How Long Does Conveyancing Take? A Realistic Timeline
Conveyancing usually takes 8 to 12 weeks from accepted offer to completion for a freehold home with a mortgage and no chain, 4 to 6 weeks for a chain-free cash buyer, 10 to 16 weeks in a chain and 12 to 20 weeks for a leasehold flat.
Key points
- Allow 8 to 12 weeks for a straightforward freehold purchase with a mortgage, 10 to 16 weeks in a chain and 12 to 20 weeks for leasehold; the government puts the average at about five months.
- The slow stages are the local authority search, replies to enquiries, the mortgage offer and, for flats, the management pack from the freeholder or managing agent.
- Nothing is binding until exchange of contracts, when the buyer pays a deposit of normally 10%; completion usually follows one to four weeks later.
- After completion the stamp duty return is due within 14 days, and HM Land Registry registration can take months, although the buyer is protected from the application date.
- The government's June 2026 home-buying roadmap promises upfront sales packs and binding contracts earlier in the process, but none of it is law yet.
Conveyancing in England and Wales typically takes 8 to 12 weeks from an accepted offer to completion for a freehold house bought with a mortgage and no chain, 4 to 6 weeks for a cash buyer with no chain, 10 to 16 weeks where there is a chain, and 12 to 20 weeks for a leasehold flat. Those are practitioners' figures for 2026; the government's own estimate, published with its reform plans in June 2026, is around five months from offer to completion once chains, delays and collapsed sales are counted. Exchange of contracts usually comes one to four weeks before completion, and registration at HM Land Registry follows and can take months, though it does not stop you moving in. This guide explains each stage, what your solicitor is doing while you wait, what causes delay and how to shorten it.
Typical timescales by type of purchase
- Freehold, cash buyer, no chain: 4 to 6 weeks.
- Freehold with a mortgage, no chain or a short one: 8 to 12 weeks.
- Freehold in a chain: 10 to 16 weeks, because every link must exchange on the same day and the slowest sets the pace.
- Leasehold flat: 12 to 20 weeks, largely because of the management information pack and the extra enquiries a lease generates.
- New build: developers usually require exchange within about four weeks of reservation, but completion waits for the building to be finished and can be many months later.
- Probate sale: add the time to obtain the grant if the executors do not yet have it; applications to HM Courts and Tribunals Service took about five weeks on average between April and June 2026, with paper applications taking much longer than digital ones.
Stage by stage: what your solicitor is doing
Instruction, identity and source of funds
Buyer and seller each instruct a conveyancer as soon as the offer is accepted, and the estate agent circulates a memorandum of sale. Your solicitor sends a client care letter and fee estimate, carries out anti-money-laundering identity checks, usually through an app that reads your passport chip under HM Land Registry's digital identity standard, and asks a buyer for evidence of where the deposit comes from. Delay here is self-inflicted: return the forms, identity documents and bank statements in the first week.
The draft contract and the TA6 form
The seller's solicitor downloads the title from HM Land Registry (or gathers the deeds if the land is unregistered) and the seller completes the Law Society's property information form TA6, now in its sixth edition, which has been compulsory for firms in the Conveyancing Quality Scheme since 30 March 2026, together with the fittings and contents form TA10 and, for a flat, the leasehold form TA7. The solicitor drafts the contract and sends the pack to the buyer's side. A seller who fills in the forms and collects planning consents, building regulations certificates and guarantees before a buyer is found saves weeks later; the guide to what conveyancing involves lists the documents.
Searches
The buyer's solicitor orders searches as soon as the draft contract arrives. The local authority search (LLC1 and CON29) covers planning history, road adoption and local land charges, costs roughly £250 to £450 depending on the council, and is targeted at ten working days but in practice ranges from two days to several weeks. The drainage and water search costs about £60 to £80, an environmental search covering contamination, flooding and ground stability about £40 to £70, and a chancel repair check £20 to £30 or an indemnity policy instead; a mining search is added in coalfield and other mining areas. The local search is the usual bottleneck.
