First Time Buyers: How Long Does Conveyancing Really Take?

A straightforward residential purchase typically takes 8 to 12 weeks from the day your offer is accepted to the day you pick up the keys. That is the realistic range for most transactions where there are no major complications.

But here is the important part: that clock only starts when your solicitor is instructed. If you wait two weeks after your offer is accepted to find a solicitor, you have already added two weeks to your timeline before anything has even started.

This is where the groundwork happens. Your solicitor will:

• Open your file and confirm your instructions
• Complete identity verification and anti-money laundering checks
• Confirm your source of funds and deposit arrangements
• Request the draft contract pack from the seller's solicitor

Common delay: Buyers not having their ID documents or deposit evidence ready. This alone can add a week.

Once we receive the draft contract and property information from the seller's solicitor, we review everything carefully. At the same time, we order local authority searches, drainage searches, and environmental searches.

Search turnaround times vary depending on the local authority. Some councils return results within days. Others take three to four weeks. This is outside anyone's control, which is why ordering searches early matters so much.

Common delay: Slow local authority search returns, or the seller's solicitor being slow to send the contract pack.

This is often the longest stage. We raise enquiries with the seller's solicitor about anything that needs clarifying: boundaries, rights of way, planning permissions, building regulations, guarantees, and anything unusual that the searches have revealed.

At the same time, your mortgage lender will be processing your formal offer. They may need a valuation or survey. They will have their own conditions that need satisfying before they release funds.

Common delay: Slow replies to enquiries from the other side, missing building regulations certificates, or issues flagged by the mortgage lender's valuation.

Once all enquiries are resolved and your mortgage offer is confirmed, we prepare the final paperwork and send contracts to you for signature. We agree a completion date with all parties in the chain.

Exchange of contracts is the point at which the transaction becomes legally binding. Before exchange, either party can walk away. After exchange, you are committed and a completion date is fixed.

Completion day is when we transfer the funds, the seller's solicitor confirms release of the keys, and you move in. After completion, we register you as the new owner with HM Land Registry and deal with any Stamp Duty.

Common delay: One party in the chain not being ready to exchange, or last-minute mortgage conditions.

In our experience, the most common causes of delay are not legal issues. They are practical ones:

• Late instruction - not having a solicitor ready when your offer is accepted
• Slow document gathering - not having ID, deposit proof, or mortgage paperwork ready
• Chain complications - one party in a chain of four or five holding everyone else up
• Leasehold issues - management packs, lease extensions, and freeholder consent can add weeks
• Mortgage conditions - lenders requesting additional information or re-valuations

Most of these can be minimised or avoided entirely by preparing early and choosing a solicitor who communicates proactively.