Selling a property in the UK - how long does it take and what formalities are involved?

If you are thinking of selling your property, you are bound to have doubts about how long it will take you to find a buyer. However, you have to remember that the selling process is not only about the presence of your property on portals with houses for sale, but also about the time spent on formalities. In this article, we will summarise everything and estimate how long the whole process of selling a property in the UK takes. We will also include some practical tips and list some potential problems that you may encounter when selling your property.

Around 66,000 properties were sold in the UK in November 2024. Such a figure means that demand is still there - despite the fact that property prices are currently hitting record highs. Of course, the surge in house prices, as well as the uncertain geopolitical situation, have slightly reduced the monthly number of transactions (under normal market conditions in 2015-2019, around 90,000 - 100,000 homes were sold per month), but don’t worry - this level is moderate and does not derail your chances of selling a property quickly.

What formalities are involved in the sale of a property?

Property valuation

In order to sell a property yourself to another person (about using an estate agency later in this article), you need to go through several important steps. The first step you usually take before putting your house up for sale is to have it market valued. This can be done in a number of ways - fortunately these are usually free:

• The first option is a quick online valuation. There are plenty of portals that can estimate the value of your home in a few minutes. On sites such as Zoopla or Rightmove, you need to enter the basic details of your property, i.e. for example the location, the number of rooms and the type of building. As you can easily guess, such valuations are not very accurate, as they do not take into account the actual condition of the building or, for example, upgrades. Rather, they are based on algorithms and databases, so the result may be slightly over or underestimated. However, there is nothing stopping you from using one or more such portals to get a general idea of the estimates - this can be a good foundation of knowledge before using a professional;

• A second option, which is more precise, would be to invite a local estate agent. Estate agents often offer a valuation service completely free of charge. However, there is one catch - the agent valuing the property will be trying to get a sale order from you. So if you are determined that you don’t want to use their services, you need to remember to be assertive. Sometimes it may happen that the agent will purposely inflate the estimated amount to make you more willing to order the sale. So it will be a good idea to invite several agents or possibly use a third way;

• Lastly, the surest way to get a reliable property valuation is to use a professional surveyor from the Royal Institution of Chantered Surveyors (RICS). This option is unfortunately chargeable - the service can cost around £250 to £600.

However, you should remember that it is your property and you can set the amount you would like to get for it, the so-called Asking Price. Of course, it should not be too high - when the buyer applies for a mortgage, the bank will order a revaluation. If it turns out to show a lower amount, the buyer may struggle to get the loan they were aiming for, which for you may result in having to negotiate the price or losing a potential buyer.

The start of conveyancing

Given how large and binding the transaction is, it is required that both parties have a legal representative. These can be:

• Conveyancer - deals with the transfer of property. Should suffice in most cases.

• Solicitor - a qualified solicitor who will help when the transaction involves more difficult issues such as inheritances, divorce etc.

Conveyancing is the name for the process of transferring ownership of a property from one person to another. The legal representatives of both parties communicate with each other to transfer documents such as title deeds or plot plans to each other, check the legal status of the property and agree the terms of the agreement. At this stage, it is worth investing in an experienced conveyancer to ensure that no mistakes are made with the title deeds - especially if the property has a convoluted history. Problems that can arise at this stage can delay the sale or even make the transaction impossible.

Second valuation and homebuyer survey

If the buyer is taking out a mortgage, the bank will have the property re-valued. The buyer can also commission a Homebuyer Survey, which is a report on the condition of the building. This will run concurrently with the conveyancing, so there is unlikely to be any extra time added unless there are issues. As in the case described earlier (where the bank valuation showed a lower amount than the agreed price), a** building condition report can delay or prevent a sale because it will reveal previously undetected problems.**

How long do these processes take in total?

Once an offer is accepted, both parties hire lawyers (This usually takes up to a few days, unless either party is procrastinating) and the exchange of documents and the arrangement of the contract by the lawyers begins. This process, which culminates incompletion date, i.e. handing over the keys to the flat,** usually takes 8 to 12 weeks**. During this time, valuations or possible reports on the condition of the property are also carried out. At the end of the conveyancing, contracts are exchanged - from this point the transaction is legally binding. The handover of the keys usually takes place shortly afterwards.

Sale of property with a mortgage

If you have not fully paid off your mortgage and want to sell your property, there is no objection to this. The duration of such a transaction will not increase significantly - the only aspect that will differ in this case is the scope of the conveyancer’s work. He or she will be tasked with obtaining a mortgage redemption statement, which is a document from the bank that shows what balance is still outstanding and informs you of a possible early repayment fee. This is called the Early Repayment Charge and usually only applies for the first few years of the loan. Your solicitor should also coordinate repayment of the loan from the money received.** It usually only takes a few days to obtain such a document.**

If you want to buy another one after selling your current property, you should definitely consider mortgage porting. This is the transfer of a loan to another property and in some cases it can be much more cost-effective. Particularly in a situation where new mortgages are more expensive than your current one - then instead of paying off one mortgage and taking out another, you can port it to another property without losing the attractive terms.

Use of estate agency services

It is very common in the UK to use an estate agency when selling a property. No wonder - this solution really has many advantages and can speed up the whole process. An estate agent will do virtually everything for you:

• Will take professional photographs;

• Will put up for sale;

• Will contact willing parties;

• Will negotiate the price;

• Will monitor the entire conveyancing process and ensure that it runs smoothly.

Using an agent can be very cost-effective, particularly if you have no experience with selling property. The cost of such a service is usually 0.75% - 1.5% of the value of the house + VAT.

How long does it take to find a buyer?

Estimating how long your ad will be on the portal before someone buys it is quite difficult. The response time of the market varies a lot and depends on very many factors, such as location, price of the property, condition, etc. It is said that the average time for an ad to exist on the portals is about two months. Rightmove sometimes provides reports on where properties are selling fastest. Interestingly, in 2024, all the micro-markets listed in the top 10 of fastest closing transactions were in Scotland. Buying property in this country is a hot topic right now and many people are going for it. We can read in the list that in the top regions the average time an ad stays on the portal is between 16 and 20 days. A really good result. Lower down we can see the top micro-markets outside Scotland and the average number of days is 26 to 32, so a bit more. If you want to see in how much properties in your area are selling, it’s worth doing a little research - you can sometimes find valuable information about this on the internet.