Buying Agent, Estate Agent or Solicitor: Who Acts for You in a London Purchase?

Buying a prime London home can involve half a dozen professionals. The question buyers don’t always ask is the simplest one: who is actually working for me?

The estate agent represents the seller. Your solicitor protects your legal interests. Your surveyor assesses the condition of the building. But who makes sure you are buying the right property at the right price? This guide sets out who acts for whom, who pays them and where the gaps fall.

Who Acts for Whom in a London Property Purchase

The table below covers the professionals involved in most prime purchases in England and Wales. Scotland works differently, with solicitors often handling marketing and a Home Report prepared by the seller.

Each is overseen by a different body:

The gap is in the last column. A buying agent is the only professional in this list appointed specifically to judge value and negotiate the price on your behalf. Without one, that job falls to you.

Who Does the Estate Agent Work For?

The estate agent works for the seller. They are instructed and paid by the seller, and their job is to achieve the best price and terms for their client. That remains true however helpful, friendly or well-informed they are with you, and however long you have known them.

The law gives buyers some protection. Under the Estate Agents Act 1979 and the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) Order 1991, an estate agent must:

• pass every offer to the seller promptly and in writing, until contracts are exchanged, unless the seller has told them in writing not to pass on certain offers;
• tell the seller in writing about any services they or a connected business offer you, such as a mortgage, and about any commission they would earn from services provided to you by others;
• not treat you less favourably because you decline those services;
• disclose any personal interest they have in the sale.

Separately, consumer protection law, now set out in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, requires agents to give you accurate material information about the property and not to mislead you.

Every estate agent dealing in residential property must also belong to an approved redress scheme, either The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme, and is supervised by HMRC for anti-money laundering purposes. National Trading Standards can ban agents who break the rules, as the House of Commons Library explains.

In practice, anything you tell the selling agent, including your budget or how much you love the house, may reach the seller. None of this makes selling agents adversaries, though. In prime London, their main concern is a sale that completes, which gives a well-prepared, well-represented buyer real leverage. On a garden flat in Belsize Park, our clients’ offer was accepted even though it was the lower of two bids, because the agents preferred to work with us over an unrepresented buyer. Read the Primrose Gardens case study.

What a Buying Agent Does, and Who Pays

A buying agent is retained by the buyer and acts only for them. They search the open and off-market, advise on value, negotiate the price and terms, and manage the purchase through to completion. Because they are doing estate agency work on a buyer’s instructions, buying agents also fall within the Estate Agents Act 1979 and must belong to a redress scheme. Black Brick is a member of The Property Ombudsman.

For a fuller comparison of the search itself, read our guide to buying agents vs estate agents. The difference that matters most once you have found a home is simple: the selling agent is trying to achieve the highest price that will hold, and a buying agent is trying to achieve the lowest one that will win.

How buying agents are paid

Buying agents are paid by their client, not by the seller. Most charge an upfront retainer or registration fee and a success fee when a purchase goes ahead. At Black Brick, we charge a registration fee to begin the search and, on success, a percentage of the purchase price or 20 per cent of the saving we negotiate off the asking price, whichever is greater. The success fee is payable once contracts have exchanged. Our guide to buying agent fees explains how the different models compare.

Why representation changes the outcome

Sellers and their agents are not only choosing a price. They are choosing the buyer most likely to reach exchange without drama. Three recent examples show what that means:

• Pembridge Crescent, Notting Hill. Another buyer offered £55,000 more for a two-bedroom flat, but we agreed the deal for our clients and exchanged within 13 working days of contracts going out. Read the case study.
• Lillie Square, Earl’s Court. Facing competition on an apartment that was not on the portals, the seller chose our clients because we presented them as the most credible buyers, with good lawyers and all their finance in place. Read the case study.
• Burnsall Street, Chelsea. The competing buyer was also represented by a buying agent. We advised our clients to bid fractionally above the asking price to prevent sealed bids, and they exchanged at £6.3m, or £2,316 per sq ft. A single-fronted house on a neighbouring street had sold at £2,600 per sq ft the month before. Read the case study.

