How long does conveyancing take?

The stages, and how long each one takes

Conveyancing isn't one long wait. It's a handful of stages, and some of them run side by side. Here's what happens, in roughly the order it happens.

1. Getting started: week 1

Once your offer is accepted, you instruct a conveyancer. We check your ID, send our terms, and take a small payment to get going. If you're selling, we ask you to fill in the property information forms and send us your title deeds and any certificates you have. If you're buying, we wait for the seller's conveyancer to send the draft contract.

This stage moves as fast as the paperwork comes back. Returning your forms in a day rather than a fortnight is the easiest week you'll ever save.

2. Searches: 1 to 6 weeks

If you're buying, we order searches as soon as you've paid for them. The water and environmental searches usually come back within a few days. The local authority search is the slow one: some councils reply in a few days, others take several weeks. Our guide to conveyancing searches explains what each one checks.

3. Your mortgage offer: 2 to 4 weeks

Your lender values the property and then issues a formal mortgage offer. This runs alongside the searches, so it rarely holds things up on its own. It can if the valuation comes in low or the lender asks for more information.

4. Enquiries: 2 to 4 weeks

The buyer's conveyancer reads the contract, the title and the search results, then asks the seller's side questions about anything unclear. Where's the building regulations sign-off for the extension? Who maintains the shared driveway? This is often the longest stage, because every answer can lead to another question.

For a leasehold property, the buyer's conveyancer also needs a management pack from the freeholder or managing agent, which can take a few weeks by itself.

5. Signing: about a week

Once the enquiries are answered, buyers get a report on the property to read and contracts to sign. You send your deposit, and we agree a completion date with everyone in the chain.

6. Exchange of contracts

Exchange is the moment the move becomes legally binding. Before exchange, either side can walk away. After it, pulling out costs real money. The completion date is fixed at exchange too.

7. Completion: usually 1 to 2 weeks after exchange

On completion day the money moves down the chain and the keys are released. The gap after exchange gives everyone time to book removals. It can be shorter, and occasionally exchange and completion happen on the same day. Our guide to exchange vs completion goes into more detail.

What slows a move down

• A long chain. Every move in the chain has to be ready before anyone can exchange, so the chain goes at the pace of its slowest link.
• A slow council. Local authority search times vary a lot from one council to the next.
• Leasehold paperwork. Management packs, and sometimes the freeholder's consent, add weeks.
• Missing documents. No building regulations sign-off for a loft conversion, no certificate for replacement windows, or missing guarantees all mean extra questions.
• Probate. If the seller is selling on behalf of someone who has died, they can't exchange until probate has been granted.
• Mortgage hiccups. A low valuation or a lender asking for more information can pause things.

How to speed things up

• Instruct a conveyancer as soon as your offer is accepted, or before you even go on the market if you're selling.
• Have your mortgage agreed in principle before you make an offer.
• Send back ID, forms and payments the same day if you can.
• If you're selling, dig out certificates and guarantees now: building regulations sign-offs, window certificates, gas safety records and planning permissions.
• Answer questions quickly, and tell us early about any dates you need to hit.

How we keep things moving

You get a named conveyancer from day one, and updates on WhatsApp as each stage moves on, so you're never left wondering what's happening. When something's stuck, we tell you what it is and what we're doing about it.