How Long After Searches to Exchange and Completion?

If you’re waiting on conveyancing searches and wondering what happens next – and most importantly, how long it’s all going to take – you’re not alone. It’s one of the most frustrating parts of buying or selling a home, because so much of it is out of your hands.

The honest answer? Unfortunately, there’s no single timeline that applies to everyone. But, as a general guide, conveyancing searches usually take around 2–6 weeks to complete. Some come back sooner, while others can take longer, depending on your local authority, the location, the type of searches required, the property itself, and whether any issues require further investigation. 

Once all searches have been returned, your solicitor or conveyancer will review the results. They’ll then raise any necessary enquiries and work with the other side to agree a final completion date. 

If everything is straightforward, you could be ready to exchange contracts in a few days. However, if issues are uncovered or there are delays elsewhere in the chain, the process can still take several weeks or longer. As a rule, we’d recommend avoiding packing up your life until you have agreed on a completion date. 

In this guide, we explain what’s actually happening while you’re playing the waiting game, what can hold things up, and what, if anything, you can do to help move things along.

In this article:

What are conveyancing searches?

Before contracts on your home can be exchanged, your solicitor carries out a series of checks on the property. These are conveyancing searches. They’re designed to uncover anything that might affect the property’s value or your decision to go ahead.

The three standard searches that happen are:

• A local authority search, which checks planning history, building regulations, road adoption, and any enforcement notices or restrictions which could affect the property. 
• A drainage and water search, which confirms whether the property is connected to mains water and sewage. This search will also check whether there are any public drains that run beneath or near your property. 
• An environmental search, which looks at any potential issues such as flood risks, ground contamination, landfill sites nearby, and whether the land has any history of industrial use. 

Depending on the property and its location, your solicitor may also recommend additional searches. Examples could include a coal mining search in certain areas or a chancel repair search on older properties near a church.

How long do searches take?

Local authority searches often take the longest. Turnaround times vary significantly depending on the local council, with some taking just a few days, while others can take several weeks. On average, you might expect searches to take between two and six weeks – but this is not a guarantee, as some councils are faster and some may be significantly slower.

What happens after searches come back?

Once searches are returned, they’ll be reviewed by your solicitor, alongside the results of any surveys and responses to any enquiries raised with the seller’s solicitor. It’s at this point that things can either move fairly smoothly or start to slow down. 

If the searches come back without any issues, your solicitor will typically move on to reviewing the draft contract. They’ll confirm that all enquiries have been answered and check that your mortgage offer is still in place. Once your solicitor is satisfied, they’ll report to you with a summary of their findings. Then, you’ll be asked to sign the contract in preparation for exchange. 

If something is flagged during the searches, your solicitor will look into it further before advising you to proceed. This might mean needing to raise additional enquiries, getting specialist reports, or even renegotiating the terms of the sale. 

What kind of issues can searches uncover?

Most searches come back without anything significant – but when something is flagged, it can add time to the process. In some cases, what’s found during searches can affect whether the sale proceeds at all. 

Common issues that could be found include:

Flood risks

If an environmental search shows that the property is located in a flood-risk area, your mortgage lender may want further information or specialist insurance before they’ll lend. This can add several weeks to the process.

Planning applications

A local authority search will reveal if there are any planning applications for developments close to the property, such as new roads, housing estates, or commercial buildings. These might not stop the sale, but buyers frequently require additional time to consider how these findings might impact their purchase.

Restrictive covenants

Restrictive covenants are legal obligations tied to the land. This could be a restriction on extending the property, for example, or using it for business purposes. If the seller has breached a restrictive covenant, or if a covenant affects your plans for the property, it needs to be resolved before exchange.

Boundary disputes

If there are any unresolved disagreements about where the property boundary lines are, they will need to be addressed before exchange. This will either be an agreement between the involved parties or through indemnity insurance.

Drainage issues

If a public sewer runs beneath the property, there may be restrictions on what can be built over it. If you’re planning works such as an extension, this will need considerati

Ground contamination

If an environmental search flags historical industrial activity or ground contamination in the vicinity, your solicitor may want a more thorough assessment. These specialised investigations can be costly and frequently result in several weeks of additional delays while the results are analysed.

None of these issues automatically kill a sale, and many can be resolved fairly quickly. However, they do all take time to work through, which can add up, especially when you’re eager for the move to proceed.

What can delay exchange after searches?

Even when searches come back without major issues, exchange doesn’t always follow quickly. Here are the most common reasons things slow down at this stage.

Your solicitor hasn’t finished reviewing everything

Solicitors are often managing many cases at once. Once searches are back, they still need to review all the results, cross-reference them with enquiries, and report back to you. If they’re busy, this can take longer than expected. It doesn’t mean anything is wrong, but it can feel that way when you’re waiting.

Outstanding enquiries

Enquiries are questions your solicitor raises with the seller’s solicitor about the property’s history, any works carried out, planning permissions, warranties, etc. If responses are slow to come back, or if answers raise further questions, this part of the process can drag on.

