How long do searches take? Use the wait to plan and cost your works

Your offer's been accepted, the survey's back, and your solicitor says they're "waiting on searches". Then a few weeks go by, and you start wondering if something's gone wrong.

Usually nothing has. Searches take time, and how much depends a lot on where the house is. But the wait isn't dead time. It's the best chance you'll get to understand your survey properly, plan the work and know your numbers while you can still ask questions and, if needed, renegotiate.

I'm Ben Murrell. I started as a carpenter's apprentice in the late 1990s and I've spent nearly 30 years in building since. Here's how long searches tend to take, why, and what I'd do with the time.

What searches are, in plain terms

Your solicitor orders searches to find out things a viewing or survey can't. The usual ones are:

• Local authority search. Planning history, building control records, roads, enforcement notices and other entries held by the council.
• Drainage and water search. Whether the house is connected to the public sewer and mains water, and where the public sewers run.
• Environmental search. Things like past land use, contamination, ground stability and flood risk.
• Others, depending on the area. A coal mining search in mining areas, chancel repair liability, and sometimes extra flood or ground checks.

How long each search typically takes

Local authority searches are almost always the slow one, and they vary hugely by council. An April 2026 analysis by Property Rescue of SearchFlow turnaround data across 395 councils in England and Wales put the average at 10 working days (the median was 8). About two-thirds of councils came back within 10 working days, but roughly one in eleven took longer than 20 working days. In May 2026, House Buyer Bureau figures reported by The Negotiator said waits in some areas had gone past four months.

So if a friend got theirs back in a week and you're on week five, it's very likely just the council area, not a problem with your purchase.

Drainage and water searches are usually quick. The water companies' own body, DWSN, reported an industry average of 1.43 days in 2021, and providers commonly quote up to around 5 working days.

Environmental searches come from digital data, so they're quicker still. Groundsure's residential product guide (February 2026) lists turnaround of under 24 hours for its standard homebuyer reports.

Coal mining searches are normally quoted at up to 5 working days.

The whole purchase takes far longer than any one search. Connells found that in April 2026 the average home took 104 days to go from offer agreed to exchange: 97 days for a freehold and 155 for a leasehold. HomeOwners Alliance guides people to expect roughly 12 to 16 weeks from offer to completion. Searches are one piece of that, alongside the mortgage, enquiries and the rest of the chain.

Why some councils take longer

This isn't anyone being slow on purpose. A local authority search pulls together records from several departments, including planning, building control and highways. Some of those records go back decades and have to be checked by hand. Land charges teams are often small, and demand goes up and down with the housing market.

System changes can also cause a hold-up for a while. In April 2026 the BBC reported a backlog at one council after a new IT system covering planning, highways, building control and land charges was introduced. The council held searches back until it was confident the data was accurate, which is the right call.

Things are improving. HM Land Registry is moving councils' local land charges registers onto one national digital register. In September 2026 it said the programme had reached the halfway point, and that people now get that information 12.5 days earlier on average than before.

Your solicitor can tell you the expected turnaround for your council. Beyond that, it's waiting, so use the time well.

What to do while you wait

Forums like MoneySavingExpert and Mumsnet are full of buyers in this spot: refreshing their inbox, unsure whether to chase, wondering whether to start packing, and getting attached to a house they don't own yet. The usual advice there is to declutter rather than pack. The builder's version is to get your plans and paperwork in order.

1. Read the survey properly, once, with a pen. Not at 11pm on your phone. Make a list of every item with a condition rating 3 or 2, plus anything marked for further investigation. If the wording's getting in the way, the survey jargon decoder helps. Your surveyor is usually happy to clarify anything in their report, so ask.

2. Separate urgent from cosmetic. Split the list into three: things that affect safety, the structure or keeping water out; things that will get worse if left; and things that are just tired or not to your taste. That one exercise takes a lot of the panic out (sort urgent from cosmetic). For anything marked "further investigation", this is the window to get the right specialist booked, with the seller's agreement, before you commit.

3. Put the works in order. The order matters as much as the list. Roughly: keep the weather out first (roof, chimney, gutters), then sort damp at its cause, then any structural repairs, then first fix (rewiring, plumbing, heating) while walls and floors are open. Plastering comes after that, and decorating comes last. Nobody wants to decorate twice. Writing it down as a simple schedule of works makes it real.

4. Work out what needs permission or sign-off. Taking out a wall, a new bathroom in a new spot, a rewire, replacement windows or a loft conversion may need building regulations approval, and some changes need planning permission. Use the planning permission checker and building regulations checker as a starting point.

5. Get a realistic budget range, with contingency. You don't need exact prices yet, just a range for each item, from "straightforward" to "we opened it up and found more". Then add a contingency on top, because older houses nearly always have a surprise somewhere. If you want rough starting ranges, the survey repair cost calculator is there, but treat any online figure as a guide, not a quote.

6. Line up trades and lead times. Good trades are often booked weeks or months ahead, and windows and kitchens have their own lead times. You can't book firm dates before exchange, but you can make contact and ask about availability.

7. Ask for the paperwork now. Through your solicitor, ask the seller for anything that backs up the survey or answers its questions: FENSA or CERTASS certificates for replacement windows, building regs sign-offs for extensions or removed walls, timber or damp treatment guarantees, a recent EICR, a gas safety record and boiler service history.

8. Decide about renegotiating before you exchange. Once you exchange, you're committed. If the survey has turned up something significant that wasn't reflected in your offer, now is the time to raise it calmly with specific items and, ideally, a tradesperson's quote (how much you can negotiate). And if the picture really doesn't add up, it's fine to step back (should I pull out after a survey?).

An illustrative example (made up, not a real client)

Say a couple buying a 1950s semi are told searches will take about six weeks. Their survey mentions an ageing roof covering, damp low on a back wall, an old consumer unit and a kitchen they hate. In week one they split the list: roof and damp first, electrics tested, kitchen later. They ask the seller for an EICR and any roof or damp guarantees, and put a budget range and contingency against each item. When the searches come back, they know what to ask for, what happens in year one, and that the kitchen is a year-two job.

Where a builder's second opinion helps

This is the bit I do. Chat to Your Builder is independent: I don't quote for or carry out the work, and I take no referral fees. So I've no reason to make a job sound bigger or smaller than it is.

I read your survey myself and turn it into a builder's plan: what's urgent and what's cosmetic, what order the work goes in, what each job involves on site, and what needs permission or sign-off. I'll also talk you through how to build a realistic cost picture: what drives the price on each item, where the unknowns are, what to put in your contingency, and which quotes to get first. I won't give you a quote, because I'm not doing the work and haven't seen the house. You'll know what to ask the trades who do.

I don't replace your surveyor or solicitor; I work from what they've given you. I don't visit, so where something needs checking in person, I'll tell you who to call.

If the searches are out and you'd like to use the time well, send me your survey. If it's just one thing on your mind, ask me a quick question.