How Long Does Conveyancing Take?
How Long Does Conveyancing Take When Buying or Selling a Property?
Conveyancing will often take around 12–16 weeks, although there is no fixed timescale. A straightforward transaction may complete sooner, while a property chain, leasehold property, mortgage delay or legal issue can make the process considerably longer.
The time required depends on the property, the circumstances of the buyer and seller, whether a mortgage is involved and how quickly information can be obtained from everyone involved in the transaction.
Some stages can happen at the same time, so conveyancing does not always progress in a simple week-by-week sequence.
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What Is a Realistic Conveyancing Timescale?
It is sensible to allow around 12–16 weeks for a typical residential conveyancing transaction rather than planning around the fastest possible completion date.
However, the circumstances of each transaction are different.
Type of transaction |
What to expect |
|---|---|
|
Straightforward house purchase |
Often around 12–16 weeks, although it may be quicker |
|
Straightforward house sale |
Often around 12–16 weeks, depending on the buyer and any property chain |
|
No-chain transaction |
Can potentially complete more quickly because fewer transactions are linked together |
|
Cash purchase |
Can be quicker because there is no mortgage process, although the usual legal work is still required |
|
Leasehold property |
Often takes longer because additional information may be needed from freeholders, managing agents or management companies |
|
Property in a chain |
The timescale depends partly on how quickly the other transactions in the chain progress |
|
Remortgage |
Usually considerably quicker than buying or selling because there is no property chain |
|
Complex transaction |
May take substantially longer depending on the legal, title or property issues involved |
These are useful expectations rather than deadlines. A conveyancer cannot normally guarantee a completion date at the beginning of a transaction because several important stages depend on other people and organisations.
If you are new to the process, our Conveyancing Timescales guides explain how long the different stages of a property transaction can take.
When Does the Conveyancing Timescale Start?
This is important because different conveyancing timescales are sometimes measured from different starting points.
For a purchase, people will often think of the process as beginning when the seller accepts their offer. The conveyancer may actually begin substantive work once they have been formally instructed, completed the required identity and source-of-funds checks and received the contract documentation from the seller’s conveyancer.
For a sale, a seller can instruct a conveyancer before a buyer has even been found. This can allow some of the initial paperwork to be prepared in advance.
When comparing timescales, it is therefore worth checking whether the figure refers to:
- the period from accepting an offer to completion;
- the period from instructing the conveyancer to completion; or
- the period from exchange of contracts to completion.
These are very different measurements.
What Happens During the Conveyancing Process?
Although every transaction is different, most residential purchases and sales pass through the same broad stages.
1. The Conveyancer Is Instructed
The buyer and seller appoint their conveyancers.
The conveyancing firm will normally need to complete identification and other regulatory checks before progressing the transaction. Buyers may also need to provide evidence of the source of their purchase funds.
The seller will usually complete property information and fittings and contents forms and provide information needed to prepare the contract documentation.
Starting this work promptly can help prevent unnecessary delays later.
2. The Draft Contract Is Prepared
The seller’s conveyancer prepares the contract documentation and sends it to the buyer’s conveyancer.
The buyer’s conveyancer then reviews the legal title and the information supplied about the property.
If information or documents are missing, further information may need to be obtained before the transaction can progress.
3. Searches Are Ordered
When buying a property, the buyer’s conveyancer will normally arrange the appropriate property searches.
These commonly include a local authority search, drainage and water search and environmental search. Mortgage lenders will generally require certain searches as part of a financed purchase.
Search turnaround times vary according to the search provider, local authority and location of the property.
See our guide to Property Searches for a detailed explanation of what searches investigate.
4. The Buyer Arranges Their Mortgage
Where the purchase is being financed with a mortgage, the lender will carry out its own checks before issuing a formal mortgage offer.
This process takes place alongside the legal work.
A mortgage delay can therefore hold up exchange even where much of the conveyancing has already been completed.
It is also important to make sure the chosen conveyancer can act for your mortgage lender. Having to change conveyancer or appoint another firm to represent the lender can cause significant delay.
5. Enquiries Are Raised and Answered
The buyer’s conveyancer reviews the title, contract documentation, searches and other available information and raises any necessary legal enquiries with the seller’s conveyancer.
