The vast majority of vendors would be prepared to pay more to have a faster conveyancing process that ensures a property deal is completed faster, according to a new survey.

The poll, carried out by iamproperty, revealed that 88% of vendors would be prepared to pay more to have a faster conveyancing process.

Some 75% of estate agents say that any new technology that would speed up sales and aid the conveyancing process would be appealing, as frustrations around the length of time it takes to buy a property through private treaty remain, with timescales increasing to an average of 132 days over the last 12-months.

iamproperty surveyed UK vendors and agents to understand the impact of conveyancing on their transactions, exploring how they perceive the process, the pitfalls and potential solutions.

The top frustration for consumers when selling a property is the conveyancing process taking too long (50%), followed by time-wasting (viewing the property and not planning to buy, 48%) and wishing solicitors were more proactive (doing paperwork earlier, 46%).

Most conveyancing frustrations are because the process takes longer than vendors hope or expected (49%). Vendors are most likely to find their own conveyancing solicitor (31%), although estate agent recommendations are important (22%). Getting their property sale ready before it goes onto the market was appealing to vendors, as the benefit of transaction speed outweighed additional costs.

Just like vendors, the conveyancing process taking too long is the biggest issue for agents (80%). Buyers dropping out was a bigger issue for agents than vendors, which ranked as the second top frustration (70%).

The process taking too long was the top conveyancing frustration for agents (62%), followed by poor communication / no updates from solicitors (31%).

Ben Ridgway, co-founder of iamproperty, said: “The volume of property transactions in the UK has more than doubled in the last 10 years, from 714,000 in 2012 to over 1.3 million in 2022. But processes haven’t caught up and the adoption of impactful tech solutions is lagging behind. Couple that with a continued decline in the number of conveyancers (10 per cent in the last 10 years) and it’s no wonder the process is still slow and fragmented.

“When we consider that back in 2007 transaction timescales were an average of 82 days, it’s no wonder frustrations are worsening for UK buyers and sellers. Estate agents are feeling the impact too, taking the brunt of it when clients are frustrated, as well as the knock-on effect of transactions not running as smoothly as they could be.”