Published: 07/02/2025

Mount & Minster were recently asked by one of our investor clients: "Why do solicitors tend to exchange on a Friday?" This got us thinking...

That’s because this criticism has been around for quite some time and, like many aspects of real estate law, it’s more nuanced than a simple conspiracy theory. We wanted to go beyond the usual hearsay and get some concrete facts to see what’s really going on.

We found some interesting results.

Firstly, how often do exchanges actually happen on a Friday?

Assessing the data over the past three years, exchanges tend to increase throughout the week, starting at 12% on Mondays and peaking at 29% on Fridays. On the surface, it would appear our values investor client was indeed correct; more exchanges happen on Fridays. But before we jump to conclusions, let’s dig deeper: 29% may be the highest percentage for a single day, but it’s hardly an overwhelming figure.

Rather interestingly, when we assess the same scenario using the data available over a longer period, ten years, we discovered that exchanges on Fridays were actually above 30%. This shows a slight decline over the past decade.

So, why are there so many more exchanges on Fridays than any other day?

To answer this, we firstly need to realise that, unlike estate agents, solicitors don't work over weekends. Legal praticionours in other areas of law certainly do, but not conveyancers. Where chains are involved, it's important that all the solicitors are available to exchange. If one solicitors deems it acceptable to stay home over the weekend, there's no point the others making the effort as everybody needs to be on board. There are substantial amounts of money moving from one account to another. UK banks similarly tend to be less helpful on weekends, so this is another perfectly fair reason why conveyancers do not work two days of the week.

So a legal week in property is five days, not seven. Therefore, if 20% of exchanges take place on a single day, this is average. 29% on a Friday isn't a huge figure comparatively, but it's still a fair bit more.

The main reason is very simple. Buyers and sellers generally want to complete their transactions on a Friday, as it provides a full week between exchange and completion — a timeline that seems perfectly reasonable for most. Analysing the data in a bit more depth, 43% of completions take place on a Friday. Mondays were the second most common day for completions, likely due to delays or the sheer amount of work volume from the Friday before.

So, there’s a pattern: with so many completions happening on a Friday, it makes sense that exchanges often occur the previous Friday. It's not rocket science.

Are the gaps between exchange and completion shrinking?

Another issue that’s been raised in the past is whether the time between exchange and completion is getting shorter. The good news? It is. Ten years ago, the average time between exchange and completion was around 17 days, but now it’s down to just 14 (two weeks).
Finally, we checked whether the much-dreaded simultaneous exchange and completion — the nightmare scenario for everyone involved — has changed. Interestingly, the percentage of transactions where this occurs has remained steady over the past decade, accounting for 10% of transactions.

So there you have it, why is Friday so popular for exchanges? Because you, the client, want a rounded week (or indeed two) to complete, and nearly half of completions take place on a Friday, most likely due to the ease of unpacking over a weekend. So next time you think it's down to your solicitor, remember it's more as a result of your solicitor appeasing you!