Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring a property from one owner to another. It’s a vital part of buying or selling a home and makes sure every legal step is completed correctly before the sale goes through.
The conveyancing process follows a clear timeline with several key stages, from instructing a solicitor and carrying out property searches to exchanging contracts and final completion. Most transactions take around 8 to 16 weeks, with the average being around 12 weeks, although the exact timing depends on the property, the chain, and how quickly documents are returned.
Knowing what happens at each stage helps you stay organised, avoid unnecessary delays, and move confidently towards completion.
How Long Does Conveyancing Take?
The conveyancing process usually takes between 8 and 16 weeks from start to finish, with the average being around 12 weeks. The exact timing depends on the property, how quickly documents are returned, and whether there’s a chain involved.
Delays often happen during the searches and enquiries stage, especially if local authorities are slow to respond or extra information is needed. Leasehold properties can also take longer because the seller has to provide a management pack before contracts can be exchanged.
Industry Insight: Where Delays Usually Happen
"Receiving search results can take time depending on the local authority involved and the backlogs they have. If it is a leasehold property, receiving replies to enquiries can take time as there are third parties involved and we have no control over how long they will take to respond. It can also take time to receive replies to enquiries if clients take too long to respond."
Carol O’Leary, Partner, Residential Property, Knights
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Conveyancing Process and Stages for Buyers
Here are the conveyancing steps involved when buying:
Instruct a Solicitor
As soon as you've had an offer accepted on a property, you should hire and instruct a solicitor to handle your conveyancing. It's better to compare conveyancing solicitors to find the most suitable option that has the capacity to handle your case and meets your price range.
While it can be tempting to choose the cheapest solicitor, this can come with hidden fees and a substandard conveyancing experience. Choosing a fixed fee conveyancer is helpful as they are transparent with what they charge.
Pre-contract Work
The pre-contract work can typically take up to 2 weeks to complete, and involves your solicitor compiling all the relevant documentation needed, including your ID, proof of funds and any other necessary information.
You should have a home survey carried out at this point in the process to ensure you are still happy to proceed with the house sale. It will highlight any areas of concern with the property, which can help you to either renegotiate your initial offer or pull out of the sale entirely.
During this stage, your Mortgage Agreement in Principle will need to be turned into a formal mortgage offer by your lender and sent to your solicitor, ready for the exchange of contracts and completion. This can take around 4 weeks.
Conveyancing Searches and Enquiries
Your conveyancer will conduct conveyancing searches to reveal any problems found with the property, which can take between 2-6 weeks to complete. The most common searches conducted are:
- Local authority searches - Covers planning permissions, building regulations and previous work carried out on the property
- Environmental search - Looks into potential contamination and hazards, flooding and the ground stability
- Water and drainage search - Checks the property's sewer and drainage systems
Your solicitor will review the draft contract created by the seller's solicitor and the search results. Any enquiries or issues must be dealt with and rectified before the exchange of contracts. This can take between 2 to 10 weeks to complete.
Exchange of Contracts
Once you and your solicitor are happy with the terms of the contract, your survey results, mortgage offer and conveyancing searches, you can exchange contracts.
Before exchange can take place, your solicitor will need your verbal authority to exchange contracts, so it’s important you’re available to speak with them. If you’re unreachable, exchange can be delayed.
This will occur over one set day, but can take 1-2 weeks to organise.
Completion
Completion day marks the transfer of ownership from the seller to the buyer, finalising the transaction. It will typically take between 1-2 weeks between exchange and completion.
All fees, including Stamp Duty and solicitor fees, will be finalised and paid for at this stage, and your solicitor will register the property in your name with the Land Registry.
Check out our completion day checklist so you are prepared on completion day.
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How to Avoid Delays in the Conveyancing Process
Even a simple move can slow down if small details are missed. A few simple steps can help keep things moving:
- Reply quickly to your solicitor: try to send back any forms or ID checks within a day if you can.
