How Long Does Conveyancing Take?

It’s the question every buyer and seller asks within days of having an offer accepted. The honest answer is: it depends. But here’s what you can actually expect.

The average

Most UK conveyancing transactions take between 8 and 12 weeks from offer accepted to completion. That’s assuming a relatively straightforward purchase — no chain complications, no unusual legal issues with the property, responsive solicitors on both sides.

In practice, many transactions take longer. 12–16 weeks is common. Anything over 20 weeks usually means something has gone wrong somewhere in the chain.

What conveyancing actually involves

The timeline is long because there’s a lot happening in parallel. Your conveyancer is conducting local authority searches (which can take 2–6 weeks on their own, depending on the council), reviewing the title, raising enquiries with the seller’s conveyancer, checking the mortgage offer, and preparing the transfer deed. The seller’s conveyancer is drafting contracts, answering those enquiries, and managing their client’s simultaneous purchase if there is one.

None of this is particularly fast, and most of it can’t be rushed — searches have to be requested, councils have to respond, mortgage lenders have to issue formal offers.

The main causes of delay

Slow local authority searches are probably the single most common cause. Some councils turn searches around in a few days; others take four weeks or more. Your conveyancer will order these early, but there’s little anyone can do to speed them up.

Unanswered enquiries are the next biggest culprit. The buyer’s conveyancer raises questions about the property — planning history, boundaries, building regulations certificates — and the seller (or their conveyancer) needs to respond. If the seller is slow, everything waits.

Chain problems compound everything. If you’re buying from someone who’s buying from someone else, every delay in any part of the chain ripples through to everyone. A buyer at the bottom losing their mortgage offer can collapse a chain of four or five properties above them.

Finally, slow mortgage offers. Lenders can take several weeks to issue a formal mortgage offer after you apply. If there are problems with the valuation or your application, it takes longer. Until the mortgage offer is issued, contracts can’t exchange.

What you can do

Instruct your conveyancer as soon as your offer is accepted — not after. Every day you wait is a day added to the end of the process.

Choose a conveyancer who communicates proactively. The biggest time-waster in conveyancing is playing phone tag. Find someone who emails, tracks progress, and chases the other side without being asked.

Stay responsive yourself. When your conveyancer asks you to sign something, return a document, or answer a question — do it the same day if you can. Your delay becomes the chain’s delay.

Get your mortgage application in early. Don’t wait until you’ve had searches back to start your application. Get it moving immediately.

Exchange vs completion

Exchange of contracts is the point at which the sale becomes legally binding. Completion is when you get the keys. These are two separate events, usually separated by 1–4 weeks. Once you’ve exchanged, both parties are committed — pulling out after exchange means forfeiting your deposit (as buyer) or facing legal action (as seller).

Most of the anxiety in the conveyancing process is because, before exchange, either party can walk away. The sooner you exchange, the sooner you can breathe.

On Woosh

Because buyers, sellers, and conveyancers all work on the same shared timeline on Woosh, the back-and-forth that causes most delays is significantly reduced. Everyone can see where things are at, what’s outstanding, and who needs to act next — without anyone having to chase anyone.

Learn more at wooshproperty.com