Most delays in a house sale are not caused by the buyer, the survey or the lender. They are caused by a document nobody can find. This is the full list of what a buyer's solicitor will ask for, what each one actually proves and what to do when one has gone missing.
The average sale in England and Wales takes months longer than anyone involved expects and the reason is rarely dramatic. Nobody pulls out. The survey is fine. What actually happens is that a solicitor asks a question, the answer is in a document and the document is in a loft, a dead email account or the filing system of a builder who retired in 2019.
Every week that goes by is a week the buyer can change their mind.
This is the full list of what you will be asked for, what each document proves and what to do about the ones you cannot find.
The short version
- You will need proof of ownership, an energy certificate and paperwork for any work done to the house
- Almost everything can be replaced, but replacing it takes weeks you will not have once a buyer is waiting
- The three that most often go missing are window certificates, building regulations sign off and old guarantees
- Gather it before you list, not after you accept an offer
- If you genuinely cannot find something, an indemnity policy is often the answer and your solicitor will know
Why missing paperwork stalls a sale
A buyer's solicitor is not being difficult. Their job is to make sure their client is buying what they think they are buying and that a lender will accept it as security.
So when they see an extension on the floor plan, they ask for the building regulations completion certificate. When they see replacement windows, they ask for the FENSA or CERTASS certificate. When the seller's form mentions damp treatment, they ask for the guarantee.
Each question is reasonable on its own. The problem is the pattern: the question goes to your solicitor, who writes to you; you reply that you will have a look. That round trip is a fortnight. Repeat it five times and you have lost the best part of three months, which is long enough for a chain to fall apart on its own.
The documents you will be asked for
Not every one of these applies to every house. Work through it and note which apply to yours.
| Document | What it proves | If you cannot find it |
|---|---|---|
| Title deeds | That you own the property and on what terms | Official copies from HM Land Registry, for a small fee |
| Energy Performance Certificate | The energy rating, which you need before marketing | Check the EPC register first; a new one needs an assessor |
| Building regulations completion certificates | That structural work was inspected and signed off | Ask the local authority building control team |
| Planning permission documents | That an extension or change of use was approved | Search the council's online planning portal |
| FENSA or CERTASS certificate | That replacement windows met building regulations | Request a copy from FENSA or CERTASS using the address |
| Electrical certificates | That electrical work was done and tested competently | Ask the installer, or pay for a fresh inspection |
| Gas Safe records | That gas work was done by a registered engineer | Ask the engineer, or check the Gas Safe Register |
| Boiler service history | That the boiler has been looked after | Ask the firm that serviced it, if you know who |
| Guarantees and warranties | That work is still covered and by whom | Ask the contractor; some trade bodies hold copies |
| New home warranty | Cover on a newer property, usually for ten years | Ask the warranty provider, quoting the address |
| Party wall agreement | That neighbouring owners consented to the work | The surveyor, or the solicitor who acted at the time |
| Damp, timber or roofing guarantees | That remedial work is still guaranteed | The contractor, if they are still trading |
| Leasehold documents | Lease terms, service charges and ground rent | The freeholder or managing agent, usually for a fee |
| Indemnity policies | That a known defect in the title is insured | The solicitor who acted on your purchase |
| Photo identification and proof of address | Anti money laundering checks, which are compulsory | Passport or driving licence, plus a recent utility bill |
If you are selling in Scotland the process differs: you will need a Home Report, prepared before the property goes on the market, which bundles a survey, an energy report and a property questionnaire together.
The forms you fill in yourself
Separately from the documents, you will complete a set of standard forms. In England and Wales these are usually the Property Information Form and the Fittings and Contents Form, with an extra one for leasehold properties.
The first asks what you know about the property: boundaries, disputes, alterations, guarantees, flooding, services and rights of way. The second records what you are leaving behind, down to the light fittings and the curtain poles.
Two things are worth knowing about these forms.
The first is that they take much longer than people expect, because half the answers require you to go and find a document.
The second is that they matter legally. You are making statements a buyer will rely on. Answering "not known" honestly is always safer than guessing and it is worth taking the time to be accurate rather than fast.
What to do if you cannot find something
Very little is genuinely unrecoverable. Work through it in this order.
- Check the pack from when you bought the house. Whatever the previous owner handed over is usually the single richest source and most people have never opened it since.
- Go back to the issuer. FENSA, CERTASS, the local authority, the warranty provider and HM Land Registry will all reissue on request, usually for a small fee.
- Go back to the contractor. A firm still trading will normally dig out a copy of a certificate or guarantee.
- Ask your solicitor about an indemnity policy. Where a document is genuinely lost, a one off insurance policy often satisfies the buyer's lender at modest cost. It insures against the consequences of the missing paperwork rather than replacing it.
The one thing not to do is leave it and hope the question does not come up. It will come up, just later, when it costs you more.
Start before you list, not after
There is a natural instinct to wait until an offer is accepted before dealing with paperwork. It is the wrong way round.
Before you list, you have unlimited time and no pressure. A missing certificate is an errand. After an offer is accepted, the same missing certificate is a delay with a buyer attached to it and the person who suffers is you.
Gathering everything early also changes the conversation. A seller who can answer a solicitor's enquiry the same week looks organised and low risk and that has a habit of keeping buyers patient when something else in the chain goes wrong.
The wider version of this argument is the case for a digital property logbook: collect the record while you own the house, so that selling is a matter of handing it over rather than reconstructing it.
Have it ready before anyone asks
homehogs keeps the certificates, guarantees and service records for your property in one place, so the answer to a solicitor's enquiry is a file rather than a fortnight.
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