Conveyancing Delays, The Most Common Causes and How to Avoid Them

Why Conveyancing Takes So Long

The average conveyancing transaction in England takes 18–24 weeks from offer acceptance to completion. This frustrates buyers, sellers, and estate agents alike, yet the process has barely shortened over the past decade despite digitisation of some searches and electronic title documents.

The reason is not one single bottleneck but a cascade of inter-dependent steps, many of which involve third parties (councils, lenders, freeholders) who are not parties to the transaction and have no financial incentive to respond quickly.

This guide identifies the most common sources of delay and provides practical steps to address each.

Delay 1: Slow Solicitor Instruction

**How it happens:** After an offer is accepted, both parties need to instruct solicitors. Some buyers and sellers delay instructing their solicitor, waiting to see if the deal holds, or simply not prioritising it. Every week of delay at this stage adds directly to the overall timeline.

**What sellers can do:** Instruct your solicitor before accepting an offer. This is increasingly standard practice. Your solicitor can prepare the contract pack (drafting the contract, obtaining official copies of title, preparing the TA6 and TA10 forms) while you are still marketing the property. When you accept an offer, the contract pack is ready to send the next day.

**What buyers can do:** Instruct a solicitor the moment you start making offers, not after one is accepted.

Delay 2: Local Authority Search Turnaround

**How it happens:** The local authority search is ordered by the buyer's solicitor, usually within a few days of receiving the contract pack. The search is submitted to the relevant council and the council processes it at their own pace. There is no service level agreement governing how quickly councils must respond.

Councils vary dramatically in speed:

• Fast councils (electronic search system): 1–5 days
• Average councils: 2–3 weeks
• Slow councils: 6–10 weeks

During busy property markets, even fast councils can slow down considerably.

**What sellers can do:**

• You cannot order the searches yourself, but you can ask your estate agent to confirm that the buyer's solicitor has ordered searches immediately
• In some areas, search insurance is available as an alternative, ask your solicitor whether the buyer's lender will accept this

**What buyers can do:**

• Ask your solicitor to order searches the day they receive the contract pack, not days or weeks later
• Ask whether an expedited (personal) search option is available in the relevant council area (these are faster but more expensive)

Delay 3: Replies to Enquiries

**How it happens:** After reviewing the contract pack and search results, the buyer's solicitor raises a series of enquiries, questions directed to the seller's solicitor seeking further information or clarification. These might include:

• Questions about planning permissions for alterations
• Requests for guarantees or certificates
• Clarification about boundary responsibility
• Questions arising from the TA6
• Questions arising from a search result

Each enquiry must be answered in writing. Some require the seller to locate documents, contact third parties, or arrange indemnity insurance. This can take days or weeks.

**What sellers can do:**

• Prepare a comprehensive document pack before listing: planning consents, building regulations certificates, guarantees, warranties, FENSA certificates
• Complete the TA6 fully and accurately to reduce the volume of follow-up enquiries
• Respond to your solicitor's queries promptly, do not let their emails sit in your inbox for days

**What buyers can do:**

• Review the TA6 and TA10 before instructing your solicitor to raise enquiries, identify genuine concerns rather than generating lengthy enquiry lists for minor points

Delay 4: Mortgage Offer Processing

**How it happens:** Most buyers apply for a mortgage after their offer is accepted. The lender must:

1. Receive and process the application

2. Carry out a credit check

3. Commission or accept a valuation of the property

4. Issue a formal mortgage offer

This process typically takes 3–6 weeks, but can take longer if:

• The application is incomplete
• The lender requests additional documentation (payslips, accounts, explanations)
• The property valuation raises issues
• The lender's valuation differs from the agreed purchase price (a "down-valuation")

**What buyers can do:**

• Apply for a mortgage in principle before making offers
• Have all documents (payslips, P60, bank statements, ID) ready to submit immediately after offer acceptance
• Choose a lender with a reputation for fast processing rather than selecting purely on rate

**What sellers can do:**

• Accept offers from buyers with mortgages already in principle, a "mortgage ready" buyer is meaningfully lower risk

Delay 5: Leasehold Management Pack

**How it happens:** For leasehold properties, the buyer's solicitor requires a management information pack from the freeholder or managing agent. This pack contains:

• Service charge accounts (last 3 years)
• Buildings insurance certificate
• Memorandum and articles of the residents' management company (if applicable)
• Details of any planned major works and the associated costs
• Ground rent history and any pending changes
• Any outstanding disputes or litigation involving the building

Managing agents can take anywhere from 2–8 weeks to produce this pack, and most charge the seller £150–£600 for it.

**What sellers can do:**

• Order the management information pack from your managing agent immediately on accepting an offer, do not wait for your solicitor to do it for you
• Contact your managing agent and confirm receipt of your request; some agents are slow to acknowledge requests
• If you know the managing agent is historically slow, order the pack while still marketing the property

This single action can save 4–6 weeks on a leasehold sale.

Delay 6: Mortgage Offer Expiry

**How it happens:** Mortgage offers are typically valid for 3–6 months from the date of issue. In a slow transaction, it is possible for an offer to expire before exchange occurs. When this happens, the buyer must apply for an extension (or re-apply), adding more weeks to the timeline.

**What buyers can do:**

• Monitor your mortgage offer expiry date actively
• Contact your broker or lender 4–6 weeks before expiry to request an extension, most lenders will grant extensions if the transaction is progressing

**What sellers can do:**

• Ask your estate agent to monitor the buyer's mortgage offer status as part of regular progress chasing

Delay 7: Slow Solicitor Communication

**How it happens:** Not all conveyancing solicitors are equal in their responsiveness. Conveyancing is high-volume, often low-margin work. Some firms handle very large caseloads with understaffed teams. Emails sit unanswered; calls go unreturned; weeks pass without progress.

This is the most frustrating delay because it is within the control of the professionals involved, yet it is also the hardest for clients to influence.

**What sellers can do:**

• Choose your solicitor carefully, ask your estate agent and friends for recommendations based on experience, not cost
• Establish a communication protocol with your solicitor at the outset: agree how often they will update you and on what channel
• If progress stalls, contact your solicitor's firm and ask to escalate to a supervisor

**What buyers can do:**

• The same as above
• Ask your estate agent to coordinate with both sets of solicitors, a proactive agent can chase all parties without the confrontational dynamic that sometimes develops between clients and their solicitors

Delay 8: Chain Problems

**How it happens:** Most residential sales involve a chain of inter-dependent transactions. If any link in the chain experiences a delay, every transaction above it in the chain is held up too. The longest chain dictates the timeline for every seller and buyer within it.

**What sellers can do:**

• If buying onward, consider completing on your purchase and living temporarily before selling, to break the chain dependency
• Consider pricing to attract chain-free buyers (cash buyers, first-time buyers, buyers who have sold and are renting)
• Ask your estate agent to actively monitor the chain and alert you to any developing problems

Summary: The Fastest Conveyancing Checklist

Property Passport UK gives sellers and buyers early access to title information, EPC data, and flood risk data, helping both parties identify potential issues before conveyancing begins and reducing the chance of late-stage delays.