How long does conveyancing take?

The quick answer

Rightmove reported that the average time from sale agreed to completion was 167 days, about five and a half months, as of March 2026 (Rightmove). That average covers every kind of sale, chains and leaseholds included.

Conveyancers often quote 12 to 16 weeks for a simple freehold with no chain. Treat that as what a clean sale can achieve, not what most sales do. The gap between the two figures is almost entirely waiting: for searches, for lenders, for answers, and for the slowest link in the chain.

At a glance: average, all sales: about 5.5 months (Rightmove, March 2026). Clean, chain-free freehold: often around three months. Leasehold, long chains and slow councils: longer than average. Exchange to completion: usually one to two weeks.

A realistic timeline, week by week

An illustration for a chain-free freehold bought with a mortgage, where everyone replies promptly. It is not a guarantee; each stage can stretch, and in a chain nobody exchanges until everybody can.

The stages, in order

1. Instruction and identity checks

Both sides appoint a conveyancer, sign terms, and complete identity and anti-money-laundering checks. Days if everyone responds quickly; weeks if paperwork drifts. Instructing a conveyancer when you list, not when you accept an offer, takes this stage off the critical path.

2. Draft contract and seller's forms

The seller's conveyancer obtains the title from HM Land Registry and prepares the draft contract pack, including the TA6 and TA10 (see TA6, TA10 and TA7 explained). If the seller prepared these in advance (see what is a sales pack), this stage is nearly instant.

3. Searches

The buyer's side orders local authority, drainage and water, and environmental searches (typically £50–£450 as a set). See property searches explained for what each one covers.

4. Survey and mortgage offer

The buyer commissions a survey and, if borrowing, waits for the lender's valuation and formal mortgage offer. Buyers with an agreement in principle move noticeably faster.

5. Enquiries

The buyer's conveyancer raises written questions to the seller's side. Each round trip can take days or weeks, and an incomplete answer spawns another round. This is where transactions quietly lose a month or more.

6. Exchange of contracts

Once enquiries are settled and the mortgage offer is in place, contracts are exchanged: the deal becomes legally binding and the completion date is fixed. In a chain, every transaction must exchange together.

7. Completion and registration

Usually one to two weeks after exchange (same-day is possible), the money moves, keys are released, and the buyer's conveyancer registers the new owner with HM Land Registry.

How long do conveyancing searches take?

Anything from a couple of days to several weeks. The local authority search sets the pace, and its turnaround depends on the council: some reply within days, others take weeks. Drainage, water and environmental searches are usually quicker. Searches are one of the most common single causes of delay and one of the easiest to start early, because nothing legally stops them being ordered before the other stages finish.

What makes one sale take longer than another

• No chain vs a chain — a first-time buyer purchasing an empty home can move as fast as the paperwork allows; in a chain, your sale moves at the speed of the slowest connected transaction.
• Freehold vs leasehold — leasehold adds a management pack from the freeholder or managing agent, which is chargeable and often slow to arrive.
• Cash vs mortgage — a cash buyer skips the lender's valuation and offer.
• Prepared vs unprepared seller — title, forms and certificates ready before listing remove weeks from the start and cut the number of enquiries later.

What causes the big delays

• Chains — one slow buyer three links away stalls everybody.
• Slow searches — council turnaround you cannot control; the order date you can.
• Enquiry ping-pong — vague information up front guarantees more questions later.
• Leasehold paperwork — management packs are chargeable and frequently slow.
• Mortgage hiccups — expired offers, down-valuations, late evidence requests.
• No shared visibility — when updates travel by phone between five parties, problems are spotted late.

How to speed it up

• Prepare before you list — title pulled, TA6 and TA10 completed, certificates gathered.
• Order searches early — don't wait for milestones that don't legally depend on each other.
• Instruct your conveyancer at listing, not at offer — see find a conveyancer; panel firms quote directly per transaction.
• Respond same-day — fast answers compound across the whole timeline.
• Share one live view — when all parties see the same transaction state, chasing disappears and blockers surface the day they happen.

The industry is moving the same way: the push for upfront information is about getting these facts in front of buyers at listing instead of weeks into the sale. See BASPI explained.

What about Scotland?

This guide covers England and Wales. Scotland has its own legal system: the seller provides a Home Report before marketing, and the sale is concluded through an exchange of letters called missives rather than an exchange of contracts, so its timeline and its bottlenecks are different.

Where PropXchain fits

Your transaction lives in one shared, real-time view: HM Land Registry title pulled at the start, guided forms stored as you complete them, searches tracked to the transaction, every milestone timestamped on-chain. PropXchain is free to use, with no platform fee; its AI reads your title and search results in plain English and flags issues before they become enquiries. See pricing or selling your house online.