The short answer
There is no single “normal” house-purchase timeline. GOV.UK currently says buying a home in England and Wales takes about five months on average, but an individual transaction can be much quicker or much slower. A chain, a leasehold property, mortgage requirements, survey findings, missing documents or slow third-party replies can all change the pace.
That means elapsed time on its own is a poor diagnostic. A purchase can feel slow while several useful things are happening in parallel. Equally, a purchase can look busy while one unresolved item has quietly become the real blocker.
Where house purchases commonly get stuck
Conveyancer not fully instructed
ID checks, source-of-funds evidence, money on account or signed client documents may still be missing. If the file is not fully open, searches and legal work may not have started.
Contract pack not received
Your conveyancer normally needs the seller’s draft contract and supporting title/property information before they can review the legal position properly.
Searches outstanding
Local authority, drainage and environmental searches can return at different speeds. The important point is whether they have been ordered and whether anything is still missing.
Enquiries unanswered
Your conveyancer may raise questions about the title, searches, mortgage requirements or the property. Some answers depend on the seller; others depend on managing agents, freeholders or other third parties.
Mortgage work incomplete
A valuation, underwriting question, amended offer, gifted deposit or lender-specific legal requirement can hold up exchange even when other work looks ready.
Survey or valuation issue
A survey can trigger further inspections, renegotiation or questions about alterations, damp, structural concerns, boundaries or guarantees.
Leasehold information missing
Leasehold purchases often require information from a freeholder or managing agent, such as service-charge accounts, insurance details and replies to management enquiries.
The chain is not ready
Your own legal work may be close to finished while another buyer or seller in the chain is still waiting for a mortgage, searches, enquiries or a related sale.
How to work out what is actually causing the delay
Try to reduce the transaction to a short list of concrete facts. You do not need to understand every legal detail; you need to know which milestone is incomplete.
| If you are here | Useful question | What a clear answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Offer accepted, very little has happened | Has my file been fully opened and has the draft contract been requested? | “Yes; contract pack requested on [date], awaiting seller’s solicitor.” |
| Searches seem to be the issue | Which searches were ordered, when, and which are still outstanding? | “Local and drainage are back; environmental search is due next.” |
| You keep hearing “enquiries” | How many material enquiries remain and who needs to answer them? | “Three remain: two with the seller’s solicitor and one with the managing agent.” |
| Mortgage offer has arrived | Are there any lender conditions still preventing exchange? | “Offer received; we are satisfying one title condition before reporting to you.” |
| Everything on your side sounds ready | Is anyone else in the chain not ready to exchange? | “Your purchase is ready, but the seller’s onward purchase is still awaiting searches.” |
When a delay is not necessarily a problem
Conveyancing involves checks that exist to protect you and, where there is a mortgage, your lender. A new question can be a sign that your conveyancer has found something worth resolving rather than a sign that nothing is happening.
For example, search results can create new enquiries; a survey can reveal work that needs evidence or further investigation; a leasehold pack can raise questions about planned works or service charges. Enquiries can cover the title, searches, mortgage offer, property and wider transaction, so they can arise at different points rather than in one neat block.
When you should chase
Chasing is most useful when it is tied to a missing milestone, a promised update or a deadline. You do not need to email every day. You do need enough visibility to know that the next action has an owner.
- A date you were given for an update has passed.
- You cannot tell whether searches, enquiries or mortgage conditions are outstanding.
- You have provided requested documents but do not know whether they were accepted.
- A survey, mortgage offer or search result arrived and you do not know what happens next.
- An important date is approaching, such as a mortgage-offer expiry, tenancy end, school move or agreed completion target.
Keep the message short and specific. “Please can you confirm the outstanding items before exchange, who is responsible for each, and when they were last chased?” is usually more useful than “Any update?”
What you can control
You cannot force a local authority, lender, freeholder or another person in the chain to move faster. You can remove avoidable delay on your side.
- Return ID, source-of-funds and client paperwork promptly.
- Pay money on account for searches when requested.
- Submit mortgage and lender documents quickly.
- Arrange the survey early enough to act on the result.
- Tell your conveyancer about gifted deposits, unusual funding or deadlines early.
- Keep one written list of outstanding actions instead of relying on general progress updates.
When to worry more seriously
A slow transaction is not automatically a bad transaction. More concerning signs are persistent lack of clarity, missed commitments with no explanation, repeated requests for information you have already supplied, or nobody being able to identify the next action.
If you have concerns about the legal work itself, raise them with the person handling your file or the firm’s supervising solicitor/client-care contact. If your concern is the chain rather than the legal advice, the estate agent can often help establish where another transaction is waiting.
Not sure whether your own purchase is moving normally?
Enter the dates you know. Keyvo’s free progress checker estimates where your purchase appears to be, highlights possible blockers and gives you practical questions to ask next.
Use the free timeline checkerSources used to review this guide
We write Keyvo’s guides in our own words and review factual process points against current public guidance. These sources were checked on 12 October 2026:
- GOV.UK — Buying a home (England and Wales)
- GOV.UK — Making an offer
- GOV.UK — Transferring ownership (conveyancing)
- The Law Society — Buying a home
- MoneyHelper — Buying a house or flat in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Keyvo provides general information and a progress-checking tool. It is not a solicitor, conveyancer, mortgage adviser or surveyor, and this guide is not legal, financial or mortgage advice. The process described here is for England and Wales; other UK jurisdictions use different systems.