sale.

No Building Control Sign Off

Sellers often remove chimney breasts, load-bearing walls, or even install new boilers, but they haven't registered this with building control. While an indemnity policy can be obtained to protect the mortgage lender's security and allow an exchange of contracts, some buyers may not want to risk the potential repercussions.

The buyer may delay the process to allow the seller to register the works with building control under a Letter of Regularisation.

Absent Freeholder

The conveyancing process will slow down drastically when the freeholder can't be found or is slow to respond. While the buyer can get indemnity insurance for the mortgage lender, the implications are serious for the leaseholder. Who manages the freehold? Who pays for building insurance? How do you extend your lease? This type of enquiry needs to be fully considered by any buyer.

What happens after you finalise enquiries?

Once your solicitor has finalised the legal enquiries, they will start preparations for exchanging contracts. This includes preparing the Report on Title, the signing documents, securing the completion date, and more.

Your Next Step in the Conveyancing Process:

Preparing for Exchange of Contracts

Frequently Asked Questions

OUTSTANDING

AFTERENQ

Unsatisfied

Written by: Andrew Boast

Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands-on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.

Reviewed by: Caragh Bailey

Caragh is an excellent writer and copy editor of books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey, property law and mortgage-related articles.

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