Conveyancing timeline for sellers

Conveyancing is the legal work of transferring ownership of a home. For a seller in England or Wales, it runs from instructing a solicitor to completion day, through the contract pack, the buyer's searches and mortgage, written enquiries, then exchange and completion. Research cited by the government in October 2025 found it takes an average of 120 days (about 17 weeks) to complete once an offer has been accepted.

No official source breaks conveyancing down week by week, because every sale moves at the speed of its slowest link. So this guide goes stage by stage, with official timings where they exist, and shows what you can do at each point to keep things moving.

How long does conveyancing take?

Measure	Figure	Source
Offer accepted to completion, on average	120 days	Landmark Information Group (2025), cited by the government in October 2025
Change since 2007	Around 60% longer	Same research
Selling a home overall, on average	About 5 months	GOV.UK's selling guide
Sold subject to contract to moving in	About 12 weeks, though timing varies	GOV.UK's guide to selling (2019)
Buyer arranging a mortgage	About 18 to 40 days	GOV.UK's guide to selling (2019)
Exchange to completion	Often around 2 to 4 weeks	GOV.UK's guide to buying (2019)

The 2019 estimate of 12 weeks is shorter than the 2025 research, which found transactions have slowed. Plan for the longer figure, especially if there's a chain.

The conveyancing timeline at a glance

Stage	What happens	Who's doing the work
0. Before a buyer	Instruct a solicitor, ID checks, title check, forms	You and your solicitor
1. Sale agreed	Both solicitors instructed and introduced	Agent, both solicitors
2. Contract pack	Draft contract, title, TA6, TA10 (and TA7 for leasehold) sent over	Your solicitor
3. Buyer's checks	Searches, survey, mortgage application	Buyer and their solicitor
4. Enquiries	Written questions and your answers	Both solicitors, with your help
5. Ready to exchange	Contract signed, completion date agreed	Both sides and the chain
6. Exchange	Sale becomes binding, deposit paid	Both solicitors
7. Completion	Money moves, keys handed over, mortgage paid off	Both solicitors and you

Stage 0: Before you find a buyer

This is the stage most sellers skip, and it's where you can save the most time. GOV.UK advises instructing a solicitor or conveyancer shortly before you market your home, or as soon as possible afterwards.

Doing it early means your solicitor can:

• check your identity (photo ID and proof of address from the last three months)
• check your title for problems, so they're fixed before a buyer is waiting
• send you the TA6 property information form and the TA10 fittings and contents form to fill in
• for a leasehold flat, start asking the freeholder or managing agent for the information buyers need, which can take time and cost money

Stage 1: Offer accepted

Once you accept an offer, your agent tells both solicitors and the buyer instructs theirs. If you instructed yours early, your side is ready to go on day one. If not, this is when your solicitor opens the file, sends you their terms and runs the ID checks.

Stage 2: The draft contract pack

Your solicitor drafts the contract and sends it to the buyer's solicitor with your title documents, your completed forms and copies of things like planning permissions, building regulations certificates, warranties and the EPC.

The pack can't go until your forms are back. Since 30 March 2026, firms in the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme have had to use the new, shorter TA6 (6th edition) and TA7 (5th edition) for new instructions. Filling them in the day they arrive is one of the easiest ways a seller can save time.

Stage 3: The buyer's searches, survey and mortgage

Now the work moves to the buyer's side:

• Searches. The buyer's solicitor orders searches, including local authority searches, and checks your title. How long councils take varies across the country.
• Survey. The buyer usually commissions their own survey. If it finds problems, they may ask to renegotiate.
• Mortgage. GOV.UK's 2019 guide puts a mortgage application at around 18 to 40 days. If the lender values the home below the agreed price, the buyer may ask to renegotiate.

There's not much for you to do here except keep the home accessible for surveyors and valuers.

Stage 4: Enquiries

When the buyer's solicitor has read your contract pack and the search results, they send written questions called enquiries. Your solicitor answers the legal ones and asks you about the rest. GOV.UK points out you don't have to answer questions beyond your knowledge, or ones the buyer could answer for themselves, but what you do say must be accurate.

Enquiries can come in more than one round, and sometimes at the last minute. Reply quickly, send documents rather than describing them, and if you don't know an answer, say so.

Stage 5: Getting ready to exchange

Once the buyer's solicitor is happy, they report to the buyer, the buyer signs the contract and arranges the deposit, and the solicitors agree a completion date with everyone in the chain. You sign the contract and usually the transfer deed (HM Land Registry's form TR1), which is dated on completion day. Your solicitor asks your lender for a redemption figure, the amount needed to pay off your mortgage.

Stage 6: Exchange of contracts

The solicitors exchange contracts and the sale becomes legally binding. The buyer pays a deposit, which the Council for Licensed Conveyancers says is typically 10% of the price. If there's a chain, everyone in it has to be ready before anyone exchanges. See exchange and completion.

Stage 7: Completion and after

GOV.UK's guide to buying says completion is often around 2 to 4 weeks after exchange, though the two can be on the same day. On completion day the money arrives, your solicitor pays off your mortgage and the other bills, and you hand over the keys. If Capital Gains Tax is due on the sale, you must report it and pay it within 60 days of completion.

What slows conveyancing down

Cause	Why it slows things	What you can do
A long chain	Every sale has to be ready before anyone can exchange	Ask your agent who's in the chain and where they're up to
The buyer's mortgage	Applications, valuations and offers all take time	Prefer buyers with an agreement in principle
Leasehold information	The freeholder or managing agent has to provide it	Request it as soon as you decide to sell
Missing paperwork	Work without planning or building regulations sign-off raises questions	Find certificates early and tell your solicitor about any gaps
Probate	An executor can't exchange until the grant arrives	Apply early; GOV.UK says probate is usually granted within 12 weeks of applying
Slow answers	Every enquiry waits on a reply	Answer the day you're asked
Survey problems	Renegotiation adds weeks	Be upfront about known issues from the start

The government's October 2025 consultation said around 1 in 3 transactions fail before completion, citing research done for it in 2023. The longer a sale drags on, the more time there is for something in the chain to change.

How to speed up your sale: a checklist

• Instruct your solicitor before you market the home
• Return the TA6, TA10 and any TA7 within days, with copies of documents
• Find planning permissions, building regulations certificates, warranties and service records
• For a flat, ask the managing agent for leasehold information early
• Check your mortgage redemption figure and any early repayment charge
• Answer enquiries quickly and accurately
• Agree target dates for exchange and completion with your buyer early on
• Ask your agent for regular updates on the chain

When there's no chain and no mortgage

A sale to a cash buyer skips the mortgage stage and doesn't wait on a chain, so the buyer's checks are the main thing left to do. If you sell to us, we pay your legal fees and you choose the completion date: as little as 7 days, or a later date that suits you. Our offer is below market value, and we explain how we worked it out. If your home would sell well through an agent and you can wait the extra weeks, the open market will usually get you a higher price.

The government's June 2026 roadmap plans to shorten the process for everyone by making sellers provide a sales pack, including searches, before listing. That needs new legislation, so for now the timeline above is what to expect.