Some enquiries can be answered quickly.
Others may require information from:
the seller
the local authority
a management company
a freeholder or managing agent
a mortgage lender
HM Land Registry; or another third party.
This is one of the reasons it can be difficult to predict exactly how long conveyancing will take.
6. The Transaction Becomes Ready for Exchange
Before exchange, the buyer’s conveyancer will normally need to be satisfied with the legal title, searches, enquiries and mortgage arrangements.
The buyer and seller must also agree a completion date.
If either party is part of a property chain, the completion date usually has to work for everyone in that chain.
Once the necessary work has been completed and both parties are ready, contracts can be exchanged.
Read Exchange of Contracts to understand what happens at this stage and why it is so important.
7. Exchange to Completion
Once contracts have been exchanged, the transaction becomes legally binding.
The buyer and seller will have agreed the completion date before exchange.
The period between exchange and completion is often around 1–2 weeks, although it can be shorter or longer depending on the circumstances of the transaction and what has been agreed between the parties.
During this period, the conveyancers carry out the final legal and financial preparations for completion.
For more detail about this stage, see How Long Between Exchange and Completion?
8. Completion
Completion is when the purchase money is transferred and ownership of the property passes to the buyer.
Once the seller’s conveyancer has received the completion money, the estate agent or other keyholder can normally release the keys to the buyer.
Our
Completion Day guide explains what happens on the day itself.
How Long Does Conveyancing Take When Buying a House?
A house purchase will commonly take around 12–16 weeks, but there can be significant variation.
A relatively straightforward purchase may progress more quickly where:
- there is no lengthy property chain
- the mortgage is arranged promptly
- searches are returned quickly
- the legal title is straightforward
- the seller has prepared the necessary paperwork
- enquiries are answered promptly
- everyone is ready to proceed
A purchase can take longer if problems arise with the survey, mortgage, searches, legal title or property chain.
The speed of the buyer’s conveyancer is therefore only one part of the equation.
How Long Does Conveyancing Take When Selling a House?
The legal work involved in selling can sometimes be more straightforward than buying because the seller does not normally need searches or mortgage approval for the property being sold.
However, that does not necessarily mean the sale can complete more quickly.
The seller is still dependent on the buyer being ready to proceed.
If the buyer is waiting for searches, mortgage approval, survey results or the sale of another property, the seller may have little choice but to wait.
Sellers can help by instructing a conveyancer early, completing the required property information promptly and gathering together relevant documents before a buyer is found. This can allow some of the initial legal work to begin sooner.
Does Leasehold Conveyancing Take Longer?
It can.
Leasehold transactions often involve additional legal work and information that is not required when dealing with a straightforward freehold house.
For example, the conveyancer may need to review information relating to:
the lease;
service charges;
ground rent;
buildings insurance;
planned major works;
management arrangements;
restrictions within the lease; and
requirements on assignment or change of ownership.
Information may need to come from the freeholder, managing agent or management company.
That creates another potential source of delay because the conveyancers cannot always control how quickly third parties respond.
For that reason, buyers and sellers of leasehold property should be particularly cautious about assuming that a transaction will complete within the fastest possible timescale.
Is Conveyancing Quicker With No Chain?
It can be.
A property chain links several transactions together.
For example, your seller may be buying another property, whose seller is also buying somewhere else.
Even if your own conveyancing is ready to proceed, you may have to wait for another transaction in the chain.
A buyer purchasing a property from a seller who is not buying another home removes at least one of these dependencies.
Similarly, a first-time buyer does not usually have a property to sell before purchasing.
However, no chain does not mean no conveyancing.
The legal title still needs to be checked, searches may still be required, enquiries still need to be dealt with and a mortgage lender may still have its own requirements.
A no-chain transaction can therefore be quicker without necessarily being quick.
Is Conveyancing Quicker for a Cash Buyer?
Potentially.
A cash buyer does not have to wait for a mortgage lender to issue an offer or satisfy a lender’s legal requirements.
That removes one potential source of delay.
However, buying with cash does not remove the need to investigate the property properly.
