What is exchange of contracts and completion?
In England and Wales, making an offer is not a contract and parties are free to back out. Only once an ‘exchange of contracts’ takes place, does the law consider parties are bound to proceed and cannot back out without suffering considerable financial penalty. As a result, never exchange until you are happy to proceed, and in the case of a purchase, that you and your lawyer are happy with the contract papers, searches and that your mortgage or other finances are 100% guaranteed. Exchange is effectively a legal handshake, locking the parties in. Completion is simply the moving date. It can be on the same day, but that is not popular, as it means that booking removals (and paying a non-refundable deposit could be lost, or taking a day off work could be wasted if the expected date for a simultaneous exchange and completion gets delayed at the last minute. So people like to exchange for a completion date say one or two weeks later, as that gap then means either party can safely arrange rem
