Seller Property Information Questionnaire: What to Expect

When you sell a property in England or Wales, one of the first things your solicitor will send you is a property information questionnaire. It is a thick pack of questions about your home — everything from boundaries and building work to boilers and broadband. The answers you provide become part of the legal transaction, so getting them right matters.

For many sellers, this questionnaire is the most time-consuming part of the early conveyancing process. It often sits on the kitchen table for weeks, waiting for you to find the right documents and work through each section. This guide explains exactly what the questionnaire contains, what your solicitor expects from you, and how to complete it efficiently so your sale can move forward without unnecessary delays.

What is the seller property information questionnaire?

The seller property information questionnaire is the collective name for the set of forms and questions your solicitor sends you at the start of the conveyancing process. In most cases, it includes three main components:

• The TA6 Property Information Form — A standardised 14-section form published by the Law Society of England and Wales, covering boundaries, disputes, planning, services, environmental matters, and more. See our full guide to the TA6 form for a detailed breakdown.
• The TA10 Fittings and Contents Form — A companion form that records which items at the property are included in the sale, excluded, or not present. Our guide to completing the TA10 walks you through this step by step.
• Additional firm-specific questions — Most solicitors add their own questions beyond the standard Law Society forms. These cover practical matters like how you want to receive completion funds, details of your existing mortgage, and identity verification.

Together, these forms give the buyer's solicitor a comprehensive picture of the property and the terms of the sale. Your answers are sent as part of the draft contract pack alongside the title deeds and any supporting documents you provide.

When does your solicitor send the questionnaire?

Traditionally, solicitors send the property information questionnaire after you accept an offer on your property and formally instruct them to act. This means the clock on conveyancing does not start until you already have a buyer waiting — and every day you spend filling in forms is a day your buyer is sitting idle.

According to the Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol (5th edition), the seller's solicitor should send the draft contract pack to the buyer's solicitor as soon as possible after instruction. In practice, this can take two to four weeks if the seller has not yet completed their paperwork. The questionnaire is almost always the bottleneck.

This is why completing the questionnaire before you list your property makes such a difference. If the forms are already done when a buyer appears, your solicitor can dispatch the contract pack on day one.

How the questionnaire differs from the standard TA6

The TA6 is a fixed, standardised form — every solicitor uses the same version published by the Law Society. The seller property information questionnaire, by contrast, is a broader package that wraps the TA6 inside additional questions specific to your solicitor's firm and your property. Here is how they compare:

In short, think of the TA6 as the core and the questionnaire as the full package. The TA6 content is identical wherever you go, but the surrounding questions will differ depending on which solicitor you instruct.

Typical sections covered in the questionnaire

While every solicitor's questionnaire is slightly different, the following sections appear in almost every version. Understanding what is covered helps you gather the right documents before you start.

Documents you need to gather before you start

The biggest time sink when completing the questionnaire is not the form itself — it is tracking down supporting documents. Gathering everything before you sit down to fill in the forms can save days of back-and-forth. Here is what you should try to collect:

• Title register and title plan — Available from HM Land Registry for £3 each via gov.uk/search-property-information-service. These show ownership details, boundaries, and any registered rights or restrictions.
• Planning permissions and building regulations certificates — For any work done to the property during your ownership or, if you have them, by previous owners. Contact your local authority if you cannot find the originals.
• Guarantees and warranties — Damp-proofing, timber treatment, double glazing, roofing, underpinning, and any NHBC or similar new-build warranty. Contact the issuing company for replacements if you have lost the originals.
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) — A legal requirement when selling (The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012). Check your EPC status at gov.uk/find-energy-certificate.
• Buildings insurance policy schedule — Including your insurer's name, policy number, and details of any past claims.
• Utility bills or supplier details — For electricity, gas, water, and drainage. If you have a septic tank or private water supply, gather the relevant maintenance records.
• Correspondence about disputes, notices, or complaints — Even if resolved, these need to be disclosed. Having the paperwork to hand allows you to give precise, detailed answers.
• Passport or driving licence and proof of address — For anti-money-laundering checks required under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.

For a complete list of every document and task involved in selling, see our conveyancing checklist for sellers.

How long does it take to fill in?

Most sellers take 3 to 7 hours to complete the full questionnaire, though this is typically spread over several days or even weeks. The form-filling itself is fairly straightforward once you have the documents in front of you. The real time cost is in the preparation:

• Ordering title documents from HM Land Registry (usually arrives within minutes if done online)
• Requesting copies of planning permissions or building regulations certificates from your local authority (can take 5 to 10 working days)
• Contacting guarantee or warranty companies for replacement certificates (varies, but allow 7 to 14 days)
• Checking your EPC status and ordering a new one if it has expired (an assessor visit typically costs £60 to £120)

This is why starting early is so valuable. If you begin gathering documents as soon as you decide to sell, the questionnaire becomes a much quicker task when it arrives.

What happens with your answers

Once you complete and return the questionnaire to your solicitor, they will review your answers for obvious errors, inconsistencies, or anything that might cause problems. They may come back to you with follow-up questions or suggestions for rephrasing certain answers.

Your solicitor then compiles the draft contract pack, which typically includes:

• The draft contract of sale
• Your completed TA6 Property Information Form
• Your completed TA10 Fittings and Contents Form
• Official copies of the title register and title plan
• Supporting documents (planning permissions, building regulations certificates, guarantees, warranties, EPC)

This pack is sent to the buyer's solicitor, who will review it and raise any additional enquiries — follow-up questions about anything unclear, missing, or concerning in your answers. The more thorough and complete your original answers, the fewer enquiries will come back, and the faster the transaction will move.

