Template
Memorandum of sale template
The memo is the one document in the whole transaction that is entirely yours, and a thin one costs you a fortnight. This is every field both solicitors actually need — including the compliance details most memos omit.
Last updated 27 September 2026
A conveyancer receiving a memo with a missing solicitor reference, no chain position and no indication of how the buyer is funding it will write back asking. That exchange takes two or three days, and it happens at the stage where you have the most control and the least excuse.
The template
The property
- Full address including postcode
- Tenure — freehold, leasehold, or share of freehold
- If leasehold: years remaining, ground rent, service charge, managing agent name and contact
- Title number, if known
- EPC rating
- Council tax band
The sale
- Agreed price, in figures and words
- Date offer accepted
- Anything included or excluded from the sale
- Any conditions of the offer
- Target exchange and completion dates, if discussed
The seller
- Full name(s) as they appear on the title
- Current address, phone and email
- Solicitor: firm, named fee earner, address, phone, email, reference
- Whether the seller is buying on — and if so, is that sale agreed?
The buyer
- Full name(s)
- Current address, phone and email
- Solicitor: firm, named fee earner, address, phone, email, reference
- Position: first-time buyer, chain-free, sale agreed, or still to sell
- Funding: cash, or mortgage with lender name and broker contact
- Agreement in principle seen? Date and amount
- Deposit percentage
Compliance — the part most memos leave out
- Buyer ID and AML check completed — by whom, which provider, date and reference
- Seller ID and AML check completed — same details
- Source of funds evidence sighted — by whom and when
- Referral fee disclosure, if a conveyancer or broker was recommended
The chain
- Number of parties above and below, as far as known
- For each known link: address, agent, and current status
- Date the chain information was last confirmed
Three fields worth arguing about
The named fee earner, not just the firm. “Smith & Co” means your first email goes to a general inbox. A name and a direct line saves a week across the life of the file.
The managing agent, on leasehold. The management pack is among the most common serious delays, and it is owed by a party who is not in your chain and has no reason to hurry. Putting their contact details on the memo lets the seller’s solicitor request it on day one instead of week three.
The AML fields. These do not discharge anyone else’s obligation — the agency and each conveyancer are separately supervised and must each keep their own records. But stating plainly what has been checked, by whom and when stops the duplicated requests that eat the first fortnight.
What not to put on it
Do not attach identity documents or bank statements. You are required to keep your own AML records for five years; emailing copies around the transaction creates more of them in places nobody is accountable for. Reference the check, not the passport.
Do not include bank details for anyone, ever. Payment redirection is the realistic fraud in conveyancing, and a memo circulating by email is a soft target.
Sources
Field list compiled from Propertymark’s memorandum of sale checklist and standard conveyancing practice in England & Wales. Leasehold delay figures: Connells Group, May 2026. AML record-keeping duties: Money Laundering Regulations 2017, as amended 2026. This is a practical template, not legal advice — if you are unsure what your own supervisor expects, ask them.