Pre-completion & completion

PP.04 Pre-completion & Completion (FLK2)

Pre-completion steps (buyer's solicitor)

Pre-completion searches — must be done immediately before completion:

• OS1 (whole) / OS2 (part) — official search of the registered title at HM Land Registry. Confers a priority period of 30 working days during which the buyer's application to register takes priority over later entries. Completion and registration must fall within this window.
• K16 — bankruptcy-only search against the buyer/borrower (lender requires it; reveals bankruptcy petitions/orders affecting the borrower). Do not confuse with K15.
• For unregistered land: K15 Land Charges full search against estate owners' full names for the period of their ownership (catches Class C/D/F charges, etc.).

Requisitions on title — final enquiries confirming completion arrangements, redemption figures, undertakings for discharge of seller's mortgage.

Engrossment & pre-completion — final form transfer (TR1) approved and executed; mortgage deed executed; completion statement agreed (purchase price, deposit credit, apportionments of e.g. service charge/ground rent).

Completion itself

• SCS (Standard Conditions of Sale) govern residential; SCPC govern commercial. Completion is 2.00 pm on the contractual date unless varied; money received after 2pm is treated as received the next working day → triggers compensation/interest.
• Late completion: SCS 7 — contract rate interest on the price; service of a notice to complete makes time of the essence, giving 10 working days to perform. Failure then allows the innocent party to rescind and forfeit/recover the deposit.
• Completion usually by the Law Society Code for Completion by Post — buyer's solicitor sends funds; seller's solicitor holds documents to order, dates the transfer, accounts for keys, and gives undertakings to redeem the existing mortgage and forward the discharged charge (DS1 / END).

Post-completion (key deadlines — get these right)

• SDLT: file the SDLT return and pay within 14 days of completion (residential nil-rate threshold £125,000). In Wales, LTT to the WRA. Registration cannot proceed without the SDLT certificate (SDLT5).
• Registration at HMLR: apply within the OS1 priority period (30 working days). First registration of unregistered land must be applied for within 2 months of completion.

Common traps

• Confusing OS1 priority (30 working days) with the SDLT 14-day deadline — distinct clocks.
• 2pm rule and notice to complete = 10 working days (not calendar days), making time of the essence.
• Bankruptcy search (K16) is against the buyer/borrower, not the seller — and is the bankruptcy-only form, distinct from the K15 full land charges search used in unregistered conveyancing.
• Failing to obtain the seller's undertaking to discharge the existing mortgage before releasing funds.