The homebuying process is taking over three times longer than buyers expect, a major new survey has revealed.

The study, carried out by the Open Property Data Association (OPDA), also revealed that the expectations and reality of completion times varies significantly by age group and postcode region.

The survey quizzed over 5,000 people from across the UK who had bought or sold a property in the past five years. More than 95% of respondents had bought or sold a property in that time.

Some 57% of those surveyed thought that the homebuying process would take less than two months from when the offer was accepted to exchanging contracts but, in reality, 46% discovered that it took between three and six months. For a further unlucky 16%, their completion took more than six months. Despite most respondents not being first time buyers and having some previous experience of the process, 62% of people took well over three months to exchange.

The poorest served region with the highest proportion of people waiting longer than expected was the West Midlands where nearly 20% of transactions took in excess of six months. This was closely followed by the North-East at 19% of transactions, then East Anglia and the South-West where over 18% of transactions took that long.

Surprisingly, Northern Ireland was the best place to move house if you wanted a speedy home move, outperforming even Scotland which is often hailed as having a better process, with 52% of transactions being achieved within two months, almost meeting the expectations of the 58% who thought that two months was an acceptable timescale.

The survey also revealed that the most popular reason for buying was a first home (38% of respondents), followed by upsizing to a larger home (27%). Surprisingly, the South-West, rather than London, emerged as the most popular spot for relocating for work.

OPDA’s survey is part of its new research into how homebuying can be radically improved through access to safe, shareable and trustable digital data. OPDA will publish more survey results shortly, and the research will be published in full at an official launch. The research will include key recommendations to government around digitising the homebuying process.

Maria Harris, chair of OPDA, said: “Our large-scale survey regrettably but predictably confirms what we have long asserted, that homebuying is not the customer centric experience it should be. The current process delivers an appallingly slow, unpredictable, and disappointing experience for the majority of home buyers and sellers.

“Buying a home, especially your first, should be a cause for celebration. Instead, it too frequently leaves buyers open to heartbreak and unfulfilled expectations and is not fit for purpose. Clearly, customers expect a better homebuying experience and reform is urgently needed to achieve this.”