My Conveyancer Is Too Slow: What to Do

Eight weeks into your sale and nothing seems to be moving. Your conveyancer takes days to respond to emails. The buyer is getting twitchy. You start to wonder whether you should switch firms or just keep waiting. This is one of the most common UK home seller frustrations — and one of the most commonly misdiagnosed.

The honest data on UK conveyancing tells a consistent story: most delay traces back to enquiry response time, not legal work. The seller is responsible for some of those response times. The buyer's solicitor is responsible for others. Third parties (freeholder, lender, search providers) are responsible for the rest. Genuine conveyancer-side slowness is real but less common than it feels in the moment.

This guide walks through the diagnostic to figure out what's actually slowing your sale, and the right response for each cause. For the broader question of how to choose a conveyancer in the first place, see our guide on how to choose a conveyancer.

The realistic conveyancing benchmark

A standard UK residential sale has these typical durations:

If you're 4 weeks in and there's no contract pack, search return, or substantive enquiry response, that's worth raising. If you're 12 weeks in and the file is still alive but progress feels slow, you're probably in the average band — frustrating but not unusual. The data point most worth tracking is response time on individual items, not total elapsed time.

Step 1: find out who's actually holding the work

The single most useful email to send your conveyancer:

“Can you send me a status update on my file: what is currently outstanding, who is responsible for each item, and when was the last action on each?”

A reputable firm will produce a clear list within 2 working days. The list will look something like this:

A list like this immediately reveals where the actual bottleneck is. If 3 of 4 items are not the conveyancer's fault, switching conveyancers won't fix anything — you'll just restart the same waiting on the same parties.

Step 2: identify the real cause from the list

Cause A: you (the seller)

The most common cause sellers underestimate. If enquiry responses are sat with you for 1–2 weeks each, you're adding weeks of cumulative delay. Tighten to 48 hours per enquiry batch. See our guide on answering buyer enquiries.

Cause B: the buyer's solicitor

The buyer's solicitor sits on enquiries, drafts slow replies, or fails to chase the buyer's lender. Your conveyancer can chase but not control. The right action: ask your conveyancer to set deadlines and escalate if they slip. If the buyer-side firm is materially slow, your conveyancer can write directly to the supervising partner — a step they rarely take without prompting.

Cause C: the freeholder or managing agent

Leasehold management pack delays are one of the most common causes of slow leasehold sales. Freeholders are often unresponsive. The right actions: chase weekly, escalate to the freeholder's named contact, consider involving your MP's office in extreme cases. See our guide on chasing the freeholder for a management pack.

Cause D: the buyer's lender

Mortgage underwriting can take 2–6 weeks depending on the lender and the buyer's file. Outside everyone's control. The right action: confirm the buyer's offer status weekly and have a contingency plan if the offer expires.

Cause E: the local authority

Search return times vary dramatically between councils — 3 working days in some, 12 weeks in others. Outside everyone's control. Some firms order personal searches in parallel as a back-up.

Cause F: the conveyancer themselves

Genuine conveyancer-side slowness happens but is rarer than sellers assume. Signs: your status update list shows multiple items where the conveyancer was last to act and hasn't done so for 5+ working days. Your emails go unanswered for 5+ working days. The case handler has changed multiple times. The firm gives vague or contradictory updates. If three or more of these apply, escalation is warranted.

Step 3: chase the right thing in the right way

Once you know the actual bottleneck:

If the bottleneck is you

Get your enquiry responses back to your conveyancer within 48 hours. Check the TA6 and TA10 are complete. Gather any missing certificates. Sign the transfer deed promptly when sent. Don't blame the conveyancer for delays you're contributing to.

If the bottleneck is the other side

Ask your conveyancer to set written deadlines and escalate to supervising partners when missed. A diplomatic but firm email from your conveyancer to theirs is the right mechanism. If you've been raising specific concerns repeatedly with no progress for 2+ weeks, ask your conveyancer to consider whether to involve the buyer's firm's regulator.

If the bottleneck is the freeholder

Pursue all available routes: phone, email, registered post. Track every contact attempt. Many freeholders respond once they receive a formal letter. See freeholder not responding for the escalation playbook.

