How long does it take to sell a house?

The legal work on a sale takes 8 to 10 weeks for a freehold home and 10 to 12 for a leasehold flat, from the day you instruct us to completion. GOV.UK says about 12 weeks from sold subject to contract to moving in. Finding a buyer is a separate clock, and that part is for your estate agent.

This guide is part of our buying and selling guide. It covers the sale side only. Conveyancing is the legal work of transferring a property from one owner to the next.

How long does it take to sell a house?

There are two clocks. The first is marketing: the time on the market until a buyer makes an offer you accept. Your estate agent and the local market control it. GOV.UK says selling a home takes about 5 months on average, and a chain can make it longer. Ask your estate agent what they are seeing in your area.

The second is the legal clock. It starts when you instruct us and ends on completion, the day the money moves and the buyer gets the keys. Our timescales cover this clock.

Table 1: The clocks in a sale

Our range and GOV.UK's start at different points. Ours counts from the day you instruct us. GOV.UK's counts from the day you accept an offer, which is called sold subject to contract. Do not add the two together. If you instruct us when you list your home, much of the groundwork can be done before an offer comes in. These ranges are not promises: the chain, the buyer's lender and how quickly everyone replies move the date.

Get a selling quote. You get a written, itemised quote before you instruct us.

What are the steps of a house sale?

The steps overlap, so we list them in order without a week for each. If you are weighing up conveyancing solicitors for sellers, this is the work from your side.

Table 2: The steps of a sale, and what we need from you

Our guide to what happens on exchange and completion day covers steps 7 and 8 in detail. Our TA6, TA10 and TA7 forms checklist explains the forms.

What should you have ready before you list?

• Photo ID and proof of address.
• Your mortgage lender's name and account details, if you have a mortgage.
• Guarantees, planning permissions and building control certificates for any work done.
• For a flat, how long the freeholder or managing agent's management pack takes and what it costs.

Our moving house checklist covers the rest of the move.

What slows a sale down?

Table 3: Common causes of delay

A buyer's survey can also slow things down. GOV.UK says that if a survey finds significant issues, the buyer might ask you to pay for repairs, renegotiate their offer or withdraw it.

How long after survey to completion with no chain?

The lender's mortgage valuation and the buyer's survey are different things, and both usually happen before exchange. With no chain, nobody else's sale has to be ready on the same day, so the legal work is often towards the quicker end of 8 to 10 weeks for a freehold home.

We cannot give a number of days from survey to completion, because we have found no reliable official figure. The date depends on the buyer's lender issuing its mortgage offer, the searches coming back and the answers to the buyer's enquiries. A cash buyer has no mortgage offer to wait for.

Why do sales fall through after an offer?

GOV.UK says that after you accept an offer, neither side is under any legal obligation until contracts are exchanged. Until then the sale is only sold subject to contract. Common reasons a sale fails before exchange include:

• A link in the chain breaks or is delayed, and the sales above and below it wait.
• The buyer's survey finds a serious problem and the buyer renegotiates or withdraws.
• The buyer's mortgage is delayed or the lender's valuation comes in low.
• Paperwork takes longer than expected, such as enquiries or a flat's management pack.

For local demand, ask your estate agent.

Can you speed up a sale?

Sometimes. Nobody can guarantee a date, but you can remove the delays that are in your hands:

1. Instruct a solicitor when you go on the market, not when you find a buyer. We can check your identity and your title before an offer comes in. GOV.UK also says you can instruct a legal representative to check your title as soon as you decide to sell, and that it can save a lot of time.
2. Complete the TA6 and TA10 early, and the TA7 for a flat. Gather guarantees and certificates.
3. For a flat, ask the freeholder or managing agent how long their pack takes and what it costs, and order it when we tell you. It is often the slowest document.
4. Send your ID and your lender's details at the start, so we can request your redemption figure early.
5. Answer the buyer's enquiries quickly.

Our fast-track service takes 6 to 8 weeks for a freehold purchase or sale and 8 to 10 weeks for a leasehold one. It costs £500 + VAT, paid on completion. If we miss the fast-track timescale, you do not pay the fast-track fee, unless the delay is outside our control (for example caused by the other side, the lender or the chain). Your file stays on fast-track. The timescales still depend on the chain, the searches and your buyer's lender.

If you are buying as well, our guide to how long a house purchase takes has a tool that estimates your completion date.

What does it cost, and what if it falls through?

For a standard sale of a freehold home under £2 million with one registered mortgage to redeem, our fee is £635 to £1,035 + VAT, depending on the price. Disbursements, which are costs we pay out on your behalf, are £46 to £78 for one or two people, including VAT where it applies. On a leasehold sale, disbursements also include one "Office Copy Entries (Leasehold) Per Item" charge of £8.80. The fee includes the "File Opening Fee (Non-refundable)" of £100 + VAT, the "Telegraphic Transfer Fee (Per Transfer)" of £40 + VAT and the "Mortgage Redemption Fee" of £100 + VAT. Leasehold work is extra, with "Dealing with Leasehold" at £150 + VAT. Your estate agent's fee and any early repayment charge from your lender are not included. See our guide to solicitor fees for selling.

If you sell a flat, the management pack is bought from the freeholder or managing agent. As a guide, it is often £250 to £450, but the freeholder or managing agent sets the price. It is paid to them and is not part of our fee.

If your sale does not go ahead, you pay the File Opening Fee (Non-refundable), £100 + VAT, and any disbursements already paid out on your behalf. The rest is refunded or carried over to your next property.

Sources

• Waterstone Legal timescales, fast-track service and fees, checked 27 October 2026: fees and solicitors for selling a house.
• Forms, documents, identity checks, sold subject to contract, chains, exchange, the buyer's survey, instructing a legal representative as soon as you decide to sell, about 12 weeks to moving in and the buyer's mortgage timing of around 18 to 40 days: How to sell a home on GOV.UK (GOV.UK guide last updated 6 September 2019), checked on GOV.UK on 27 October 2026.
• Completion agreed at exchange, and exchange and completion able to happen on the same day: How to buy a home on GOV.UK (GOV.UK guide last updated 6 September 2019), checked on GOV.UK on 27 October 2026.

This guide is general information about selling a home in England and Wales, not advice on your sale. Timescales depend on the chain, the buyer's lender and facts we would need to see. Waterstone Chambers LLP, trading as Waterstone Legal, is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No. 605949). We do not give mortgage or financial advice. For that, speak to your lender or a mortgage broker. For a view on your home's price or local demand, speak to an estate agent.