The length of time that your transaction will take will often be dictated by upon how quickly others involved in the transaction want to deal with it. Stratford Solicitors will always try and make sure that your transaction takes no longer than is absolutely necessary.

However, the time taken may be entirely outside of your, or our, control – for example if you are buying from someone who does not yet have a house to move to or you are selling to someone who has not got all of their funds in place.

On average a transaction usually takes between 10 and 16 weeks. If it is a simple transaction without a long chain of related transactions then it might be quicker but if there are lots of properties involved in a long chain of transactions, then it might take longer.  Lease extensions can take from 4 – 8 months.

For instance, you might be a first-time buyer who is purchasing a new build property with a mortgage where you could easily complete in 8-10 weeks. However, if you are buying and selling a property, it could take considerably longer because others in the chain of transactions do not want to go ahead that quickly.  This may also be reflected in the price that we need to charge – especially if substantial negotiations are involved.

On a purchase, the time taken in relation to each stage is dependent upon a number of factors.  The pre-contract stage will be dependent upon how quickly third parties reply to our enquiries and how quickly others involved in any chain of transactions wish to proceed.  The post-contract stage will be determined by what the parties want – with everyone in a chain of transactions often needing to agree the same completion date. The post completion stage will depend mainly upon how long H M Land Registry take to register the transaction, something over which we have little or no influence.

On a sale, the pre-contract stage will be dependent upon how quickly third parties raise their enquiries and how quickly others involved in any chain of transactions wish to proceed.  The post-contract stage will be determined by what the parties want – with everyone in a chain of transactions often needing to agree the same completion date. The post completion stage will normally be fairly quick and will depend mainly upon how quickly any lender processes the discharge of a mortgage on the property.

We will always make sure that you are kept fully up-to-date with the likely time-scale.

Some of the factors that can influence how long the transaction can take and over which we have little or no control include:

• Waiting for the Local Authority to report on matters affecting the property, such as planning permissions and building consents;
• The time taken by the vendor to respond to any questions about the property, such as details of fixtures and fittings or certificates/guarantees for work done to the property;
• If the property is leasehold, waiting for the management company to provide details of service charges and ground rent;
• Waiting for the purchaser to agree matters with a purchaser of their property;
• Where someone drops out in the middle of a chain of transactions;
• Waiting for the mortgage lender to provide the mortgage papers for signing.

To ensure your transaction proceeds as quickly as possible we will always chase up the progress of your transaction and will not simply wait for something to happen. However, just because the transaction is not moving forwards does not mean that it us that is holding it up.  We will always try and keep you up to date.