Conveyancing delays have been the subject of much debate by estate agents but the latest data reveals that there are hold-ups throughout the process says Ochresoft Managing Director Rob Gurney (pictured).

Ochresoft’s research shows that although the average time from instruction to completion came down last year, from 123 days to 120, average conveyancing times have been steadily increasing for nearly two decades.

Since 2007, the average sale transaction time has increased by 88% and by 60% for purchase transactions.

Every metric increased

During that period, the timings for every metric have increased except searches.

Sales instruction to exchange timelines have increased by 101% since 2007, up from 75 days to 151 days, and purchase instruction to exchanges have gone up by 65% (66 to 109 days).

The property transaction process remains incredibly complex and fragmented, timelines aren’t decreasing.”

Despite technology improvements in the lending sector, its timings have worsened, too. It now takes 59 days from instructing a conveyancer to receiving a mortgage offer, up from 38 days in 2017.

And the time between pre-contract enquiries to replies received has more than doubled from 26 days in 2007 to 60 days.

The lone bright spot for conveyancing is the search process, which has sped up from 18 to 10 days.

Property data firm, Landmark’s boss Simon Brown tells Todays Conveyancer: “The property transaction process remains incredibly complex and fragmented, timelines aren’t decreasing.

Negative impacts

“The negative impacts of such delays are felt keenly, not only by sellers and purchasers but by stakeholders right across the industry.”

And Mike Holden, Landmark’s Divisional Director of Growth: “For agents, long transaction times can result in cashflow problems, an increased chance of transactions falling through, and more energy and resources being spent on progressing existing sales rather than adding to their pipeline.

“It can be disheartening to put an enormous amount of energy into marketing a property, only for one party to pull out after becoming disenchanted with the lengthy process.”