Your sale's most dangerous moment is the wait for searches
Between an accepted offer and exchange of contracts, England and Wales leaves everything "subject to contract" — nothing is binding, and either side can walk. The longer that window, the more sales die in it: nearly one in three UK transactions now falls through, up from around one in six just a couple of years ago. The UK is among the slowest property markets in the developed world; Australia, North America and Sweden routinely complete in under 45 days.
The single biggest controllable chunk of that delay is searches. A standard local authority search runs two to four weeks, and up to eight — longer still when councils go down, as several London boroughs did after a November 2025 cyber-attack. Every one of those weeks is a week your buyer can be gazumped, lose their nerve, or watch their chain unravel.
Can the buyer rely on your searches? Yes — and that's the whole point
The objection people raise about seller-commissioned searches is "will the buyer's side actually use them?" The answer, in most cases, is yes. Where the search is an official local authority search — or a regulated personal search produced through a Search Code / PCCB-accredited provider — the buyer and their lender are relying on the same public data and the same indemnitythey'd get by ordering it themselves. The buyer's conveyancer isn't obliged to accept it, but is likely to, because re-ordering saves little money and costs weeks. They'll simply check the search type, their lender's requirements, and that it's within its validity window (typically three to six months).
So a TrueBrick Sell pack does two jobs at once: it's the comfort signalon your listing — "searches done, this sale is ready to move" — and it carries the actual, reliable search reportsyour buyer's solicitor can take forward. Buyer confidence at the front; weeks saved at the back.
What buyers see — and what their solicitor gets
Your agent puts the TrueBrick Sell pack in front of buyers — on the listing's documents, in the brochure, at viewings — so every serious buyer knows the homework is already done. When an offer is accepted, the underlying regulated searches transfer to the buyer's conveyancer, who can rely on them rather than starting the clock from scratch. The result: fewer surprises, fewer fall-throughs, and a completion measured in weeks saved.
What's in a TrueBrick Sell pack
- Regulated searches — local authority, drainage & water, environmental and flood — produced through an accredited provider
- A plain-English TrueBrick read of what they found, with anything worth knowing flagged
- Title & leasehold summary, interpreted
- Seller ID verification (the KYC step buyers' solicitors will ask for anyway)
- One branded pack your agent can put in front of every buyer — and your buyer's conveyancer can rely on
The government is about to make this the norm
The home-buying and selling reform roadmap commits to mandatory upfront "sales packs" at the point of listing — tenure, EPC, title, seller ID, leasehold terms, flood data, planning consents, a property condition assessment and standard searches— plus binding contracts and digital logbooks. A code of practice is due later in 2026; full legislation is scheduled for the end of this Parliament. The sellers and agents who adopt it early won't just sell faster — they'll already be doing what's about to be required.
TrueBrick is not a law firm. A TrueBrick Sell pack is designed so the underlying regulated searches carry reliance to a buyer's conveyancer and lender, but whether a particular conveyancer or lender accepts them remains their decision, and depends on search type, lender requirements and validity. Nothing here is legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
How long do property searches take in the UK?
A standard local authority search typically takes two to four weeks, and can run to eight — the government's target is 10 working days, but reality varies council by council. It's worse than the averages suggest right now: a November 2025 cyber-attack left several London boroughs unable to process searches for months. A regulated personal search, where an accredited agent inspects the council's records directly, usually returns in two to five working days. That gap is the whole point of doing them early.
Can the buyer actually use my searches, or do they have to do their own?
In most cases they can use yours. Where the search is an official local authority search — or a regulated personal search produced through a Search Code / PCCB-accredited provider — the buyer and their lender get the same data and the same indemnity protection as if they had ordered it themselves. The buyer's conveyancer isn't obliged to accept it, but is likely to, because it saves weeks (it saves time more than cost). They will check the search type, that their lender accepts it, and that it's still within its validity window.
How long are property searches valid for?
Generally three to six months. Most lenders accept searches up to six months old; some require them to be no more than three months old at exchange. Beyond that, a fresh search — or an indemnity insurance policy — may be needed. That's why doing searches at the point of listing (not months before) and then completing promptly is what makes them reusable by your buyer.
Is the government going to make upfront searches mandatory?
That's the direction of travel. The government's home-buying and selling reform roadmap commits to mandatory upfront 'sales packs' at the point of listing — including standard searches and a property condition assessment — alongside binding contracts and digital logbooks. A code of practice is due later in 2026, with full legislation by the end of this Parliament. Doing it now puts you ahead of a requirement that's coming anyway.
Does doing searches early actually speed up my sale?
It removes the single biggest controllable delay between offer and exchange — the weeks everyone normally spends waiting for searches to come back. During that wait, the buyer is free to be gazumped, get cold feet, or watch their chain collapse; nearly one in three UK sales falls through. Getting the searches done, on the listing, and reusable by the buyer's side closes that window.
Sources: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, home buying and selling reform roadmap; Council for Licensed Conveyancers, advisory note on buyers relying on searches commissioned by sellers.