Before they ask:
What does a conveyancer ask for when you sell a house?
Identity and title first, then the property information form, then enquiries raised by the buyer's solicitor on whatever the answers reveal, then anything the survey throws up. The slow items are leasehold packs, council records and anything needing a third party.
- How long
- Whole process, typically months
- Typical cost
- Varies
- Who asks
- Your conveyancer and the buyer's solicitor
Enquiries do not arrive as a list. They arrive in waves, each triggered by the last, and that sequencing is why an unprepared sale stretches out.
The rough sequence
1. Instruction and identity. Your conveyancer verifies who you are and takes instructions. Quick, but it cannot start until you instruct — which is after you accept an offer.
2. Title. They obtain the title from the Land Registry and review it. Anything unusual — a restriction, a covenant, a right of way, a registered lease for solar panels — surfaces here.
3. The property information form. You complete the TA6, and if leasehold, the additional leasehold form. This is where most of the work lands on you.
4. The buyer’s searches. Local authority, drainage and water, environmental, and anything the location dictates. Local searches vary considerably by council.
5. Enquiries. The buyer’s solicitor reads everything and raises specific questions. This is the wave that depends most on how well you did step 3.
6. The survey. On the buyer’s timetable, and it raises its own set — damp, roof, electrics, drainage, structural movement.
7. Follow-up enquiries. Whatever steps 5 and 6 turned up.
The lead times that matter
Not all enquiries are equal. The ones that set your timetable are the ones you cannot answer yourself:
| Item | Who controls it | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Leasehold management pack | Managing agent | Commonly several weeks |
| Council building control records | Local authority | 2–6 weeks |
| Local authority search | Local authority | Days to weeks, varies widely |
| Drainage survey | Contractor | 1–3 weeks |
| Electrical condition report | Contractor | 1–2 weeks |
| Replacement FENSA certificate | Scheme | Days |
| New EPC | Assessor | 1–2 weeks |
The critical path. These run in parallel, so your timetable is set by the longest one, not the sum. If you are selling a flat, the management pack is almost certainly it — which is why requesting it before you list is worth more than everything else on this page combined.
Where the leverage shifts
There is a moment in most transactions where the balance tips. It is usually when the survey lands in the middle of an enquiry backlog.
The buyer now has a professional report listing things they would like addressed, you are months in, your onward purchase is waiting, and the alternative to conceding is starting again. That is the point at which price reductions happen, and it has more to do with exhaustion and elapsed time than with the defects themselves.
Preparation does not remove the survey. It removes the backlog the survey lands in.
Common questions
Why does it come in waves rather than all at once?
Because each stage depends on the last. The buyer's solicitor cannot raise specific enquiries until they have seen your answers and the title. The survey happens on the buyer's timetable and raises its own. Each wave is a fresh round trip, which is why an unprepared sale stretches.
Which items take longest?
Anything requiring a third party you do not control. Leasehold management packs are usually the worst. Council building control records are next. Anything requiring a contractor to attend — a drainage survey, an electrical report — is a week or two on top of their availability.
Can I start any of it before I have a buyer?
Most of it, yes. Gathering certificates, requesting a leasehold pack, establishing your drainage arrangement and working through the property information form can all happen before you list. Almost nobody does, which is the entire premise of preparing.
Do I have to answer everything?
You must answer honestly, and there are things you are obliged to disclose. Whether a particular enquiry needs answering, and how, is a judgement for your conveyancer — there are enquiries that are properly resisted as being for the buyer's own searches to establish.
Last reviewed 13 September 2026. England and Wales.
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