If the bottleneck is the lender or council

Limited room. Confirm the timeline expected, schedule completion accordingly, and ensure no one is sitting on interim work that could happen in parallel.

If the bottleneck is the conveyancer

Three escalation steps:

1. Email request with deadline: “I need a status update by Friday 5pm.”
2. Escalate to supervising partner: Every regulated firm has a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and a supervising partner. Their details are usually on the firm's website or in the engagement letter. Email them directly.
3. Formal complaint: Invoke the firm's written complaints procedure. Firms must acknowledge within 5 working days and resolve within 8 weeks.

Most firms remediate within step 1 or step 2. Step 3 (formal complaint) is rarely needed but very effective when it is. The next step beyond is the Legal Ombudsman.

How to chase your conveyancer professionally

The format that gets the best response:

• Email, not phone. Creates a record. Lets the conveyancer gather information before responding. Reduces frustration on both sides.
• Subject line with file reference: “File [reference] — status update request.”
• Three or fewer specific items. Don't list 12 separate concerns; pick the top 3.
• Specific deadline. “By Friday 5pm please” is concrete and reasonable.
• No emotional language. Conveyancers handle high volume; emotion in emails slows responses.
• Weekly cadence. Once a week works. Daily chasing is counterproductive.

When switching conveyancers makes sense

Switching mid-sale costs you 3–6 weeks of delay (file transfer, new firm getting up to speed, redoing some work like ID checks and AML). It also costs new fees. So switch only when:

• The current conveyancer has been completely unresponsive for 2+ weeks despite escalation through the supervising partner.
• The firm has demonstrated incompetence (multiple errors, contradictory advice, missed obvious points).
• The relationship has broken down to the point where communication is no longer productive.
• Regulatory issues have surfaced (the firm has been fined or suspended by the SRA/CLC during your sale).

In any of these cases, the cost of switching is justified. Otherwise, push the existing firm harder rather than starting over.

The systemic root cause

Step back: most slow UK conveyancing isn't bad conveyancers. It's a system that puts almost all information-gathering after offer acceptance, then runs it serially through 5–8 parties (seller, seller's conveyancer, buyer, buyer's conveyancer, lender, surveyor, freeholder, council). Even if every party responds in 5 working days, the cumulative delay adds up to 12–16 weeks.

The fix isn't a faster conveyancer. The fix is having the information ready before offer acceptance, so most of the serial work can happen in parallel from day one. That's what Pine does — TA6, TA10, searches, title check, leasehold management pack, certificates, all prepared during the listing phase. When an offer comes in, the buyer's solicitor receives a complete pack and can move immediately rather than spending the first 6 weeks requesting documents.

Pine doesn't replace your conveyancer. It gives your conveyancer the inputs they need to move at the top quartile speed (8–12 weeks) instead of the median (14–16 weeks). See our guide on the cost of being sale-ready for the full economic case.

The bottom line

When the conveyancing feels slow:

1. Get a status update — find out who's holding the work.
2. Fix what you control first — your enquiry responses, your TA6, your freeholder chase.
3. Push the other side professionally via your conveyancer.
4. Escalate within your firm if your conveyancer is the bottleneck — supervising partner first, then formal complaint.
5. Switch only as a last resort. The cost usually exceeds the benefit.

Slow conveyancing feels like one problem. It's usually five small problems, most of which aren't the conveyancer.

Sources and further reading

• Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) — Complaints and conduct rules (sra.org.uk)
• Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) — Regulation and complaints (clc.gov.uk)
• Legal Ombudsman — Independent complaints body for legal services (legalombudsman.org.uk)
• The Law Society — Conveyancing protocol and best practice (lawsociety.org.uk)
• HomeOwners Alliance — Consumer guidance on conveyancing delays (hoa.org.uk)

Related guides

• How to Speed Up Conveyancing as a Seller
• Most Common Conveyancing Delays
• Answering Buyer Enquiries
• Freeholder Not Responding
• How to Choose a Conveyancer
• The Real Cost of Being Sale-Ready
• Why Do House Sales Fall Through?

Frequently asked questions