Enquiries
While the searches run, the buyer's solicitor reads the title and the forms and raises enquiries with the seller's solicitor: a missing building regulations sign-off for an extension, a boundary that does not match the plan, a restrictive covenant, an unregistered right of way, a boiler service record, or for a flat the service charge accounts and any planned major works. Each round of questions and answers takes a week or two; a seller who answers fully and a buyer's solicitor who asks only what matters keep this stage short.
Mortgage offer, valuation and survey
Apply for the mortgage as soon as the offer is accepted. Lenders typically take two to six weeks to issue a formal offer after their valuation, and offers normally remain valid for around six months. The buyer's solicitor usually acts for the lender too and must meet its conditions before completion, such as a long enough lease or an indemnity policy for a defect. Book the survey, which is separate from the lender's valuation, early, because a down-valuation or a serious finding often reopens the price and costs weeks.
Report on title, signing and exchange
When the searches are back, the enquiries answered and the mortgage offer in, the buyer's solicitor sends a report on title explaining the findings and asks the buyer to sign the contract and the transfer deed (form TR1) and pay the deposit, normally 10% of the price. Exchange of contracts is the moment the deal becomes binding; until then either side can walk away without penalty, which is why gazumping and gazundering remain lawful in England and Wales. In a chain every solicitor exchanges on the same day, and the completion date is written into the contract at exchange, usually one to four weeks ahead.
Completion, stamp duty and registration
On completion day the buyer's solicitor transfers the balance of the price, the seller's solicitor confirms receipt and releases the keys, and the seller's mortgage is redeemed. Within 14 days the buyer's solicitor files the stamp duty land tax return and pays the tax (land transaction tax in Wales has a 30-day deadline), then applies to HM Land Registry to register the buyer and the lender's charge; the rates and reliefs are set out in the guide to stamp duty land tax. The buyer's position is protected from the date of the pre-completion official search, so a slow registry does not put ownership at risk. HM Land Registry's figures published in October 2026 show that around 30% of applications to change an existing title complete automatically within minutes, but more than half of the rest take about 19 weeks and most are done within nine months, while first registrations take around eight months at the midpoint. Where the delay causes a real problem, such as an onward sale or a remortgage, the registry expedites free of charge, usually within ten working days.
What slows conveyancing down
- Leasehold. The seller must buy a management information pack from the freeholder or managing agent, commonly several hundred pounds and two to four weeks, longer with some large agents. A lease with fewer than 80 years left needs extending, which adds months, as the guides to leasehold and freehold ownership and extending a lease explain.
- Chains. A single slow link, such as a buyer at the bottom waiting for a mortgage offer, holds up every exchange above it, and a collapse anywhere restarts the search.
- Missing paperwork. No completion certificate for an extension, no window installation certificate, no planning permission for a loft conversion; an indemnity policy, usually paid for by the seller, is often the quickest fix.
- Probate sales. Executors cannot complete until the grant has been issued, and a sale agreed before the application is made will wait for it; see how long probate takes.
- The lender. A down-valuation, additional conditions, a change of lender midway or an offer that expires because the chain has dragged on.
- Slow searches and unregistered land. Some councils still take a month or more, and a first registration requires the deeds to be traced and examined.
- People. Unanswered emails, holidays, overloaded conveyancers, and a party who takes a fortnight to return a signed form.
How to speed it up
- Instruct your solicitor before you make or accept an offer, and complete the identity checks and client forms in the first week.
- Buyers: submit the full mortgage application as soon as the offer is accepted, and book the survey the same week.
- Sellers: complete the TA6 and TA10 forms, order the management pack if the property is leasehold and gather certificates and guarantees before the property is marketed.
- Ask your solicitor to order the searches immediately rather than waiting for the mortgage offer; the fees are at risk if the sale falls through, but the weeks saved are usually worth it.
- Agree target dates for exchange and completion with everyone in the chain at the start, and ask the estate agent to chase the links that are behind.
- Reply to enquiries and sign documents within a day or two.
- Choose a conveyancer by responsiveness as well as price: ask how you will be updated and who covers when your case handler is away.
