1  2  3  4  5  6  7  Step 8 - Exchange of Contracts  9  10 
If everything is in order, the sale will then proceed. A completion date will be agreed between the buyer and the seller, a deposit is paid and contracts are exchanged.

From the minute that contracts are exchanged, the sale becomes binding. From that moment on, the seller must sell, the buyer must buy, and this must all be done at the price set out in the contract.

Until contracts are exchanged, NOTHING is binding - either party can walk away and there is no obligation to pay the other sides costs.