Everyone has a story about the stress of moving house. For those buying a new home, the process of exchanging contracts is perhaps even more nerve-racking than loading their worldly possessions into the back of a van.
When I started in the property game in the late 1970s, buying a property – that’s when you pay your 10 per cent deposit and your sale becomes irrevocable, not when your agent says ‘well done, your offer has been accepted’ – took roughly eight weeks. It now takes over 20, which is absurd. This extra time contributes the lion’s share of stress and seems to be getting worse.
There are roughly half as many solicitors doing conveyancing now as there were in 2005
Sure, there are roughly half as many solicitors doing conveyancing now as there were in 2005, but it’s still tough to explain the extra delay, especially given the advent of email and digital signatures, among other advances.
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