How to Speed Up Your Conveyancing Process
Conveyancing is one of the slowest parts of buying a home in the UK. The average purchase takes between 12 and 16 weeks from offer accepted to completion, and a significant portion of that time is spent waiting. Waiting for searches, waiting for enquiries to be answered, waiting for the seller's solicitor to respond.
While some delays are unavoidable, there's a lot you can do as a buyer to keep things moving. Here's how.
Choose the right solicitor before you make an offer
The single biggest thing you can do to speed up conveyancing is to have a solicitor lined up before your offer is accepted. Many buyers leave this until after acceptance, which can add a week or more to the timeline before any work even starts.
Get quotes from two or three solicitors during the viewing stage, ask about their current workload and average completion times, and check whether they're on your mortgage lender's approved panel. Choosing a solicitor who isn't on your lender's panel means your lender will appoint their own, which adds delay and potential additional cost.
For more on what your solicitor should be doing throughout the process, read our guide to the conveyancing process.
Get your paperwork ready immediately
Once you've instructed a solicitor, they'll need a range of documents and information from you. The faster you can provide these, the faster things can start moving.
Typical requirements include identification documents such as your passport and a utility bill for proof of address, proof of funds for your deposit, proof of income if you're applying for a mortgage, and details of any previous addresses. Having all of this ready in advance, scanned and saved as PDFs, means you can respond to your solicitor's first request the same day.
Apply for your mortgage as soon as your offer is accepted
Mortgage offers can take anywhere from two to six weeks depending on the lender. The earlier you apply, the earlier you have an offer in place. If you have an Agreement in Principle already, contact your broker or lender on the same day your offer is accepted to convert it to a full application.
Don't wait until your solicitor asks for the mortgage offer, by that point you've already lost weeks of time.
Order your survey early
Many buyers wait until searches are back before booking a survey, this is a mistake. Surveys can be booked weeks in advance with a good surveyor and instructing one early means you're not adding more delay later.
Booking a survey doesn't commit you to buying the property and the report can give you grounds to renegotiate or walk away if it flags significant issues. Read our guide to the three levels of house survey so you know which one to book.
Stay on top of communication
Conveyancing involves a constant back-and-forth between solicitors, lenders, surveyors and estate agents. The most common cause of delay is one party being slow to respond to another. While you can't speed up the seller's solicitor, you can make sure that everything coming to you is dealt with immediately.
Set up a dedicated email folder for your purchase and reply to every email from your solicitor the same day where possible. If your solicitor uses an online portal, log in regularly to check for updates and outstanding actions. Keep a list of outstanding items so you can chase if something is taking too long.
Ask for regular updates
A weekly update from your solicitor, even just a short email confirming where things stand, makes a significant difference to your sense of control and to the speed of the process. If your solicitor doesn't proactively offer this, ask for it. Most will agree to a regular update if you ask politely at the start.
It's also reasonable to ask specific questions; when were the searches ordered? When are they expected back? Have all enquiries been answered? Is the mortgage offer in place? These questions show you're engaged without being demanding.
Be ready for exchange
Once everything is in place for exchange, things can move quickly if both sides are ready. Make sure you have your deposit funds available and ready to transfer at short notice and have your home insurance arranged too so it can start from the moment of exchange. Be flexible on the completion date too if you can.
The buyers and sellers who move fastest are the ones who are organised, responsive and ready to act when called upon.
The full checklist
The Home Truths Guide includes 100+ essential questions to ask your solicitor throughout the buying process, plus practical tips for keeping things moving at every stage.
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