Conveyancing Timeline

which1982

Looking for so advice on typical conveyancing timelines.

our situation is that we’ve had our mortgage offer, survey done and we’ve paid our solicitor the fee to begin doing searches. 

When I called for an update at the start of this week I was told the process could still take 12-14 weeks from here which feels wild considering we’re FTB and the people we’re buying from are moving into their parents property (so no chain).

other experiences would be welcome ?

1616six

Everyone is different 

We’re first time buyers 

Our offer was accepted 2nd July and our vendor is moving in with family so no chain. We still haven’t signed our contract. Aiming to complete before Xmas but still waiting for a response to enquiries so nothing set in stone yet. 

12-14 weeks sounds about right if things go to plan!

RM_2013

Offer accepted 13th aug.  Just 3 in chain.  Our buyers, us and our vendor.  We’re just waiting on enquiries - no dates given yet but hoping before Christmas.  Ours has taken 12 weeks so far

lika_86

I worked in conveyancing a while back and I'd have said to expect 12 weeks minimum. Yes it can be done faster but a lot is out of your control I'm terms of searches and other people doing their thing.

I managed to get a chain free purchase done in 10 weeks that would have been seven but for the fact it took the sellers three weeks to get the initial documents to my solicitors. But that was a super straightforward freehold purchase, the house was empty, we were FTB and I had a great solicitor and knew the process so knew who to bother when and when to just sit back and wait.

Brokenlynx

which1982 said:

Looking for so advice on typical conveyancing timelines.

our situation is that we’ve had our mortgage offer, survey done and we’ve paid our solicitor the fee to begin doing searches. 

When I called for an update at the start of this week I was told the process could still take 12-14 weeks from here which feels wild considering we’re FTB and the people we’re buying from are moving into their parents property (so no chain).

other experiences would be welcome ?

To put it in perspective I'm a first time buyer currently nearing the end of the process of buying but still yet to exchange. 

My offer was accepted at the beginning of August so its been three months since then. 

Most of the time is going to be taken up by 'communication', what that means essentially is that the process involves communication between many different parties and some of those parties are either slow to respond, backlogged or in the process of reviewing and responding to given questions. 

Generally: 

• Local authority searches - can take time because local councils are completing these for entire boroughs working through backlogs.
• Solicitors - work with huge caseloads that they cycle through, the business doesn't pay great so having larger loads of cases is the only way to make it viable but also results in delays.
• Third parties - solicitors don't always execute the searches themselves, they buy services to obtain these via third parties, these third parties introduce another kind of delay depending on their load.
• People (both sellers and buyers) - need time to review, legal and financial details, seek advice, make decisions, fill out forms, find details and balance this with a day job. 
• In my case - as it is a share of freehold, there's a legal requirement to identify the others in the share, problem is, one of those with a share lives abroad, as a result it took 3.5 weeks to contact this one person
• The drainage and water search in my case was comissioned at the end of September, estimated to complete one week later, was actually submitted last week and completed on the same day it was submitted. I wasn't notified it was complete until Tuesday. All of these little things add up. 

Like you, at the beginning of the process I'd assumed that being a first-time buyer and a fairly diligent person I was in a position to make the process speed along. But it's worth noting a lot of the elements like those I've mentioned above are out of your control, so its imperative you're speedy and precise with the things that are in your control to get things done.

It's also worth remembering that your transaction will likely cross christmas, so don't forget to consider the disruption that will cause. Third party companies, councils, may have reduced capacity and so negatively affect your individual case.

As weird as it is to say my advice is to approach the process with a healthy degree of emotional detachment. It helps to reduce any frustration with the process if you remember that, at this point, you have nothing set in stone yet.

Another piece of advice is to go on YouTube and take a look some videos about what conveyancing is, why it takes long, what the issues can be. This won't help you navigate the process any quicker but it'll help you understand where the difficulty lies and hopefully reduce your frustration with the process. 

Good luck, hope it all goes well!

which1982

Thanks so much @Brokenlynx - this is a super informative post, and much more clarity on the timeline than I’ve managed to get out of my solicitor, so far, to be honest! 

We’ve got our mortgage offer locked in until the end of April 2023 so no major panic, but both buyer (us) and the seller are keen to move quickly and was just surprised about how slow it all can be. 

Good advice to try and approach this a bit dispassionately! 

Flugelhorn

managed 6 weeks this time last year, cash, no chain - that is probably the minimum these days - however as @Brokenlynx describes there are multiple stages and elements that can lead to delays. Honestly best to expect it to take longer then nice surprise when it doesn't

badger09

@Brokenlynx

Excellent post. 

Tiglet2

I was going to comment on this thread, but @Brokenlynx has got it covered!

tigertrio

Ours took 20 weeks!

LegallyLandlord

Here's a blog post with some tips to speed up conveyancing. It's aimed at landlords, but the principles are the same.

https://theindependentlandlord.com/speed-up-conveyancing/