By Stanton & Partners, Residential Property Solicitors

The UK property market is evolving fast – digital portals, AI-driven valuations, 24-hour mortgage approvals. But one thing hasn’t kept pace: the time it takes to legally transfer property from one owner to another.

Conveyancing, the bedrock of secure home ownership, is still taking over 100 days on average from offer to completion, according to the Conveyancing Association. For buyers, sellers, agents and investors, this is more than a nuisance. It’s a critical bottleneck in an otherwise accelerating system.

So why does it still take so long? And more importantly, what can we, as legal professionals, do to address it?

The Legacy Problem at the Heart of the Market

At Stanton & Partners, we specialise in working with auction buyers, investors, and public sector clients, many of whom need speed, certainty, and legal confidence to act decisively.

And we see the same pain points, again and again:

• Local authority searches still delayed by paper-based systems
• Mortgage lenders requesting repeated, manual documentation
• Leasehold sales stuck in weeks of silence from managing agents
• Probate sellers unable to move because the grant hasn’t yet arrived
• Buyers and sellers who have no idea what’s needed of them until it’s too late

These aren’t new problems. They’re structural inefficiencies. And they demand more than patience, they require modernisation.

Conveyancing in a Chain-Driven Market

Unlike some countries, where single transactions can move quickly in isolation, England and Wales rely on chains – often fragile, multi-party dependencies.

Here, the “weakest link” principle dominates: one party’s late paperwork, mortgage delay, or unclear ID can stall five other households.

Conveyancers are often blamed, but in truth, they operate within a system with limited digital integration, poor cross-professional coordination, and very little consumer education.

Clients Want Clarity, Not Complexity

Most clients don’t care why things are slow. They care about whether:

• They’ll lose the house they’ve fallen in love with
• Their onward purchase will collapse
• Their chain will break under pressure

This emotional toll is real, and its rising. What clients need isn’t perfection, but proactivity:

• Legal teams who start early
• Systems that flag missing documents upfront
• Communication that manages expectations, not just processes

Where the Solutions Lie: A Solicitor’s View

Conveyancing doesn’t have to be slow. But it does need to be rethought by lawyers, lenders, agents, and regulators alike. Here’s what we believe should happen:

1. Early Legal Preparation Must Become the Norm

Clients should instruct solicitors before listing a property, not weeks later. Just as a mortgage-in-principle is standard before making an offer, legal readiness should be part of “go to market”. The now defunct HIPs process attempted to address this need, but never quite got traction.

2. More Widespread Use of Title Insurance

Minor defects in title, planning or access shouldn’t stall transactions for months. Title indemnity policies can resolve these swiftly and securely.

3. Digitisation Can’t Stop at the Front Door

While estate agents and brokers are embracing tech, many law firms still rely on post, wet signatures, and static PDF forms. Secure digital onboarding, e-signatures, and real-time progress updates must become industry standards.

4. Cross-Sector Collaboration

We must create shared standards with agents, lenders and freeholders. Silos are one of the biggest causes of unnecessary delay.

What We’re Doing at Stanton & Partners

We’ve rebuilt our conveyancing process around clarity and control – especially for clients who can’t afford delays, like:

• Auction buyers, who must complete within 28 days
• Probate sellers, who need certainty before they market
• Buy-to-let investors, building at scale

Our approach includes:

• Digital onboarding and remote ID verification
• Real-time tracking and updates via email or portal
• Specialist teams for leasehold, auction and new-build work
• Proactive support for title insurance where needed

Time for the Sector to Act

The conveyancing process won’t speed up by accident. It needs collective effort and professional resolve to modernise.

Solicitors must stop thinking of themselves as back-office legal technicians and start stepping into the role of transaction navigators -reducing friction, building trust, and using tools that meet clients where they are.

Because in today’s property market, speed isn’t just a convenience. It’s a competitive advantage.

At Stanton & Partners, we don’t wait for problems. We prevent them.

If you’re a buyer, seller, investor or public sector property holder, and speed matters to your plans, speak to us.