Homesellers face months of delays
The latest market analysis from House Buyer Bureau has revealed that home sellers in some parts of the country are facing Local Authority search waiting times of more than 90 days, with growing legal bottlenecks increasingly putting transactions at risk before they reach the finish line.
House Buyer Bureau analysed the latest Local Authority search turnaround time data, looking at how long councils across the UK are taking to return search results, a critical stage of the legal process that can significantly delay the progression of a sale.
Local Authority searches form a key part of the conveyancing process, uncovering important information held within council records, including local land charges, planning matters, and restrictions attached to a property. However, growing delays at this stage are contributing to an increasingly slow and fragile sales process.
House Buyer Bureau’s analysis shows that in some parts of the country, search turnaround times now exceed three months.
Bracknell Forest Borough Council currently has the longest average turnaround time in the UK at 92 working days, having increased by 85 working days over the last two years alone, largely due to major IT system issues.
The London Boroughs of Camden and Merton, alongside Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, now all average 52 working days for Local Authority search turnaround times. In Merton, this marks an increase of 42 working days compared to 2024.
Elsewhere, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council has seen average turnaround times climb to 47 working days following a 42-day increase, whilst North East Derbyshire District Council, North Somerset Council, Oxford City Council and Tamworth Borough Council all now average 42 working days.
Further notable increases have been seen across Vale of White Horse District Council (+29 days), Luton Borough Council (+27 days), Plymouth City Council (+27 days), South Oxfordshire District Council (+27 days), and the London Borough of Newham (+27 days).
Managing Director of House Buyer Bureau, Chris Hodgkinson, commented:
“One of the biggest frustrations for sellers in the current market is that transactions are simply taking far too long to progress, and delays during the legal stages are becoming a major reason why so many sales are struggling to make it to exchange.
When sellers accept an offer, many expect the hard part to be over. In reality, the process can then drag on for months whilst searches, legal enquiries and paperwork slowly work their way through the system.
The longer a transaction takes, the greater the chance that something goes wrong. Buyers lose patience, mortgage offers expire, circumstances change, chains break down, and sales that looked secure suddenly collapse before reaching the finish line.
What makes it even more frustrating is that many of these delays sit completely outside of the seller’s control, yet they are often the ones left dealing with the consequences, whether that’s wasted time, additional costs, or having to restart the entire process from scratch.
It’s one of the key reasons we’re seeing more sellers prioritise certainty and speed when choosing how to sell, particularly those who simply don’t want to risk months of uncertainty only to see a sale fall apart late in the process.”
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