How Long Does Conveyancing Take?

Most conveyancing transactions complete in 8 to 12 weeks from offer acceptance to moving day, though a straightforward remortgage can be done in 4 to 6. Here’s a realistic breakdown of where that time actually goes, and what tends to speed things up or slow them down along the way.

Weeks 1–2: Instruction and paperwork. You instruct a solicitor, complete ID checks, and return the initial forms — property information, fixtures and fittings, and (if selling) details of any building work or boundary changes. The faster these come back, the faster everything after them can start.

Weeks 2–5: Searches and enquiries. Your solicitor orders local authority, water and drainage, and environmental searches. Ipswich Borough Council’s turnaround for local searches is generally reliable, though this can extend during busy periods. Once results are in, your solicitor raises enquiries with the seller’s solicitor — this stage often has the widest range in how long it takes, since it depends entirely on how quickly the other side responds.

Weeks 4–6: Mortgage offer. Your lender arranges a valuation and issues a formal mortgage offer, usually running in parallel with the searches stage rather than after it.

Weeks 6–10: Exchange. Once searches are clear, enquiries are resolved and your mortgage offer is in hand, contracts are signed and exchanged — the transaction becomes legally binding, and a completion date is fixed, typically 1 to 4 weeks later.

Completion: Funds transfer, keys are released, and you move in.

Chains. If you’re buying and selling simultaneously, or part of a longer chain, the slowest link sets the pace for everyone. This is the single biggest source of delay in most transactions and largely outside any one solicitor’s control.

Leasehold complications. Flats and leasehold houses often need extra time for management pack requests, especially if a freeholder or managing agent is slow to respond — worth factoring in if you’re buying one of Ipswich’s period conversions near the town centre.

Survey issues. If a survey flags something — subsidence, damp, an unauthorised extension — it can trigger renegotiation or further investigation before either side is ready to proceed to exchange.

Search delays. Local authority search turnaround varies with demand. Ordering early and choosing a solicitor who tracks progress proactively, rather than waiting for it to land, keeps this from becoming a silent bottleneck.

Return paperwork the same week it arrives, get your mortgage application moving as early as your lender allows, and choose a solicitor who gives you honest weekly updates rather than radio silence between milestones. None of these guarantee an 8-week completion, but together they remove most of the delay that’s actually within your control. The solicitors we work with track search progress proactively and flag potential chain issues early, rather than waiting for them to become a problem.

Get your fixed-fee quote today and start your timeline with a team that keeps you updated at every stage — no vague estimates, and no going quiet between milestones.