A cash buyer will normally still want their conveyancer to check the legal title, investigate relevant issues and raise appropriate enquiries.
Property searches may also still be advisable even though there is no mortgage lender insisting upon them.
Cash can remove part of the process. It does not remove the risks associated with buying a property.
How Does a Property Chain Affect Conveyancing Timescales?
A property chain can affect the timescale because several connected transactions may need to be ready before contracts can be exchanged.
Even if your own conveyancing is complete, you may still have to wait for another buyer or seller who is waiting for searches, a mortgage offer or replies to legal enquiries.
This is why your conveyancer may sometimes tell you that your transaction is ready while being unable to give you an exchange date.
What Can Make Conveyancing Take Longer?
Some delays are avoidable. Others are simply part of investigating a property properly.
Property Searches
Turnaround times vary and results can lead to further enquiries.
Mortgage Delays
Valuations, underwriting, documentation and the formal offer can hold things up.
Legal Enquiries
Replies may depend on documents or information that are not immediately available.
Leasehold Information
Managing agents, management companies and freeholders introduce another third party.
Problems With the Property Title
Missing rights, restrictions, discrepancies, unregistered land or other title issues can require additional investigation.
The Property Chain
One delayed transaction can prevent several others from exchanging.
Survey Problems
Further investigation or negotiation following a survey can delay progress.
Why Can’t My Conveyancer Give Me an Exact Completion Date?
This can be frustrating, particularly when you need to arrange removals, time off work or somewhere to live.
However, before contracts are exchanged, a conveyancer may simply not be able to guarantee when the transaction will complete.
They may be waiting for:
- searches
- replies to enquiries
- mortgage documentation
- information from another conveyancer
- a management company or freeholder
- another transaction in the chain
- agreement between all parties on a completion date
Until the necessary legal work is complete and everyone is ready to exchange, a proposed moving date should generally be treated as provisional.
Once contracts have been exchanged and the completion date has been agreed, the position is much more certain because the transaction is legally binding.
Can You Speed Up Conveyancing?
You cannot control every part of a property transaction, but there are practical steps buyers and sellers can take to reduce avoidable delays.
Instructing your conveyancer early, returning paperwork promptly, arranging your mortgage and survey without unnecessary delay and responding quickly when information is requested can all help keep the transaction moving.
Our How to Speed Up Conveyancing guide explains 14 practical ways buyers and sellers can help avoid unnecessary delays.
What if My Conveyancing Is Taking Longer Than Expected?
A transaction taking longer than the typical timescale does not necessarily mean something has gone wrong.
The important question is what is currently preventing the transaction from progressing. Ask your conveyancer what has been completed, what remains outstanding, who is responsible for the outstanding item and whether anything is required from you.
That is usually more useful than simply asking when the transaction will complete.
How Long Does Remortgage Conveyancing Take?
A straightforward remortgage will usually be considerably quicker than buying or selling a property because there is no buyer, seller or property chain involved.
However, the conveyancer still needs to complete the legal work required by the new lender.
Issues with the title, lender requirements, leasehold information or repayment of the existing mortgage can affect the timescale.
See How Long Does a Remortgage Take? for a detailed explanation of the remortgage process and the factors that can cause delays.
How Long Does Conveyancing Take? Quick Answers
Why Choosing the Right Conveyancer Matters
The speed of a property transaction is not entirely within your conveyancer’s control.
What a good conveyancer can control is how efficiently they deal with the work within their hands, how quickly they respond when information arrives and how clearly they keep you informed.
At Trusted Conveyancers, we’ve done the hard work, so you don’t have to. Rather than spending hours comparing firms yourself, we’ve carefully assessed the conveyancing firms we recommend based on communication, service standards, transparency and professionalism, so you can choose with confidence.
Clear
Communication
You should understand what stage your transaction has reached and what is currently outstanding.
Experienced Property Professionals
Experienced conveyancers can identify potential issues early and explain what needs to happen next.
Carefully Selected Firms
We focus on connecting buyers, sellers and homeowners with conveyancing firms selected with service and communication in mind.
A Smoother
Move
Good organisation and proactive communication cannot eliminate every delay, but they can help prevent unnecessary ones.
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