Your mortgage offer hasn’t arrived yet

Your mortgage offer needs to be in place before exchange can happen. If your application is still being processed, or if your lender has requested additional information, exchange will have to wait. It’s worth staying in regular contact with your mortgage broker or lender during this period so you know where things stand.

Problems in the chain

Even if your side is completely ready, you can’t exchange until everyone in the chain is ready. If someone further up or down the chain is dealing with a slow search, an unresolved survey issue, or a delayed mortgage, it holds everyone up. This is one of the most common causes of delay, and one of the most frustrating, because there’s very little you can do about it yourself.

Missing paperwork

Outstanding documents, like building regulations certificates, planning permissions for previous works, or a missing guarantee on a boiler, can hold up exchange until they’re tracked down or resolved with indemnity insurance. Sellers can help avoid this by gathering paperwork early in the process.

What is exchange of contracts, and how is it different from completion?

The terms ‘exchange’ and ‘completion’ are often used interchangeably, but in practice, they’re quite different. 

Exchange of contracts is the point at which the sale becomes legally binding. Both parties, buyers and sellers, sign identical copies of the contract, which are formally exchanged between solicitors. At this point, a completion date is agreed, and the buyer pays their deposit, which is usually 10% of the purchase price unless agreed otherwise. Either party can technically still pull out after exchange, but they will face financial penalties. 

Completion is when the money changes hands, and the ownership of the property is officially transferred from the seller to the buyer. The buyer’s solicitor sends the remaining funds to the seller’s solicitor, the seller vacates the property, and the keys are handed over. This is the day you actually move.

The gap between exchange and completion is usually one to four weeks, though it can be shorter – sometimes just a few days if both parties are ready and agree to it – or longer if, for example, the seller needs more time to move out.

In practice, most people find the exchange the bigger psychological milestone. Once you’ve exchanged, the sale is secure. Completion is when you physically move, but the uncertainty is over at exchange.

How long does conveyancing take overall?

From the point at which a sale is agreed to the exchange of contracts, the average is currently around twelve to sixteen weeks. This is a ballpark estimate, and it’s important to remember this timescale varies considerably depending on the complexity of the sale, the length of the chain, and how busy the solicitors involved are.

A straightforward sale with no chain, no issues flagged in searches, and responsive solicitors on both sides can sometimes move faster. At the other end of the scale, complex sales with problems to resolve and more back and forth between buyers, sellers, and solicitors can take six months or more.

If you’re in a chain, the timeline is mostly out of your control. The slowest link within the chain will determine when everyone else exchanges. And if this person is further down the chain from you, you’re unlikely to have much communication or visibility. This is naturally where frustrations can occur, as things feel ‘stuck’. 

You may find solicitors not responding, weeks passing without an update, or no clear sense of when it will end. That’s an incredibly common experience, and it’s genuinely stressful, particularly when you have plans built around a completion date.

Can you speed up the exchange?

You can’t force the process, especially if delays are occurring elsewhere in the chain, but there are steps you can take to ensure your side isn’t the cause of any delays.

• Instruct a solicitor early. As soon as an offer is accepted, get your solicitor instructed and provide all the information they need upfront. The sooner searches are submitted, the sooner they come back.
• If you’re selling, gather your paperwork. Planning permissions, building regulations certificates, guarantees, FENSA certificates for windows… it all adds up. Having these ready means your solicitor isn’t chasing them later.
• Respond quickly. When your solicitor asks for information or asks you to sign something, do it promptly. Delays in returning paperwork are one of the most avoidable causes of a slow conveyancing process.
• Stay in regular contact. Check in with your solicitor weekly if you’re not getting updates. It’s reasonable to ask where things are and what’s outstanding. 
• Chase your mortgage lender if needed. If your offer is taking longer than expected, contact your broker or lender directly to find out what’s outstanding and whether you can provide anything to help move it along.
• Ask your estate agent to help with chain communication. A good estate agent will be in contact with the other agents in the chain and can sometimes identify where a delay is coming from before it becomes a bigger problem.

The hard truth is that even if you do everything right, you may still find yourself waiting on someone else. That’s the nature of a chain, and it’s one of the most common frustrations people face in a traditional sale. If you’re having issues with your chain, we have an entire piece on broken house chains, why they occur, and your options.

What if things aren’t moving with your house sale?

For most people, a slow conveyancing process is frustrating but manageable. But for some sellers, delays can have real consequences, like a rental agreement ending, a job that requires a move by a certain date, or a chain that’s at risk of collapsing altogether.

If you’re in that position and the traditional route isn’t moving fast enough, it’s worth knowing that there is an alternative. A cash house buyer like Good Move doesn’t require conveyancing searches in the same way. There’s no chain, and there’s no mortgage to arrange. A sale can often complete quickly, in a matter of weeks rather than months.

The trade-off is that you’ll usually receive below the full market value for your property – and we’re always clear about that. But for sellers who need certainty more than they need the highest possible price, or who have already spent months in a slow or stalled process, it’s an option that’s worth understanding.

Good Move can provide a no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours. There’s no pressure to proceed, and you can walk away at any point before contracts are exchanged. Find out more about how cash buyers work, or get a cash offer today.