Most moves take 8 to 12 weeks. A cash buyer with no chain can be quicker. A leasehold flat, a long chain or a slow council can make it longer.
Offer to keys, stage by stage. Some of these run side by side.
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Week 1
Getting started
Once your offer is accepted, you instruct a conveyancer. We check your ID, send our terms, and take a small payment to get going. Selling? We ask you to fill in the property forms and send your deeds and any certificates. Buying? We wait for the seller's conveyancer to send the draft contract.
This stage moves as fast as the paperwork comes back. Returning your forms in a day rather than a fortnight is the easiest week you'll ever save.
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1 to 6 weeks
Searches
We order searches as soon as you've paid for them. Water and environmental searches usually come back within days. The local authority search is the slow one: some councils reply in days, others take weeks. Our guide to conveyancing searches explains what each one checks.
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2 to 4 weeks
Your mortgage offer
Your lender values the property, then issues a formal offer. It runs alongside the searches, so it rarely holds things up on its own, unless the valuation comes in low or the lender wants more information.
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2 to 4 weeks
Enquiries
The buyer's conveyancer reads the contract, the title and the searches, then asks the seller's side about anything unclear. Where's the sign-off for the extension? Who maintains the shared driveway? Every answer can lead to another question, which is why this is often the longest stage.
Leasehold? The buyer's conveyancer also needs a management pack from the freeholder or managing agent, which can take a few weeks by itself.
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About a week
Signing
Buyers get a report on the property to read and contracts to sign. You send your deposit, and we agree a completion date with everyone in the chain.
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One afternoon
Exchange of contracts
The move becomes legally binding. Before exchange, either side can walk away. After it, pulling out costs real money. The completion date is fixed now too.
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Usually 1 to 2 weeks after exchange
Completion
The money moves down the chain and the keys are released. The gap after exchange gives everyone time to book removals. Our guide to exchange vs completion goes into more detail.
What slows it down
A long chain
Nobody exchanges until every move is ready, so the chain goes at the pace of its slowest link.
A slow council
Local authority search times vary a lot from one council to the next.
Leasehold paperwork
Management packs, and sometimes the freeholder's consent, add weeks.
Missing documents
No sign-off for a loft conversion or no certificate for new windows means extra questions.
Probate
A seller selling for someone who has died can't exchange until probate is granted.
Mortgage hiccups
A low valuation or a lender wanting more information can pause things.
What speeds it up
Instruct a conveyancer as soon as your offer is accepted, or before you go on the market if you're selling.
Have your mortgage agreed in principle before you offer.
Send back ID, forms and payments the same day if you can.
Selling? Dig out building regulations sign-offs, window certificates, gas safety records and planning permissions now.
Answer questions quickly, and tell us early about any dates you need to hit.
You get a named conveyancer from day one and WhatsApp updates as each stage moves on. When something's stuck, we'll tell you what it is and what we're doing about it.
