Nationally, the average length of time it takes from agreeing the sale of a property to the keys being handed over is 111 days (down from 117 days last year), yet in Walsall, we are above the national average at 120 days.

So why does it take just over 17 weeks, when all that is required is the lawyers to look at some paperwork and get a mortgage? Also, what can Walsall homebuyers and sellers do to speed this up?

• 1,215 properties have sold in the Walsall area in the last 12 months (Detached 274, Semi-Detached 451, Terraced 385, Flats 105).
• It only takes 36 days to sell a Walsall home, so why does it take 120 days from the sold board going up to the buyer getting the keys?
• With a shortage of solicitors and a sub-standard conveyancing system, this article discusses what Walsall house sellers (and buyers) can do to speed up the house buying process.

The legal process to buy and sell a UK property is called conveyancing. The conveyancing system itself hasn’t really changed in hundreds of years. When the housing market was reopened after the first lockdown in the spring of 2020, the property market returned with a bang, helped on with the stamp duty holiday.

In 2021, the number of properties selling in Walsall in some months went up massively, e.g., by 65% in March 2021 and by 96% in June 2021. Many conveyancers and solicitors had to sort the legal paperwork out for upwards of 70 to 90 properties each at any one time.