- Get searches ordered early: ask your solicitor to arrange local, drainage, and environmental searches as soon as possible.
- Book your survey early on: the sooner it’s done, the sooner you’ll know if anything needs attention before contracts are exchanged.
- Have your documents ready: keep proof of funds, mortgage details, and insurance documents to hand.
- If it’s leasehold, request the management pack early: these can take a while to arrive and often cause the biggest hold-ups.
- Keep everyone in the loop: regular updates between you, your solicitor, your lender, and your estate agent help stop small issues turning into long delays.
Being organised from the start can save weeks later on and make the move to completion much less stressful.
Conveyancing Process and Timeline for Sellers
The conveyancing process for selling a house is far simpler than buying:
Instruct Your Conveyancer
You should hire a conveyancing solicitor ideally before you accept an offer on your house, to speed up the conveyancing process. However, you can choose and instruct a solicitor once your offer has been accepted.
Solicitor fees for selling a house tend to be cheaper than those for buying due to the fewer steps required. Once you are happy, you can sign the contract for the conveyancer’s services.
Pre-contract Work
As the seller, you must provide all the relevant documentation about your home for the buyer. This includes TA6 and TA10 forms, which cover fixtures and fittings, as well as building regulations.
If you own a leasehold property, you must also supply the management information pack and any other leasehold-specific documents. You should prepare these in good time to prevent holding up the conveyancing process.
Your solicitor will contact your mortgage lender if you have any outstanding payments to ensure the mortgage is paid off correctly once the home has been sold.
During this stage, prepare the property for the home survey, and arrange a suitable time for this to be carried out if the buyer has requested it.
Contract Pack and Enquiries
The seller's solicitor is responsible for creating a contract pack of all the relevant documentation to send to the buyer's solicitor. If the buyer's solicitor has any enquiries about the documentation, this is discussed and resolved before the final contract is created and the exchange of contracts.
Following the survey results, your conveyancer will answer any further enquiries on your behalf. This can be a lengthy process if the buyer receives negative survey results.
Your conveyancer will send this to the buyer’s conveyancer. The contract pack includes the draft contract and property information forms. It will also contain the Land Registry documents, such as the title register.
Exchange of Contracts
The house sale is legally binding once the contracts have been formally exchanged.
Your solicitor will also need to confirm your verbal authority before exchange, so being available to take the call is important to avoid delays.
Completion
Legal ownership of the property will be transferred from you to the buyer using the TR1 form, and your mortgage will be paid off. You must hand over all keys and vacate the property so the buyer can move in. It takes around 1-2 weeks between exchange and completion.
Your conveyancer will send a sale completion statement and transfer the remaining funds from the sale to you on completion. This will include solicitor fees, your outstanding mortgage and estate agent fees.
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How to Find a Conveyancer
Here at Compare My Move, we can connect you with up to 5 local and trusted conveyancing solicitors, helping you to save on your conveyancing costs. All our conveyancing partners have passed our strict verification process and are regulated by either the SRA, CLC, LSS, LSNI or CILEx.
FAQs
How much are solicitor fees for buying a house?
If you’re buying a home, budget for solicitor fees, on average around £1,715. The exact cost depends on your property price, tenure (freehold/leasehold) and the legal work involved (searches, checks, money transfers).
How much are solicitor fees for selling a house?
Selling usually costs less than buying. Expect solicitor fees averaging £1,642 to cover drafting the contract, ID checks and handling funds. Get typical costs and money‑saving tips in our guide to solicitors fees for selling.
Which part of the conveyancing process takes the longest?
The longest stage is usually the searches and enquiries phase. Once your solicitor receives the draft contract, they’ll order local authority, water, and environmental searches to check for any issues with the property or land.
These checks depend on how quickly local councils respond and can take anywhere from two to six weeks. Delays are common if extra information is needed or if the chain of buyers and sellers is long.
