How long does conveyancing take?

The figure most guides quote is eight to twelve weeks, from the day your offer is accepted to the day you get the keys. It is a fair average and it swings widely: a cash buyer on a registered freehold with no chain can be done in weeks, while a leasehold in a long chain can run for months. Here is the real order of it, and the handful of things that actually move the date.

The stages, in order

Conveyancing is not one job, it is a sequence, and most of the wait is spent waiting on other people rather than on your solicitor typing.

• Instruction and checks. Your conveyancer confirms your identity and takes the file on. The identity check is paid here, near the start.
• Searches ordered. The local authority, drainage and environmental searches go in early, because some councils are quick and some take weeks. These are spent whether or not the purchase completes.
• Enquiries. Your side reads the contract, the searches and the seller's answers, and asks questions back. Leasehold adds a management pack here, a common place for weeks to disappear.
• Mortgage offer. Your lender's valuation and formal offer need to be in before you can safely commit.
• Exchange. Contracts are signed and dated, the deposit is paid and the completion date is fixed. Up to this point either side can still walk away.
• Completion. The money moves, the keys are released, and the legal fee and the remaining disbursements are settled.
• After completion. The tax return is filed and paid, and your conveyancer registers you at the Land Registry as the new owner.

The priority search of the register goes in close to the end, because it freezes the register for a set period so nobody can slip a charge onto the title between exchange and registration.

What actually moves the date

Almost every real delay is one of a short list: a long chain where everyone moves at the speed of the slowest link; a leasehold waiting on a management company to send its pack; a council with a slow search department; a mortgage offer that takes longer than expected; or a party who is simply slow to answer. None of these is your solicitor sitting on the file, and chasing your solicitor rarely fixes any of them.

When the money is due

The identity check and the searches are paid early, so they are spent even if the deal falls through. The legal fee, the tax and the Land Registry fee land at or just after completion. The full breakdown, with every figure sourced, is on the conveyancing fees page, and the tax alone is on the stamp duty page.

See what each stage costs

Questions people ask