How Long Does It Take to Sell a House, and How to Avoid the Delays

Delays rarely come from one dramatic problem. They usually come from small things surfacing late, after a buyer has already been found, when everyone wants to move quickly.

The pattern worth noticing: the causes you have the most control over are also the ones solved by doing paperwork early, not by anything happening faster once you're mid-sale.

Once an offer is accepted, everyone wants to move at the same pace, but your solicitor still has to complete identity checks, source of funds evidence, and title review before contracts can be drafted. If none of that has started, it starts from a standing start exactly when speed matters most.

This is the specific reason Home Panel's model exists. Because we complete identity verification and source of funds evidence as part of preparing your case, that groundwork is already done before you're matched with your panel solicitor, rather than starting once a buyer has already been found. We're not claiming this makes your whole sale faster than the Rightmove average above, since chain delays and buyer circumstances are outside anyone's control. What we can say is that the specific early-stage checks that hold up many sales are steps that happen before instruction in our process, not after it. Our how it works page explains the full process.

If you are preparing to sell, see our selling conveyancing service, where your documents and case can be prepared before a buyer is found.

Your solicitor will need to review your title and confirm there are no unresolved issues before a buyer's solicitor raises them as a query. Doing this before you list, rather than after an offer, means problems surface while there's no pressure on you to fix them quickly.

Worth checking in advance:

• ●Title deeds, and whether the property is registered with HM Land Registry
• ●Planning permission and building regulations documents for any alterations
• ●Guarantees or certificates for work like electrics, boiler installation, or damp treatment
• ●Leasehold documents, if applicable, including service charge history
• ●Any boundary agreements or disputes with neighbours

If your solicitor identifies a gap early, there's time to resolve it properly. If it surfaces after an offer, the same fix often has to happen under time pressure instead.

Indemnity insurance is a one-off policy that protects a buyer (and their lender) against a specific, defined legal risk, rather than fixing the underlying issue itself. It's commonly used for things like a lack of planning permission for old alterations, or a missing building regulations certificate, where getting formal retrospective consent would take far longer than the sale can wait for.

It doesn't work for every problem, and it isn't a way to hide something from a buyer, since it only covers risks that are genuinely unlikely to be enforced. But for the right kind of minor, low-risk title issue, it can turn a multi-week delay into a same-day fix. Your solicitor will tell you whether it's suitable for your specific situation.

Not every property in England and Wales is registered with HM Land Registry. HM Land Registry's own figures put registration coverage at around 86 to 89% of land in recent years, meaning roughly one in ten properties remains unregistered, most commonly homes that haven't been sold, mortgaged, or transferred since registration became compulsory in 1990.

Unregistered doesn't mean there's a problem with ownership. It means proving ownership relies on original paper title deeds rather than an electronic Land Registry record, and gathering and checking those documents simply takes longer than pulling up an existing registered title. If your home hasn't changed hands or been remortgaged since before 1990, it's worth asking your solicitor to check this before you list, not after a buyer is found.

A chain-free sale means your buyer isn't waiting on their own sale to complete, and you're not waiting on your own onward purchase either. Chains fail or stall for reasons that have nothing to do with your transaction, someone else's mortgage falls through, someone else's buyer pulls out, and every linked sale waits on the one causing the hold-up.

Being chain-free doesn't remove every risk, but it removes that specific one entirely. If you're a first-time buyer's seller, selling to a cash buyer, or not buying anywhere else yourself, it's worth pointing out clearly in your listing, since it's a genuine, honest selling point buyers actively search for.

Sometimes the delay isn't caused by anything on your side at all. If a buyer misses the agreed completion date after contracts have been exchanged, your solicitor can, depending on the specific terms of your contract, serve a completion notice. This generally sets a fixed period, commonly around ten working days, for the buyer to complete before further contractual consequences apply.

The exact terms, including what happens to the deposit and any interest, depend entirely on your contract, so this isn't something we can generalise here. It's a matter for your solicitor to advise on directly, based on your specific situation.

• ●Instruct a solicitor as soon as you decide to sell, not after you accept an offer.
• ●Locate your title deeds and confirm whether your property is registered.
• ●Gather certificates for any alterations, boiler work, or damp treatment.
• ●Ask your solicitor to flag any title issues now, while there's time to resolve them properly.
• ●Ask specifically whether unregistered land or a minor title defect applies to your property.
• ●Keep in regular contact with your solicitor and estate agent once a buyer is found.

If you're selling and buying at the same time, our buying and selling service explains how both transactions are coordinated together. And once you've exchanged contracts, our completion day guide explains exactly what happens next.

Last reviewed 14 September 2026. The 216 day average is Rightmove research published in July 2026 and moves with the market, so check the current figure before relying on it. Registration coverage is from HM Land Registry's published figures for recent years.