How Long Should It Take for Your Solicitor to Respond?

You sent an email to your solicitor three days ago. No reply. You chased yesterday. Still nothing. Meanwhile, the buyer's solicitor is waiting for information, your estate agent is asking you for updates you cannot give, and the whole sale feels like it is drifting. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone.

Poor communication from solicitors is one of the most common complaints in residential conveyancing. Research by the HomeOwners Alliance consistently ranks slow solicitor responses as a top frustration for home sellers in England and Wales. Understanding what a reasonable response time looks like and knowing when to escalate can make the difference between a sale that completes smoothly and one that collapses. For a full overview of your solicitor's role, see our guide on what your solicitor actually does when you sell a house.

What is a reasonable solicitor response time?

There is no single legal requirement that dictates exactly how quickly a solicitor must respond. However, professional standards, industry guidance, and practical experience give us a clear picture of what is reasonable.

The Law Society considers 48 hours a reasonable maximum for routine queries. Many firms that hold the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accreditation commit to even faster turnaround, with same-day acknowledgement and a substantive reply within 24 hours for standard matters.

What the SRA expects from solicitors

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulates all solicitors in England and Wales. The SRA Standards and Regulations (which replaced the SRA Code of Conduct in November 2019) do not specify a precise response time, but they establish clear principles that govern how solicitors communicate with clients.

• Principle 7 requires solicitors to act in the best interests of each client. Leaving a client without communication for days or weeks during an active property transaction is difficult to reconcile with this principle.
• Paragraph 3.4 of the Code of Conduct for Solicitors requires that you receive the best possible information about how your matter will be dealt with, including timescales and costs.
• Paragraph 8.3 requires solicitors to ensure that clients receive the best possible service, which includes timely communication and progress updates.

In practice, the SRA interprets these principles to mean that a solicitor should respond to routine client communications within a reasonable time. Persistent failure to do so is a service failing that the firm's internal complaints procedure and the Legal Ombudsman are designed to address.

Why solicitors sometimes take longer than expected

Before concluding that your solicitor is providing poor service, it helps to understand the common reasons for slower response times. Not every delay is a sign of negligence.

High caseloads

Conveyancing solicitors in busy firms may handle 80 to 120 active cases at any one time. When the property market is particularly active \u2013 such as during stamp duty deadline surges \u2013 caseloads can spike further. A solicitor handling this volume of work may struggle to respond to every email within 24 hours, even with the best intentions. This does not excuse poor service, but it explains why some delays occur.

Waiting for third parties

Your solicitor may appear unresponsive because they are waiting for information from a third party before they can give you a meaningful update. Common bottlenecks include:

• Local authority search results (2\u20138 weeks depending on the council)
• The buyer's solicitor responding to enquiries
• HM Land Registry processing title registrations
• Mortgage lender conditions or redemption statements

However, even when waiting for third parties, a good solicitor should still acknowledge your email and explain what they are waiting for. Silence is never acceptable, even when there is genuinely nothing new to report. For more on the overall timeline, see our guide on how long conveyancing takes.

Staffing issues

Smaller firms may have limited cover for holidays, sickness, or staff turnover. If your named case handler is away and no one else has picked up their files, response times can deteriorate quickly. This is a firm management issue rather than an individual solicitor failing, but it affects you just the same.

When slow responses become a real problem

A delayed email reply is frustrating, but it becomes a serious problem when it has tangible consequences for your property sale. Scenarios where slow responses cause real damage include:

• The buyer's mortgage offer expires \u2013 mortgage offers are typically valid for 3 to 6 months. If slow communication pushes the transaction past the offer expiry date, the buyer may need to reapply, causing further delays or potentially killing the sale.
• The buyer loses patience and pulls out \u2013 according to Propertymark, roughly 30% of agreed sales fall through before exchange. Extended timelines caused by poor communication increase this risk significantly.
• Chain complications \u2013 if you are part of a chain, slow progress on your sale holds up every linked transaction. Other parties in the chain may set deadlines, and if your solicitor's slow responses cause you to miss them, the chain can collapse.
• Financial costs mount \u2013 every extra month of delay means additional mortgage payments, council tax, insurance, and maintenance costs on a property you are trying to sell.

If slow responses are actively putting your sale at risk, it is time to take action. For a comprehensive guide on dealing with this situation, see our article on what to do about a slow solicitor.

How to chase your solicitor effectively

There is a right way and a wrong way to chase. Random phone calls and frustrated voicemails are less effective than a structured approach that creates a clear paper trail.

The 48-hour rule

If you have not received a reply within 48 hours of sending an email, send a short, polite follow-up referencing your original message. Keep it specific:

• Reference the date and subject of your original email
• Restate the specific question you need answered
• Ask for an expected timeframe for a full reply

This approach works because it is documented (creating a trail that supports any future complaint), it is specific (not just "any update?"), and it demonstrates that you are tracking response times.

Weekly structured check-ins

For ongoing communication during conveyancing, a weekly check-in email sent on the same day each week is highly effective. Ask three questions:

1. What is the current status of my sale?
2. Who are we waiting on, and for what?
3. Is there anything I can do to help move things forward?

