The paperwork for your home matters most at the moments you can least afford delays: selling, remortgaging, making an insurance claim or proving your address. This guide covers what to keep, how to organise it, what buyers' solicitors and lenders ask for, and how to replace documents that have gone missing.
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Last reviewed: October 2026
Proof of address: what actually counts Which documents are accepted, what gets rejected, and the three-month rule.
The house sale document pack What belongs in it, and the papers that cause the most delays.
How long to keep home receipts Which receipts matter, and what you can safely bin.
When you sell, you'll fill in the Property Information Form (TA6), and the buyer's solicitor will ask for evidence of what you've said: certificates for replacement windows, building regulations sign-off for extensions, guarantees and an EPC. Gathering these before you list, rather than after an offer, is the easiest way to avoid delays.
Want this ready before you sell? See the Home+ home logbook and sale pack.
Most homes have documents spread across drawers, inboxes and old phones. A simple system, by category, with digital copies of everything, means you can find what you need in minutes.
Lost paperwork is common and usually fixable. Most homes in England and Wales are registered with HM Land Registry, so official copies of the title can be downloaded online. Many building certificates can be reissued, and building control can often supply a copy of a completion certificate.
Insurers and lenders both run on evidence. A claim is much easier to settle when you can show receipts, service records and photos, and a remortgage goes more smoothly when you can answer the lender's questions straight away.
Moving means updating your address in a lot of places, and banks, employers and councils will often ask for proof of where you live.
Home+ gives every document for your home one place to live. Upload certificates, guarantees and receipts, and Home+ reads the expiry dates for you and keeps a dated record of the work done, ready for when you sell.
Create your free Home+ account and start your home's document vault in a few minutes.