The paperwork that keeps a house sale from falling over

A buyer's solicitor sends over the standard enquiries. Somewhere in the list, buried between questions about boundaries and chancel repair liability, is a request for the FENSA certificate for the kitchen window, replaced seven years ago. The seller has no idea where it is, the original fitter has retired, and the buyer is threatening to delay exchange until the position is resolved. The sale goes into a three-week hold while everyone waits for an indemnity insurance policy to be arranged.

This is a common sequence. It is also almost entirely avoidable.

The documents that keep a conveyance moving are not complicated. They are, however, easy to misplace across a decade of ordinary life: stuffed into a folder after completion, handed to a spouse who filed them "somewhere safe", or simply never requested from the builder at the time. Knowing what to locate before you instruct a solicitor takes the pressure off the transaction itself.

The documents your solicitor will ask for

Title deeds and the Land Registry register. If your property is registered, your solicitor can obtain official copies of the register and title plan directly from HM Land Registry. Even so, any original paper deeds still in your possession should be located. They can contain rights, covenants and historical notes that the register summarises but does not always reproduce in full. If the property is unregistered, the physical deeds are the title, and losing them is a serious matter requiring a statutory declaration and potentially indemnity insurance.

Energy Performance Certificate. An EPC is required by law whenever a property is sold. Certificates are valid for ten years and are held on the government's EPC register, so you can retrieve yours online if you cannot find the paper copy. What matters is confirming one exists and is still in date. If it has lapsed, you will need a new assessment before marketing.

Building regulations completion certificates. Any significant works carried out since the property was built, including extensions, loft conversions, structural alterations, and certain electrical and drainage works, should have a completion certificate issued by the local authority building control department or an approved inspector. Without one, a buyer's solicitor will raise an enquiry. With listed buildings or in conservation areas, planning permission documentation sits alongside this.

FENSA and CERTASS certificates. Replacement windows and doors installed since April 2002 should be registered with a competent persons scheme such as FENSA or CERTASS. These schemes notify the local authority on the installer's behalf and issue a certificate confirming the work meets building regulations. If your installer registered the work, a replacement certificate can often be obtained directly from the scheme's website. If not, an indemnity policy is usually the pragmatic route, though some buyers' solicitors resist that outcome.

Structural and specialist warranties. Newer properties often come with an NHBC Buildmark warranty or equivalent. These run for ten years from completion of the build and transfer to subsequent owners, which makes them genuinely valuable to a buyer. Party wall awards, damp-proofing guarantees, and timber treatment certificates similarly pass with the property and should be in your possession.

Boiler service records and installation certificates. A gas boiler must have been installed by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the installation should be notified to the local authority. Subsequent annual service records demonstrate ongoing maintenance and matter to buyers, particularly those with young families or strict mortgage lenders.

The insurance questions to resolve before completion

Buildings insurance is the seller's responsibility until completion and the buyer's responsibility from that moment. In practice, many buyers arrange cover from exchange, because they carry the risk of the property once contracts are exchanged. Your solicitor will confirm the precise position.

If documents are missing, indemnity insurance often bridges the gap. Policies are available for missing building regulations certificates, lack of planning permission for older works, and absent FENSA certificates, among other things. They are usually inexpensive relative to the value of the transaction, and a single insurer can often cover several gaps under one policy. The cost is typically negotiated between buyer and seller. What indemnity insurance does not do is remedy an ongoing breach: it covers the risk of a past act being challenged, not the right to continue something that should have been authorised.

The practical argument for gathering these documents well before a sale is straightforward. A solicitor working under time pressure, with a buyer threatening to withdraw, is not in the best position to think carefully about your interests. A seller who can hand over a complete bundle on day one moves the transaction faster, signals to the buyer that the property has been well managed, and retains more control over the negotiation if indemnity policies are needed.

That bundle does not assemble itself. Deeds surface in solicitors' archives, in safety deposit boxes, in the loft. Warranties are in the kitchen drawer. Service records are with the boiler manual. For families moving between properties over many years, or holding property across a portfolio, the discipline of keeping these records in a single, retrievable place is worth establishing long before a sale is contemplated.

Glenvault is built for exactly that kind of organised readiness. You can store and share your property documents securely at glenvault.com/signup.