My buyer's solicitor keeps raising enquiries. Is that bad?

Enquiries are the formal written questions a buyer's solicitor sends to your solicitor about the property, the title, and the paperwork, before their client is willing to exchange contracts. They are raised on the back of the contract pack you provide, including the TA6 property information form you complete as the seller.

Why is my buyer's solicitor asking so many questions?

Because it is their job to protect their client from buying a problem. The buyer's solicitor has a duty to check the legal title, the boundaries, any alterations, the guarantees, and anything the searches flag. A longer list of enquiries often reflects a cautious solicitor or a property with more history, not a buyer who is getting cold feet.

Which enquiries are normal, and which are a red flag?

A single large batch of enquiries early on is a good sign, because it means the solicitor is working through the file. Enquiries that trickle in slowly, or go quiet for weeks, are more about pace than danger, but they are worth chasing.

What should I do when the enquiries keep coming?

1. 1. Answer everything you can yourself, fast

   Reply to your solicitor with clear answers and any documents the same week, because the transaction only moves when your side responds.

2. 2. Gather your paperwork up front

   Dig out FENSA certificates, boiler and electrical guarantees, planning and building-control paperwork, and any indemnity policies before they are even asked for.

3. 3. Use an indemnity policy where it fits

   For a missing certificate or an old alteration, a one-off indemnity insurance policy often satisfies the buyer's solicitor faster and more cheaply than tracking down decades-old paperwork.

4. 4. Chase your own solicitor weekly

   Ask your solicitor for a short status update every week, and ask specifically which enquiries are outstanding and who they are waiting on.

5. 5. Ask the estate agent to keep the buyer warm

   A good agent keeps both sides talking, so a slow enquiry round does not turn into a nervous buyer drifting away.

How long should all this take?

Conveyancing in England and Wales typically runs 12 to 16 weeks from offer accepted to completion, and the enquiry stage sits in the middle of that. (Source: HomeOwners Alliance, 2026.) Leasehold sales usually take longer, because the managing agent has to supply a pack, which can add weeks on its own.

When do enquiries actually signal a problem?

The enquiries themselves rarely kill a sale. What causes fall-throughs is the wider process stalling: in 2025, 26% of agreed UK sales collapsed before completion, most often because a buyer struggled to secure a mortgage rather than because of a legal question. (Source: Quick Move Now, 2025.)

So read your buyer's commitment by what they have spent, not by the length of their solicitor's list. A buyer who has paid for a survey, submitted a mortgage application, and instructed and paid a solicitor is invested. Keep lining up your own side, but hold off on the biggest, hardest-to-reverse costs until you can see that your buyer has put their own money down.

The calm move is to keep your side moving and let the questions run their course. ValuQ is the platform that gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side valuations from competing local estate agents, so the choice of who sells your home, and on what terms, stays yours from the start.