We are already being asked whether there is still time to move before the end of the year. It is a fair question, and it comes up every September, so it seemed worth setting out what the timings actually are rather than leaving everyone to guess.
Can you still move before the end of the year?
Well, the short answer is that it depends on what you are buying and how many people are in the chain. The longer answer is that, as always, this is a general article and we can only give you an overview. You will need to talk to us about your own situation before making any decisions.
Most people assume that buying a house takes six or eight weeks once the offer has been accepted. It is a reasonable assumption, but it is not what usually happens. Industry figures for 2026 put the average at twelve to sixteen weeks for a freehold purchase, and sixteen to twenty weeks for a leasehold flat. A chain free purchase where everybody is organised might be finished in eight to ten.
Count that forward from September. A straightforward freehold started this month has a reasonable chance of completing in December. A flat, or a chain with four people in it, is more likely to be January. The timings have also been getting longer over the years. One set of figures shows the average from instructing a conveyancer to completion rising from around 75 days in 2007 to about 123 days in 2025.
Where do all those weeks actually go?
This is the part that frustrates people most, because from the outside it can look as though nothing is happening for weeks at a time. In fact there is usually a queue of things going on, most of them outside anybody’s control.
A large part of it is searches. Your solicitor applies to the local council for information about the property and the area around it, and how long that takes depends entirely on which council you are dealing with. Some return them within days. Others take several weeks. There is very little anyone can do to speed that up.
Then there are enquiries. Your solicitor raises questions with the seller’s solicitor about anything unclear in the contract, the searches or your survey, and each round of questions and answers takes time. There are usually several rounds.
The mortgage itself takes a couple of weeks or more to move from application to formal offer, depending on the lender and how quickly you return what they ask for.
And then there is the chain. This is the one that causes the most delay, because your purchase moves at the pace of the slowest person in it, and that person may be several houses away and completely unknown to you. Every additional link adds time, and a chain of five can take twice as long as a chain of two.
Leasehold flats add another layer, because the managing agent has to provide information about the building, the service charge and the lease, and how quickly they do that varies enormously.
What is worth sorting out now
You cannot hurry the council and you cannot hurry the chain. There is more within your control than most people realise, though.
- Choose your solicitor now. You can appoint a firm and complete the identity checks before you have even had an offer accepted. A lot of buyers leave this until afterwards and lose a fortnight at the start while they find someone and get themselves set up.
- Get your paperwork together. Payslips, bank statements, proof of your deposit and photographic identification are what most lenders will ask for. If you work for yourself, you will usually need accounts or tax documents as well. It is a tedious job, but doing it in advance rather than when somebody asks can save you a considerable amount of time.
- Know where your deposit came from. Solicitors are required by law to check the source of funds on every purchase. If a family member is contributing, they will normally need to provide a letter confirming it is a gift, along with evidence of where the money came from. It is worth asking them about this early.
- Check the lease if you are buying a flat. Lenders each set their own minimum lease length, and most want a reasonable number of years remaining once the mortgage has ended. A short lease can reduce the number of lenders willing to consider you, so it is far better to establish that before you make an offer.
- Keep an eye on the dates on your mortgage offer. Most offers last between three and six months, and the clock starts from the offer rather than from the day you applied. In a long chain that is worth watching, because if the offer expires you are generally looking at applying again under whatever criteria the lender has at that point.
- Try not to change anything once you have applied. New credit, a change of job or a missed payment between offer and completion can all cause difficulties, and lenders may check again before releasing the funds. If something does change, let us know about it rather than hoping it goes unnoticed.
If you are selling as well as buying
Almost everything above assumes you are buying. Most people moving are doing both, and the selling side is where a surprising amount of the delay sits, largely because sellers tend to wait until an offer comes in before they start on any of it.
There is a good deal you can do before your property is even listed. Your solicitor will need you to complete the property information forms, which cover things like boundaries, disputes, alterations and what is included in the sale. They take longer than people expect, particularly if you have to hunt down paperwork.
Speaking of which, gather your certificates and guarantees now. Building regulations approvals, planning permissions, FENSA certificates for replacement windows, gas and electrical work, damp treatment guarantees, anything with a warranty attached. Missing paperwork on work done years ago is one of the more common reasons a sale stalls, and tracking it down can take weeks.
If you are selling a leasehold flat, request the management pack from the managing agent early. They charge for it, they are often slow, and the buyer’s solicitor cannot get very far without it.
Sellers who have all of this ready before they list, rather than starting once an offer has been accepted, can knock a meaningful amount of time off the process. In a good case a well prepared sale can complete in six to eight weeks rather than the usual twelve to sixteen.
What if December is not going to happen?
Then it is a great deal better to know that now than to find out in November.
Trying to hit a date that was never realistic is how people end up skipping a survey they should have had, or pushing a chain into exchanging before everyone is ready. Around a quarter of agreed sales fall through before exchange as it is, and the longer a transaction drags on, the more opportunity there is for somebody to pull out. A January completion that goes through is worth considerably more than a December one that does not.
There is also no shortage of properties to look at. There are more homes on the market at this time of year than there have been for over a decade, so if you end up starting in October for a move in the new year, you will have plenty of choice.
Call us and we can talk through your timings. There may be more room in them than you expect, and knowing where you stand is a good deal more useful than guessing.
This article relates to England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland follow different processes.
Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, mortgage or legal advice. It reflects our understanding at the time of writing. Timescales vary considerably between transactions and lender criteria can change, so please speak to us about your own circumstances before acting on anything you have read here.