Buying or selling a property can be an exciting time and it is normal to want things to progress quickly, but conveyancing transactions are often affected by delays. Understanding the most common causes of delay – and how they can be avoided – can help to keep transactions progressing as smoothly as possible.
Below we outline some of the key reasons conveyancing transactions may be delayed and provide practical tips to assist and minimise disruption:
Law firms are required to carry out identity (ID) and Source of Funds checks to comply with Anti-Money Laundering Regulations. Although these checks may feel intrusive, property transactions are frequently targeted by criminals for money laundering and fraud, making this step essential.
Solicitors will need clients to verify their identity and check that any funds being used towards the transaction are legitimate.
These checks are usually completed at the outset of a transaction. If clients have the necessary information readily available, the process is typically straightforward and should not cause delays. However, issues may arise if clients are funding a property purchase from multiple sources, have a complex financial background, or do not have required evidence available (for example, where they are waiting for an inheritance to be received or investments to be cashed in). Issues can also arise if clients change how they intend to fund the transaction part way through.
How delays can be avoided:
Solicitors commission pre-contract searches on behalf of clients which typically include Environmental, Water and Drainage and Local Authority Searches. Where a client is purchasing with a mortgage, these searches are a requirement of most lenders.
Delays can occur if searches are not ordered early in the transaction. At Michelmores, we generally submit searches as soon as the contract documents have been received from the seller’s solicitors.
Local Authority search results are provided by the relevant council, and Water and Drainage searches are supplied by the water provider (i.e. South West Water). As these searches rely on results from third parties, response times can vary and may take several weeks to be returned, depending on the relevant organisation’s timescales.
How delays can be avoided:
It is important that the formal mortgage offer is received as early as possible. Once issued, solicitors need time to review the offer, report on the same and ensure all lender conditions are satisfied before exchange of contracts.
Issues may arise if the mortgage offer is received late in the transaction and the lender has any special conditions to be satisfied or requires additional information/searches (i.e. they may request a mundic report if the property is in Cornwall depending on when it was constructed). The information and searches will need to be completed and sent to the lender for review before they will agree to release any funds.
Solicitors will also need to report any title issues or defects to the lender and wait for their response before proceeding.
It is easier to deal with any lender requests or report any issues to them if the offer is received early.
How delays can be avoided:
Property chains can be lengthy with multiple parties involved. A property chain is formed when two or more property transactions are linked together because each buyer relies on the sale of their own property in order to purchase another.
All parties in the chain usually want to exchange contracts simultaneously. A delay or issue in one transaction can affect the entire chain, even if all other parties are ready to proceed.
As each property transaction can be different, there are a number of issues that can arise in a property chain such as unresolved enquiries, search delays, sellers not finding a suitable property to purchase, parties withdrawing their offer etc.
How delays can be avoided:
The above list is only a brief summary of issues that may arise. All transactions are different and therefore delays may pop up unexpectedly at any stage.
Other delays may arise from the legal documentation, such as defects or inconsistencies in the property title, or complications relating to a lease where the property is leasehold. These issues are not always immediately apparent and may only come to light once your solicitor has reviewed the contract documentation and the results of the property searches. Resolving such matters can require additional investigations, further correspondence with the seller’s solicitors, or third-party involvement, all of which can impact timescales.
While some delays in conveyancing are unavoidable, many can be reduced through early preparation, clear communication and prompt responses from all parties involved. Working closely with your solicitor, estate agent and mortgage broker can help ensure that your transaction progresses as smoothly and efficiently as possible. It is therefore important that you check the reputation and google reviews of any professional you engage to act on your behalf on a sale or purchase.
At Michelmores, we aim to keep clients updated at every stage of the transaction—even where there has been no significant change—so that communication remains clear and consistent throughout the process. We recognise that conveyancing can be complex and stressful, and we believe that regular, transparent communication plays a key role in helping to alleviate uncertainty and manage expectations.
On sales, to alleviate delays with a property chain, we have recently introduced our ‘Michelmores Home Advantage‘ service which we recommend to our clients that are selling properties. This service aims to reduce the time spent between being instructed and sending out the contract to the buyer’s solicitor, which can sometimes take a week or two. We suggest that clients instruct us to open a file as soon as they put their property on the market, so they can complete our initial paperwork, protocol forms etc while the property is being marketed. This means that once a buyer has been found and the memorandum of sale is issued by an estate agent, we can send the contract pack out within 24 – 48 hours later. It also gives us time to investigate the title to the Property and correct any issues that might be present before a buyer has been found, which can significantly speed the process up.
