Questions to Ask a Conveyancer About Speed
Roughly 40 days separate the fastest and slowest conveyancing firms on median time-to-exchange. These ten questions tell you which end you are hiring.
What you need to know
Median time-to-exchange varies by around 40 days between the fastest and slowest conveyancing firms, and the factors that predict it are askable in advance: caseload per fee-earner, target turnaround on enquiries, whether you get a named contact, and whether the firm will start before you list. Price and AI marketing predict very little.
- Caseload per fee-earner is the single most revealing question — under 60 good, over 100 means queueing.
- Ask for a target turnaround on each round of enquiries; a firm without one is not measuring.
- Whether they will start work before you list matters more than any other single answer.
- 'Do you use AI' is a weak question — 80% of firms do. Ask what for, and who checks it.
- Refusal to state caseload, no named contact, or an un-itemised quote are all reasons to keep looking.
Most sellers choose a conveyancer on price, because price is the only number in front of them. Meanwhile industry analysis puts the spread in median time-to-exchange between the fastest and slowest firms at around 40 days.
The factors that produce that spread are knowable in advance. You just have to ask about them.
The ten questions
1. How many live cases will my fee-earner be handling?
The most revealing question you can ask, and the one firms are least expecting.
| Answer | What it means |
|---|---|
| 30–60 | Capacity to work your file when it needs working |
| 60–90 | Workable, but expect some queueing |
| 90–120+ | Your file progresses when it reaches the top of a queue |
| “We don't track that” | They do. Treat the non-answer as an answer. |
2. What is your target turnaround on a round of enquiries?
Enquiries are sequential — each round waits on the last — so turnaround compounds. A firm with a stated target (say, three working days) is measuring itself. A firm that says “as soon as we can” is not.
3. Will I have a named contact, and a direct line?
“You'll be looked after by our team” means nobody owns your file. When something needs chasing at week seven, you want a name and a number, not a general inbox.
4. Will you start work before I list?
The highest-impact answer on this list. Title review, contract drafting and searches can all happen before a buyer exists, and doing so removes the largest block of dead time in the process.
Some firms decline because it does not suit their workflow to open a file on an uncertain transaction. That is a real answer about their priorities. See when to instruct a solicitor before listing.
5. Can you order my searches now?
Local authority searches take two to eight weeks depending on the council and are the single largest item on the critical path. Ordering them at listing rather than after an offer removes that wait entirely.
6. What is your average time from instruction to exchange?
Some firms track this and will tell you. Many do not. Either response is informative — a firm that measures its own cycle time is a different kind of operation from one that does not.
7. Who covers my file when my fee-earner is on leave?
A fortnight of annual leave in the middle of your transaction, with no cover, is a genuine and common cause of a stalled sale.
8. What do you use AI for, and who checks the output?
Note the phrasing. Asking whether they use AI is nearly useless — around eight in ten firms do. Asking what for, and who reviews it, separates a real deployment from a marketing line. A good answer names tasks (title review, enquiry drafting, search summarisation) and a named qualified reviewer. See can AI speed up conveyancing.
9. Is this quote fully itemised, including all disbursements?
A speed question as much as a cost one. Firms that surface fees later tend to be the firms that surface everything later. See how to compare conveyancing quotes.
10. Are you on my buyer's lender's panel?
Mostly relevant if you are also buying, but worth confirming. A firm not on the relevant panel means a second firm has to be instructed for the lender's work, adding cost and coordination.
Answers that should end the conversation
- Refusing to give a caseload figure. They know it.
- No target turnaround on enquiries. Nothing is being measured.
- No named contact. Nobody owns your file.
- “We start once you have a buyer.” They are optimising their workflow, not your timeline.
- An un-itemised quote. The number will grow.
What not to weight heavily
- Headline price. The gap between the cheapest and a good mid-priced firm is usually £200 to £400. A collapsed sale costs around £2,700 plus months of time.
- Physical proximity. Conveyancing is done by post, email and portal. A local office is a preference, not an advantage.
- Expedited service fees.Usually buys priority within that firm's queue, not faster searches or a faster lender.
- Your estate agent's recommendation, on its own. Referral fees of £200 to £400 per case are common and are currently under review by the CLC. Get two other quotes. See the full argument.
Sources and further reading
- The Law Society— Conveyancing Quality Scheme and find-a-solicitor (lawsociety.org.uk)
- Council for Licensed Conveyancers— Find a conveyancer; referral fee review (clc.gov.uk)
- Solicitors Regulation Authority— Find a Solicitor register (sra.org.uk)
- HomeOwners Alliance— Choosing a conveyancer (hoa.org.uk)
Related guides
- How to Choose a Conveyancer
- Fastest Conveyancing in the UK
- How to Exchange Contracts in 4 Weeks
- What to Ask a Solicitor Before Instructing
- AI vs a Traditional Conveyancing Firm
- How to Compare Conveyancing Quotes
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask a conveyancer to find out if they are fast?
The most revealing question is how many live cases each fee-earner handles. Under 60 suggests capacity to work your file when it needs working; over 100 means your matter progresses when it reaches the top of a queue. Follow it with their target turnaround on a round of enquiries, whether you get a named contact with a direct line, and whether they will start work before you list.
How much difference does the choice of conveyancer make?
More than most sellers assume. Industry analysis of UK residential transactions shows a spread of roughly 40 days in median time-to-exchange between the fastest and slowest conveyancing firms, and wider still where a developer-recommended or under-resourced firm is involved. On a typical sale that is the difference between exchanging in eight weeks and exchanging in fourteen.
Is a cheaper conveyancer slower?
Not automatically, but the correlation is real because both usually trace back to caseload. Firms competing on headline price tend to run higher caseloads per fee-earner, and caseload is one of the better predictors of responsiveness. The saving between the cheapest and a mid-priced firm is typically £200 to £400; the cost of a collapsed sale is around £2,700.
Should I ask whether a firm uses AI?
It is a weak question on its own — around eight in ten conveyancing firms now use AI, so the answer is almost always yes and tells you very little. A better version is to ask what they use it for and who checks the output. A firm with a real deployment names specific tasks; a firm with a marketing deployment talks about efficiency in general terms.
What answers should make me walk away?
Refusing to state a caseload figure, having no target turnaround on enquiries, being unwilling to give you a named contact, declining to start work before you list, and any quote that is not fully itemised including disbursements. None of these are individually fatal, but a firm that gives you two or three of them is telling you how the next three months will go.
Should I ask my estate agent to recommend a conveyancer?
You can, but treat it as a lead rather than a recommendation. Estate agents commonly receive referral fees of £200 to £400 per case, which the panel firm recovers through higher fees or higher caseloads. That does not make the firm bad, but the recommendation is not independent, and referral arrangements are currently under review by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. Get two other quotes.
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