Want someone on your side of the table? We act only for buyers, and we never take on clients with conflicting briefs. Speak to our buying team

Your Solicitor: Legal Protection, Not Price

Your solicitor, or a licensed conveyancer, handles the legal side of the purchase, known as conveyancing. Either can act for you, but on a complex prime purchase, with listed buildings, long leases, company structures or overseas funds, a firm with a strong prime London practice is usually the better choice.

Your solicitor will:

• check the title, plans, rights of way and any restrictions;
• review the searches, the lease if there is one, planning and building consents, and the seller’s replies to enquiries;
• carry out identity and source of funds checks;
• report to you on the contract, then handle exchange, completion, the Stamp Duty return and registration at HM Land Registry.

They will not normally tell you whether the property is worth the price or inspect the building. Those questions belong to you, your surveyor and your buying agent.

When your solicitor also acts for your lender

On a standard residential mortgage, your solicitor will often act for the lender as well, which is permitted where there is no conflict between the two. On larger or bespoke loans, including many from private banks, the lender often instructs its own solicitors instead, usually at the borrower’s cost, which can add time. Our guide to cash vs mortgage purchases covers the trade-offs.

Can One Solicitor Act for Both Buyer and Seller?

Very rarely, and you should not expect it on a prime London purchase. Solicitors must not act where there is a conflict of interest, or a significant risk of one, between two clients. The Law Society notes that the exception for clients with a “substantially common interest” does not apply to a property purchase, because one side is buying and the other is selling. The Solicitors Regulation Authority‘s guidance is that where substantive negotiation between the clients is likely, a solicitor should not act for both unless one of the narrow exceptions applies.

The narrow exceptions cover cases such as a gift between family members. For an arm’s-length purchase, each side should have its own firm. The seller’s solicitor prepares the contract package and answers your solicitor’s enquiries; their replies must be accurate, but their duty is to the seller.

Surveyors and Valuers: Two Different Jobs

As RICS puts it, a mortgage valuation is for the benefit of the lender, not the buyer. It checks that the property is adequate security for the loan, and serious defects can go unmentioned.

Your own surveyor is instructed by you and reports to you. On a period house or a larger prime home, that usually means an RICS Level 3 survey, with structural, drainage or mechanical and electrical specialists where needed. A cash buyer has no lender’s valuation at all, so their own survey is the only independent view of the building. Read more in our guide to why a building survey matters before exchange.

Brokers, Private Banks and Tax Advisers

• Mortgage brokers act for you in finding finance. Ask how they are paid: a fee, commission from the lender, or both.
• Private banks lend on wider terms at this level, but the bank acts for itself, and its credit process sets part of your timetable.
• Tax advisers matter most if you are non-resident, buying an additional home or buying through a company. Stamp Duty surcharges, the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings and inheritance tax all depend on the structure, which needs to be settled before exchange. See our Stamp Duty guide.

How They Work Together From Offer to Completion

Each stage has a lead adviser on your side and a counterpart on the other:

Without a buying agent, coordinating all of this falls to you. Our guide to what happens after an offer is accepted sets out each stage in detail.

Need the right solicitor and surveyor? We introduce trusted prime London specialists from our black book, matched to the property. Ask us for an introduction

Questions to Ask Before You Instruct Anyone

Whoever you appoint, five questions will tell you most of what you need to know:

1. Who are you acting for? The answer should be you alone, or you and your lender in the case of your solicitor.
2. How are you paid, and by whom? Ask any buying agent whether they ever accept payment from the seller’s side.
3. Who regulates you? Agents should name their redress scheme; solicitors their regulator.
4. Are you acting for anyone else interested in this property? A buying agent with competing clients on the same home cannot give either one undivided advice.
5. Who will actually do the work? On a prime purchase, the experience of the individual matters as much as the name of the firm.

Black Brick is independent, not owned by or part of any other agency. Read more about how we work and our buying service.

Your Questions Answered

Sources: Estate Agents Act 1979, section 1 | Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) Order 1991 | House of Commons Library, Regulation of estate agents | SRA guidance on conflicts of interest | Law Society, Conflict of interests in conveyancing | RICS consumer guide to home surveys. Facts checked 12 October 2026. This guide is general information about buying property in England and Wales and is not legal advice. Take advice from a qualified solicitor on your own purchase.