Conveyancing is the act of transferring the ownership of a property from one person to another. The buyer needs to ensure that he or she gets good 'title' to the land; i.e., that the person selling the house actually has the right to sell it. The system of conveyancing is designed to ensure that the buyer gets the land together with all the rights that go with it, and knows about any restrictions in advance.
A typical conveyancing transaction, whether a sale or purchase, contains two major 'landmarks', which are exchange of contracts and completion, plus the three stages: before contract, before completion and after completion.