What documents do you need to sell your house?

Selling a home involves a surprising amount of paperwork, and most of it gets asked for at the worst possible moment: after you have accepted an offer, when everyone is keen to move quickly and any missing document becomes a delay. Sellers who gather it early, before they even instruct an agent, give themselves the single biggest advantage there is in keeping a sale on track.

It also matters more than it used to. New rules are pushing key property information to the front of the process, so buyers increasingly expect to see it at the point of listing rather than weeks into conveyancing. Here is what you will need, roughly in the order it gets asked for.

The essentials every sale needs

• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) — legally required before you can market the property. They last ten years, so you may already have a valid one; a new one costs around £60 to £120.
• Proof of identity — your agent and solicitor are legally required to verify who you are under anti-money-laundering rules, usually a passport or driving licence plus a recent utility bill.
• Title register from HM Land Registry — the official record proving you own the property. Most are now electronic and cost around £7 to download.
• Property Information Form (TA6) — the big one. It covers boundaries, disputes, alterations, guarantees, utilities and more. The form was updated in 2026 to fold in the new material-information requirements.
• Fittings and Contents Form (TA10) — a room-by-room list of exactly what is included in the sale and what you are taking with you, down to the light fittings and curtains.

Documents for any work you have done

If you have altered the property in any way, a buyer’s solicitor will want to see that the work was done properly and signed off. Missing sign-off is one of the most common causes of a sale stalling.

• Planning permission and building regulations completion certificates — for extensions, loft conversions, knocked-through walls or anything structural.
• FENSA or CERTASS certificates — for replacement windows and external doors fitted since 2002.
• Gas Safe and electrical certificates — for a new boiler, a rewire or consumer-unit work (an EICR or Part P certificate).
• Guarantees and warranties — damp-proofing, timber or woodworm treatment, a new roof, cavity-wall insulation, underpinning, or an NHBC or similar warranty if the home is a newer build.

Extra documents if your home is leasehold

Leasehold sales need a further layer, and gathering it can take the longest, so start early.

• A copy of the lease itself.
• The Leasehold Information Form (TA7), plus recent service charge and ground rent statements.
• Details of the freeholder or managing agent and any management company.
• For flats in larger blocks, you may also be asked for an EWS1 form covering external wall safety.

The things people forget

• Manuals, service records and guarantees for the boiler and any appliances that are staying.
• Any indemnity policies already in place (for example for missing building-regulations sign-off).
• Party wall agreements with neighbours.
• A Japanese knotweed management plan, if there has ever been any on the property.

The rule that changes the timing

Historically all of this surfaced during conveyancing, weeks after an offer. That is changing. Government reform is moving key property information upfront, so it needs to be available when the home is listed, not dug out later. In practice that means the sellers who prepare early are the ones whose sales complete faster and fall through less often. Getting sale-ready before you list is quickly becoming the norm rather than the exception.