TA6, TA10 and TA7 explained

Why these forms exist

English property sales run on caveat emptor — buyer beware. The seller is not obliged to volunteer everything they know, so the buyer's solicitor asks instead. These forms are the Law Society's standard set of questions, so every sale asks the same things in the same order.

Your answers become the basis of the enquiries the buyer's solicitor raises. Thin or evasive answers do not make the questions go away — they turn one form into three weeks of correspondence.

TA6 — Property Information

The long one. Boundaries and who maintains them, disputes and complaints, notices you have received, alterations and whether they had consent, guarantees, services, and rights of way.

The questions people get wrong: disputes (a running disagreement counts even if nothing formal happened), alterations (conservatories, knocked-through walls and replacement windows all need paperwork), flooding (this asks about the property, not the postcode), and Japanese knotweed (if you are unsure what it looks like, "not known" is the honest answer).

TA10 — Fittings and Contents

Room by room, what stays and what goes. It reads as trivial and it is the single most common source of completion-day arguments — light fittings taken down on the morning of the move, curtains the buyer assumed were included, a shed that turned out to be going with the seller.

TA7 — Leasehold Information

Leasehold and share-of-freehold sales only. Service charges, ground rent, the managing agent, the lease terms and any major works planned. Most of these answers come from the freeholder or managing agent rather than from you, so requesting the management pack the week you list rather than the week you accept an offer routinely saves a fortnight.

What "legally binding" actually means here

Your answers are representations: statements the buyer relies on when deciding to proceed and what to pay. If one turns out to be untrue and the buyer relied on it, they may have a claim for misrepresentation — and that survives completion.

The remedy is simple: answer what you know, and where you do not know, say so. "Not known" is a permitted answer and it is not a weakness. What creates liability is a confident answer that turns out to be wrong.

What to gather before you start

• FENSA or CERTASS certificates for replacement windows and doors
• Building regulations completion certificates for structural work, and planning permissions where needed
• Guarantees: damp proofing, timber treatment, roofing, cavity wall insulation, underpinning
• Boiler service records, gas safety and electrical installation certificates
• For leasehold: the lease, recent service charge statements and any Section 20 notices