What Your Solicitor Actually Does in a Property Sale, Week by Week

Why Conveyancing Takes Longer Than You Expect

Most sellers imagine that once an offer is accepted, contracts will be exchanged within a fortnight and completion will follow shortly after. In reality, the average conveyancing transaction in England and Wales takes between 12 and 20 weeks from instruction to completion. Understanding what your solicitor is actually doing during that time, and what can hold things up, puts you in a much stronger position to manage the process.

Week 1–2: Instruction and Opening the File

When you instruct a solicitor, they will send you a client care letter setting out their fees, their obligations to you, and what they need from you to begin. At this stage you will typically be asked to:

• Provide certified proof of identity (passport or driving licence) and proof of address (a utility bill or bank statement dated within three months)
• Complete the Law Society Protocol forms, the TA6 Property Information Form, TA10 Fittings and Contents Form, and (for leasehold) the TA7 Leasehold Information Form
• Supply any relevant documents you hold: guarantees for work done, building regulations completion certificates, planning permissions, FENSA or CERTASS certificates for windows and doors

Your solicitor will simultaneously apply to HM Land Registry for official copies of the title register and title plan. If the property is unregistered, rare, but still possible for properties that have not changed hands since registration was made compulsory, they will need to examine the original title deeds.

Week 2–4: Preparing the Draft Contract and Title Bundle

Once the title documents are received, your solicitor prepares the draft contract for sale and assembles the title bundle, the package of documents sent to the buyer's solicitor. A complete title bundle typically includes:

If any documents are missing, for example, a building regulations completion certificate for an extension, this is the point where your solicitor will flag the gap and advise whether indemnity insurance or further evidence is required.

Week 3–6: The Buyer's Solicitor Raises Enquiries

After reviewing the title bundle, the buyer's solicitor will almost always raise written enquiries, a list of questions about the property. Common enquiries cover:

• Boundary responsibilities and disputes with neighbours
• Rights of way or access arrangements
• Planning history and compliance
• Works carried out to the property and whether consents were obtained
• Service history for boilers, electrical systems, and other installations
• Disputes or complaints from neighbours or local authorities
• Any notices affecting the property

**This stage is one of the single biggest causes of delay in property sales.** Your solicitor can only respond as quickly as you provide the answers. Some enquiries require third-party evidence, for example, a specialist warranty for underpinning work, or confirmation from a managing agent about service charges. Aim to respond to all enquiries within 24–48 hours of receiving them.

Week 4–8: Searches and Mortgage Offer

Simultaneously, the buyer's solicitor is ordering conveyancing searches, local authority, water and drainage, environmental, and any additional searches relevant to the area. Search results can take anywhere from 5 days to 6 weeks depending on the local authority. Your sale cannot exchange until all searches are clear and any issues raised have been addressed.

The buyer's mortgage lender is also carrying out their own valuation and issuing a formal mortgage offer during this period. Exchange cannot happen until the buyer has a valid mortgage offer in place and has confirmed they are ready to proceed.

Week 6–10: Resolving Outstanding Issues

Most transactions have at least one issue that requires additional work before exchange is possible. Common examples include:

• **Defective title**, a gap in the title that requires indemnity insurance or an application to HM Land Registry
• **Restrictive covenants**, an old covenant that may restrict what the buyer can do with the property
• **Missing building regulations**, works carried out without consent that require regularisation or insurance
• **Leasehold complications**, ground rent clauses, short leases, or outstanding service charges
• **Search results**, a drainage search showing a public sewer nearby that must be addressed

Your solicitor will correspond with the buyer's solicitor to resolve each issue in turn. Some resolutions are straightforward (obtaining a retrospective indemnity insurance policy, for example). Others require applications, consents, or negotiations that take several weeks.

Exchange of Contracts

Exchange is the point at which the sale becomes legally binding. Both parties sign identical copies of the contract and the buyer pays a deposit, typically 10% of the purchase price, though a lower deposit may be agreed in some cases. The completion date is fixed at the point of exchange.

Before exchange, your solicitor will:

• Obtain a redemption figure from your mortgage lender (the amount required to repay your mortgage in full)
• Ensure all enquiries are answered and any conditions attached to the buyer's mortgage offer are satisfied
• Obtain your signed transfer deed (TR1), the document that transfers legal ownership to the buyer
• Confirm with all parties in the chain (if applicable) that they are ready to exchange simultaneously

Exchange typically happens by telephone between solicitors, with each solicitor confirming they are holding the signed contract and deposit before the contracts are formally exchanged.

Completion

Completion usually occurs 1–4 weeks after exchange, though it can be on the same day. On completion day:

1. The buyer's solicitor sends the balance of the purchase price to your solicitor by bank transfer

2. Your solicitor confirms receipt and notifies you to hand over the keys

3. Your solicitor repays your mortgage (if applicable) using the redemption figure obtained earlier

4. Your solicitor prepares and sends a completion statement showing the sale price, their fees, mortgage redemption, and the net amount payable to you

Post-Completion: Registration

After completion, the buyer's solicitor is responsible for registering the transfer at HM Land Registry and paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). Your solicitor will write off to confirm completion and close your file. The entire registered title will be updated to show the new owner within HM Land Registry's processing time, which can range from days to several months depending on their current workload.

Why It Takes So Long

The honest answer is that conveyancing in England and Wales is a sequential, document-heavy process with multiple third parties involved, HMLR, local authorities, mortgage lenders, managing agents, search providers, and the buyer's solicitor, each operating on their own timescales. A transaction with a full, well-documented property record moves materially faster because enquiries are minimised from the outset.

Property Passport UK gives sellers a head start: a complete, centralised record of your property's documents, EPC data, title information, and history means your solicitor can assemble the title bundle quickly, and the buyer's solicitor has fewer questions to ask.