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Property Transaction Timescales

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Any type of property transaction involves several important steps and sometimes this process can be time consuming. As we draw closer to the Stamp Duty Land Tax deadline on the 31st March 2025, thousands of individuals across England and Wales will be rushing to complete on their property transactions. Here at Johnson Astills, we are here to make the journey as smooth as possible.

There are many different reasons why a transaction may take a longer time than anticipated.

Here are a few:

Is the property Leasehold?

If the property you are buying or selling is leasehold it is more likely that the transaction may take longer than a freehold property sale due to the involvement of third parties like landlords, management companies and freeholders.

Leasehold transactions are generally more complex, therefore there are more checks to be carried out by your conveyancers and more enquiries to deal with.

Finances

Ideally you should have your finances in place before applying for a mortgage offer. A decision in principle is confirmation from your lender that they are prepared to lend on your proposed purchase. However, keeping the state of the economy and the fluctuating interest rates, you may want to shop around for the best deal which may also take some time.

If you are using a Help to Buy ISA or Lifetime ISA, there are particular requirements that may need to be satisfied depending on the provider before the release of funds. These requirements must be satisfied before exchange of contracts.

Chain

A number of linked transactions occur when people usually sell their property and purchase a property simultaneously. This is one of the major reasons a transaction may be delayed. Exchange of contracts must take place simultaneously on all the transactions and this may cause delays as everyone in the chain needs to agree on the same dates.

In some cases, one or more individuals may pull out of a transaction causing the chain to collapse, which increases the length of the transaction.

Please get in touch with Johnson Astills today and we would be more than happy to discuss your requirements further. Please call us at our office in Leicester on 0116 255 4855 or our office in Loughborough on 01509 610 312 and ask to speak to a member of the Property Team. Alternatively, you may prefer to email us at legal@johnsonastills.com or fill in our enquiry form.

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