Common questions solicitors add beyond the standard forms

Beyond the TA6 and TA10, most solicitors include their own supplementary questions. While these vary between firms, the following are particularly common:

• Mortgage redemption details — Your existing mortgage lender's name, account number, and approximate balance. Your solicitor needs this to request a redemption statement and arrange repayment on completion.
• Completion fund instructions — Where you want the sale proceeds sent after your mortgage is repaid. If you are buying another property, the funds may go directly to your purchase solicitor.
• Council tax band and payments — Confirmation of the current council tax band and whether there are any arrears. Council tax liability transfers to the buyer on completion, so any outstanding balance must be cleared.
• Energy suppliers and meter readings — Details of your gas and electricity suppliers, meter locations, and whether you have a smart meter. This helps with the handover on completion day.
• Keys and access arrangements — How many sets of keys exist, where they are held, and how the buyer will receive them on completion day.
• Anti-money-laundering identification — Copies of your passport or driving licence and a recent utility bill or bank statement, as required under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
• Confirmation of capacity — Whether you are selling as a sole owner, joint owner, personal representative (executor), trustee, or attorney under a power of attorney.

Tips for completing the questionnaire efficiently

Based on the issues that most commonly cause delays, here are practical steps to help you work through the questionnaire as quickly and accurately as possible:

1. Gather documents before you start the form. Order your title documents, locate your planning permissions and warranties, and check your EPC status. Having everything in front of you before you begin means you can work through the form in one or two focused sessions rather than stopping and starting over weeks.
2. Set aside uninterrupted time. The questionnaire requires concentration. Block out two to three hours to work through it properly. Many sellers try to fill it in between other tasks and make avoidable mistakes as a result.
3. Read each question carefully. Some questions are broader than they first appear. For example, the TA6 question about disputes asks about any disputes, including those that have been resolved. Missing this nuance could expose you to a misrepresentation claim after completion.
4. Be specific, not vague. Instead of writing "some work was done," write "Rear extension built in 2018; building regulations completion certificate obtained from Bristol City Council, reference BR/2018/1234." Specific answers reduce follow-up enquiries.
5. Use "Not known" rather than leaving blanks. A blank answer forces the buyer's solicitor to raise an enquiry. "Not known — the work was carried out by the previous owner before our purchase in 2015" is a complete answer that may not require any follow-up.
6. Cross-check against your title register. Your answers about boundaries, rights, and restrictions should be consistent with what appears on your official title documents. The buyer's solicitor will compare them.
7. Complete the TA10 by walking through the property. Do not fill in the fittings and contents form from memory. Go room by room with the form in hand and check each item physically.
8. Ask your solicitor if you are unsure. Your solicitor is there to help you understand the questions, even if the answers must come from you. Flag anything you are uncertain about rather than guessing.

What to do if you do not know an answer

It is perfectly normal not to know the answer to every question, particularly if you have not lived at the property for long or if work was done by a previous owner. The key is how you handle it:

• Never guess. A confident but incorrect answer is far more dangerous than an honest "Not known." Under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, if a buyer relies on inaccurate information you provided and suffers a loss, they can claim damages after completion.
• Never leave a question blank. A blank answer tells the buyer's solicitor nothing and will always generate a follow-up enquiry, adding days or weeks to the timeline.
• Write "Not known" and explain why. For example: "Not known. The property was purchased in its current condition in 2016. No documentation relating to this work was provided by the previous owner's solicitor." This gives the buyer's solicitor enough context to decide whether further investigation is needed.
• Investigate where you can. If you are unsure about planning permissions, contact your local authority's planning department — many have online registers you can search for free. If you cannot find a guarantee, contact the company that did the work. A little effort now can save significant delays later.

How completing early speeds up the sale

The property information questionnaire is the single biggest variable in how quickly conveyancing gets under way. According to research from the Home Buying and Selling Group, delays in providing the contract pack to the buyer's solicitor are among the leading causes of lengthy transactions. The average conveyancing process takes 12 to 16 weeks (Gov.uk, How to Buy or Sell a Home), but much of that time is spent waiting for the seller to complete their paperwork.

Here is what happens in a typical timeline versus an early preparation approach:

• Traditional approach: Accept offer → instruct solicitor → receive questionnaire → spend 2 to 4 weeks gathering documents and completing forms → solicitor reviews and sends contract pack → conveyancing begins. Total dead time before the buyer's solicitor sees anything: 3 to 5 weeks.
• Early preparation approach: Complete questionnaire before listing → accept offer → solicitor sends contract pack within days → conveyancing begins immediately. Dead time eliminated.

This difference matters because the longer a transaction takes, the more likely it is to fall through. Buyers lose patience, mortgage offers expire, and chains collapse. Getting the questionnaire done early removes one of the primary causes of delay and gives your sale the best chance of completing smoothly.

Getting sale-ready with Pine

Pine is built around the idea that sellers should not have to wait until after an offer to start their legal preparation. By completing your TA6 and TA10 with guided, plain-English support before you list, you create a solicitor-ready pack that can be handed over the moment a buyer appears. Combined with upfront property searches at near-trade prices, this approach can cut weeks off the conveyancing timeline and significantly reduce the risk of your sale falling through. If you want to get ahead of the paperwork, join the Pine waitlist and start preparing today.

Sources

• Law Society of England and Wales — Property Information Form (TA6), 4th edition, 2020
• Law Society of England and Wales — Fittings and Contents Form (TA10), 4th edition, 2019
• Law Society Conveyancing Protocol, 5th edition — lawsociety.org.uk
• HM Land Registry — Search for property information service: gov.uk/search-property-information-service
• The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 — legislation.gov.uk
• Misrepresentation Act 1967 — legislation.gov.uk
• Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 — legislation.gov.uk
• Gov.uk — How to Buy or Sell a Home: gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home
• Home Buying and Selling Group — research on conveyancing delays: homebuyingandsellinggroup.co.uk

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