The June 2026 reform roadmap
In June 2026 the government published its response to the home buying and selling consultation, a roadmap for England and Wales that it says will cut around four weeks from a typical transaction, save first-time buyers about £650 on average and halve the number of sales that fall through, which it estimates cost £1.5 billion a year. The main proposals are mandatory upfront "sales packs" containing searches, title, lease and service charge information, the energy performance certificate, a condition report, a floor plan, seller identity checks and the chain position before a property is listed; binding conditional contracts earlier in the process once sales packs are established; digital identity, qualified electronic signatures and digital property logbooks from 2027; a code of practice for estate agents later in 2026 and a consultation on mandatory qualifications in 2027; and a fully digital land register by 2035.
None of this is law yet: sales packs are voluntary, reservation agreements optional, and legislation for binding contracts and withdrawal penalties is promised for later in this Parliament after further consultation.
Costs, and finding the right solicitor
Legal fees for a residential purchase or sale in 2026 typically fall between about £850 and £1,800, with a supplement of a few hundred pounds for leasehold, on top of disbursements: the searches, the HM Land Registry fee under the scale in force since December 2024 (for example £150 to register an electronic transfer of a property between £200,001 and £500,000), bank transfer charges and any indemnity policies. Most firms quote a fixed fee, and many offer "no sale, no fee" terms under which you pay only the disbursements if the deal collapses; check what the quote excludes. The guides to the legal fees for buying a house and the legal fees for selling a house break the figures down.
You can use a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or a licensed conveyancer regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, and your lender must have the firm on its panel. Look for Conveyancing Quality Scheme membership, a named case handler and a clear estimate. The property solicitors guide explains what to ask, and the directory lists property solicitors in Sheffield and the solicitors in Newcastle upon Tyne among dozens of other places. Scotland's system is different: offers go through a solicitor and become binding when missives are concluded, usually within weeks, so this timeline does not apply there.
Frequently asked questions
Why does conveyancing take so long when nothing seems to be happening?
Most of the waiting is for third parties: the council returning the local search, the lender issuing the mortgage offer, the freeholder sending the management pack, or the other side answering enquiries. Each depends on someone outside your solicitor's control, and in a chain the slowest of those across several transactions sets the pace. Ask your solicitor what is outstanding and who is being waited on; a specific answer is a good sign.
How long between exchange and completion?
Whatever the parties agree. One to four weeks is normal, two weeks is common, and exchanging and completing on the same day is possible where nobody needs notice to arrange removals or redeem a mortgage. A longer gap is sometimes used for a new build or where a seller is waiting for their own purchase. Once exchanged, the completion date is a contractual deadline, and a party who fails to complete on it is liable for interest and, ultimately, damages.
Can the seller accept a higher offer after mine has been accepted?
Yes, until contracts are exchanged. An accepted offer in England and Wales is not binding, so a seller can accept a higher bid (gazumping) and a buyer can lower theirs (gazundering) at any point before exchange. A reservation agreement with a financial penalty for withdrawing can be used but is voluntary and uncommon. The government's June 2026 roadmap proposes binding contracts earlier in the process, but that requires legislation that has not yet been introduced.
How long does HM Land Registry take to register a purchase?
Around 30% of applications to change an existing title are completed automatically within minutes. Of the rest, more than half take about 19 weeks and most are completed within nine months, with first registrations taking around eight months at the midpoint, according to the registry's figures published in October 2026. You own the property from completion and are protected from the date your solicitor applied, so the delay matters only if you need to sell or remortgage quickly, in which case the registry expedites free of charge, usually within ten working days.
Does buying a leasehold flat really take longer?
Usually, yes, by several weeks. The seller has to obtain a management information pack from the freeholder or managing agent covering service charges, ground rent, insurance, major works and disputes, which commonly takes two to four weeks and costs several hundred pounds. The buyer's solicitor then raises additional enquiries on the lease, and the lender may insist on a minimum unexpired term. A lease with under 80 years left usually needs extending before or alongside the sale, which adds months.
What can a seller do before marketing to make the sale faster?
Instruct a solicitor early and complete the TA6 and TA10 forms, find the title documents, planning permissions, building regulations completion certificates, window and boiler certificates and guarantees, and order the management pack if the property is leasehold. A seller who has an energy performance certificate, a lease summary and these documents ready when an offer is accepted can send the contract pack to the buyer within days rather than weeks, which is also what the government's proposed sales packs would require.
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This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.