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"Residential property transaction times are the longest I have experienced in over 20 years in the industry"

ended 30. July 2024

Residential property transaction times are taking longer than ever at present, property and mortgage experts have said, with one saying they're the longest i. the 20 years she has worked in the industry. Conveyo, for example, notes that the UK industry average is currently 22 weeks from sale agreed to exchange.

Conveyo's co-founder, Dr Konrad Rotthege, says: “Conveyancing times are now stretching beyond what was previously considered normal. While the industry during market peaks attributed these delays to a lack of capacity, it's increasingly apparent that this isn't the sole, or even primary, cause. Poor communication and outdated processes within the legal sector are the primary culprits.”

Meanwhile, Chris Barry at Thomas Legal says: “A lot of first-time buyers purchase leasehold properties and therefore BSA-affected properties are involved in a lot of chains up and down the country.”

Newspage asked a mixture of brokers and conveyancers what the key issues are that are slowing down transactions, the impact on all involved, and how it can be solved. Their views are below.

8 responses from the Newspage community

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Michelle LawsonVerified
Director at Lawson Financial
Residential property transaction times are the longest I have experienced in over 20 years in the industry. There is a huge knock-on effect in terms of lost money and wasted time. The longer the process, the more pressure is put on brokers and lenders to change products with the volatile market and the more time people have to back out of transaction with little or no financial loss. Lack of staffing where firms have made redundancies and not replaced staff or cost cutting is having an impact as less experienced or cheaper employees are more financially attractive. Working from home unmonitored and without a team around to support, ask questions and learn from is also taking its toll.
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Chris BarryVerified
Director at Thomas Legal
Rightmove has said the time between memo and exchange is now 150 days. This is the highest it has ever been and the short-term outlook does not make for good reading. The largest contributor is leasehold properties, mainly due to the inception of the Building Safety Act. A lot of first-time buyers purchase leasehold properties and therefore BSA-affected properties are involved in a lot of chains up and down the country. BSA matters are taking 5 weeks longer on average when compared to a leasehold purchase pre the introduction of the act. People should choose a solicitor who has vast experiance dealing with the type of property they are purchasing, have plenty of capcity to be proactive and are able to keep communication levels high.
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Dr Konrad RotthegeVerified
Co-founder at Conveyo
Conveyancing times are now stretching beyond what was previously considered normal. While the industry during market peaks attributed these delays to a lack of capacity, it's increasingly apparent that this isn't the sole, or even primary, cause. Poor communication and outdated processes within the legal sector are the primary culprits. Solicitors are struggling to keep up with the volume of work, and digital transformation, which is still in its infancy in many firms. This lack of efficiency is creating a bottleneck that is slowing down the entire property transaction process. It's crucial to address these underlying issues if we want to see a substantial reduction in conveyancing times and restore confidence in the market.
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Justin MoyVerified
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
Leasehold properties in particular have attracted significant increases in legal checks and documentation over the past few years, causing solicitors to shy away from these cases. And that, along with lengthier timescales, gives buyers the opportunity to re-think their purchase, potentially walking away from their dream home. One case this week, just days away from exchange, has taken around 5 months to get to this stage, and the buyers have had second thoughts about the property. Their initial euphoria has now become a collection of nagging doubts and they have started to look again. In excess of 100 hours of work betwen mortgage broker, estate agent and solicitors, and nothing to show for it. For us alone that is over £4k of income that we will lose or, at best, be deferred until another day.
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Stephen PerkinsVerified
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
Transaction times are certainly much longer today than they were before the pandemic, despite many efficiency wokring practices being introuduced over that time. The usual bottlenecks apply, namely awaiting local searches, delays with the Land Registry and lack of communication between both sides of the transaction in relation to enquiries, some of which are raised needlessly.
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Dariusz KarpowiczVerified
Director at Albion Financial Advice
This is a massive problem and it's getting worse. The biggest issue is the conveyancing process: solicitors don't actively chase things, and despite all the technology available, transaction times are getting longer. I don't think it puts people off buying, as they still want to buy, but it is incredibly frustrating. Something needs to change in the way conveyancing works. Maybe getting all searches upfront before listing the property could speed things up. It’s high time for an overhaul to make the process smoother and quicker for everyone involved.
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Ben PerksVerified
Managing Director at Orchard Financial Advisers
Things have definitely slowed. Trying to get an offer for a borrower has turned into a bit of an arm wrestle between brokers and underwriters recently. With purchase transactions being lower, it feels like underwriters and valuers have more time on their hands to scrutinise applications and properties to the max. Of course, every lender needs to do checks and balances and it is the broker's job to package a case compliantly, but some of the checks recently seem really OTT for even the most diligent of people. There are a plethora of other contributing factors, too: product rate changes, down valuations, quirkier borrower circumstances due to the cost of living crisis and the high staff turnover at national conveyancing firms. All these things play a part and need to be sorted before the anticipated industry boom towards the end of the year and 2025.
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David RobinsonVerified
Co-Founder at Wildcat Law
No quick fix. Conveyancers have been hit by a near perfect storm in recent years and this is playing out currently with extended transaction times. For a number of years there has been a drive to the bottom when it comes to pricing for conveyancing. Whilst at first glance this would appear to be good for consumers it has not driven the innovation that was originally predicted and instead has resulted in many being force out of the market or unable to enter it. To generate the same amount of income more and more cases are being taken on by those that remain until the whole system creaks and breaks. Whilst we are not quite at the breaking point we are definitely hearing loud creaks and cracks are visible.
The other side that the public don't see is that of PI cover for lawyers which rocketed for most conveyancers over recent years. This has placed further financial strain. Unfortunately unless the market pays more for transactions things are only likely to get worse.