Or the buyer might just be naieve, like myself, who recently had offer accepted on a house we wanted, but I suspected issues with planning permission. So, I spent time and effort ringing planning office, water board, etc trying to find out "the situation", not really realising that the solicitors do this for you. I didn't want to instruct solicitors to do the searches, only to have my fears confirmed AND have a bill for the pleasure. So I delayed while I was digging for information. I wasn't deliberately obstructive, just didn't understand the process & tried to take control that I didn't need to have. As a result it took 5.1/2 month from accepted offer to complete. Neither party was in a chain.