This positions you as collaborative and organised. It also gives your solicitor a regular prompt to review your file, which can prevent it from slipping down the priority list. For more strategies, see our guide on how to speed up conveyancing as a seller.

When email is not working

If two follow-up emails go unanswered, escalate to other channels:

• Call the firm and ask to speak to your case handler or their supervisor. Note the date, time, and who you spoke with.
• Ask your estate agent to chase. Good agents proactively chase solicitors on both sides as part of their sales progression role. They often have existing relationships with local firms and can get through faster than you can.
• Email the managing partner or head of conveyancing (not your case handler) to flag the communication breakdown. This almost always triggers an immediate internal review.

When to escalate: the formal complaints process

If repeated chasing has not improved response times and you believe the service is unacceptable, you have a clear escalation path.

Step 1: Formal complaint to the firm

Every solicitor firm regulated by the SRA must have an internal complaints procedure. Submit your complaint in writing to the firm's designated complaints handler (usually the managing partner, not your case handler). Include:

• Specific dates of unanswered emails and missed callbacks
• A timeline showing the pattern of poor communication
• What outcome you want (e.g. a named handler with a committed response time, a partial fee refund, or a written explanation)
• A deadline for the firm's response (the SRA guidance suggests firms should acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days)

A formal complaint often produces an immediate improvement because firms take their SRA compliance obligations seriously. The firm has eight weeks to resolve your complaint.

Step 2: Legal Ombudsman

If the firm does not resolve your complaint satisfactorily within eight weeks, you can escalate to the Legal Ombudsman. Established under the Legal Services Act 2007, the Legal Ombudsman is the independent body for resolving complaints about legal service providers in England and Wales.

The Legal Ombudsman can order your solicitor to:

• Apologise
• Refund some or all of your fees
• Pay compensation of up to \u00a350,000 for the impact of poor service
• Put things right at no additional cost to you

You must complain to the Legal Ombudsman within one year of the act or omission, or within one year of when you first became aware of the problem.

Step 3: Consider switching solicitors

If the communication problem is ongoing and threatening the sale, switching solicitors mid-transaction is an option. Under SRA rules, your current solicitor must release your file to a new firm promptly. However, switching typically adds 2 to 4 weeks and additional costs of \u00a3500 to \u00a32,000. For guidance on choosing a new firm, see our guide on how to instruct a solicitor for selling.

Setting expectations before you instruct

The most effective way to avoid communication problems is to set clear expectations before you formally instruct a solicitor. During your initial conversation, ask:

1. What is your committed response time for routine emails? \u2013 Look for a commitment of 24 to 48 hours for routine queries and same-day for urgent matters.
2. Will I have a named case handler? \u2013 A named handler means accountability. If your case is handled by a pool of staff, communications can fall between the cracks.
3. How many active cases does your team currently handle? \u2013 Firms are often reluctant to share this, but it is a fair question. A conveyancer handling more than 100 cases at once is unlikely to deliver consistently fast responses.
4. Do you have an online portal or case tracker? \u2013 Real-time case trackers reduce the need for email chasing by giving you visibility into where your transaction stands at any point.
5. What is your complaints procedure? \u2013 Under SRA rules, firms must tell you about their complaints procedure at the outset. Asking this question signals that you take service standards seriously.

Get these commitments in writing as part of the terms of engagement. They give you a clear benchmark if you need to escalate later.

How response times vary by firm type

Response times can differ depending on the type of firm you instruct, though individual variation within each category is significant.

Regardless of firm type, the fundamental question is the same: does this firm have the capacity and systems to keep you informed throughout the transaction?

How Pine helps sellers stay in control

Pine is designed to reduce your dependency on solicitor response times by helping you do the heavy lifting before your buyer arrives. By completing your TA6 Property Information Form, TA10 Fittings and Contents Form, and ordering property searches before listing, you remove weeks of waiting time from the post-offer phase. When your solicitor has less work to do after the offer is accepted, the impact of slower response times is significantly reduced \u2013 because the critical early-stage preparation is already done.

Sources and further reading

• Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) \u2013 Standards and Regulations, Principles, and Code of Conduct for Solicitors (sra.org.uk)
• The Law Society \u2013 Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) standards, client communication guidance, and Find a Solicitor tool (lawsociety.org.uk)
• Legal Ombudsman \u2013 Independent complaints body for legal services in England and Wales, including compensation limits and time limits for complaints (legalombudsman.org.uk)
• Legal Services Act 2007 \u2013 The legislation that established the Legal Ombudsman and the framework for regulation of legal services (legislation.gov.uk)
• Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) \u2013 Regulatory standards and register of licensed conveyancers (clc.gov.uk)
• HomeOwners Alliance \u2013 Consumer research on conveyancing experience and solicitor satisfaction surveys (hoa.org.uk)
• Propertymark \u2013 Market reports and data on fall-through rates and conveyancing delays (propertymark.co.uk)

Frequently asked questions