Buying a Home: What to Do and When

From your first agreement in principle to collecting the keys, here is what happens at each stage of a UK house purchase, what to have ready, and where delays tend to appear.

Summary

• Buying a home in England and Wales takes about five months on average, and longer if you are part of a chain.
• An agreement in principle gives you an early indication of how much a lender may be willing to lend, but it does not commit you to a loan.
• Nothing becomes legally binding until contracts are exchanged, which is also when your deposit is paid.
• On completion day the purchase money moves through the banking system and keys are usually released around midday.
• Chains, enquiries and survey findings are the most common reasons timelines stretch.

Buying a home in England and Wales takes about five months on average, according to GOV.UK, and it can take longer if you are part of a chain of buyers and sellers. Each stage has its own tasks, paperwork and costs. Knowing what happens when makes it easier to see what is holding things up. Here is the process in order.

Before You Search: Budget and Agreement in Principle

Start by working out what you can afford, covering both your savings and what you could borrow. Include the ongoing costs of owning, such as mortgage payments and bills, not just the purchase price. You can also buy with others: you can own a home with up to three other people, though the rules differ depending on the type of joint ownership. Government affordable home ownership schemes may help some buyers.

Next, get an agreement in principle (AIP). This is a statement from a lender indicating how much it may be willing to lend you. A decision can take minutes if you have the right information to hand: personal details, addresses for the last three years, and your income and monthly outgoings. An AIP does not commit you to a loan, but it helps you set a realistic price range before you start viewing.

Viewings and Making an Offer

When you find a property, view it carefully. It is common to visit two or three times before deciding to offer, using later visits to look for repairs or extra spending the home might need. You must be given an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) free of charge, rating the property’s energy efficiency from A, the most efficient, to G, the least.

Before offering, research what similar nearby properties have sold for. You then make your offer through the estate agent, in person, by phone or in writing. Tell the agent anything that strengthens your position, such as being chain-free, with no property to sell first. At this stage nothing is legally binding: either side can still pull out.

Mortgage Application, Conveyancing and Searches

Once your offer is accepted, you make a full mortgage application. The lender usually arranges a valuation to confirm the property is worth what you have agreed to pay. If the sale later falls through, you may have already paid for a valuation or survey, and you may owe for legal work your solicitor has started.

Budget for the taxes at this point too. In England you pay Stamp Duty Land Tax; in Wales the equivalent is Land Transaction Tax. Rules change, so check the position for your price and circumstances on GOV.UK before committing to a figure.

Conveyancing is the legal work behind transferring ownership, and most buyers instruct a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to handle it. The estate agent will ask both sides for their solicitor’s details, and the legal work runs alongside the mortgage application. Our guide to conveyancing terms to know before you buy covers the words you will see most often.

The seller’s solicitor sends a draft contract, property forms and a copy of the deeds to your solicitor. Your solicitor checks these for anything that could affect the property, such as rights neighbours hold over the land or restrictions on what you can build, then raises enquiries with the seller’s side.

Surveys and Renegotiating

The lender’s valuation is for the lender; it does not check the property’s condition for you. Consider your own survey to look for defects that might affect its value. If a survey finds problems, you can use the findings to renegotiate the price or ask for work before the sale. This is also the time to confirm what is included in the sale; the seller fills in a form listing what they will leave behind.

Exchange of Contracts and Completion Day

Once enquiries are answered and your mortgage offer is in place, both sides sign the contract and agree a completion date. The solicitors then exchange contracts, usually over the phone. This is the point at which the sale becomes legally binding and nobody can back out.

You also pay your deposit at this stage, a few weeks before completion. One government guide puts the minimum at five per cent of the price; in practice it is often around ten per cent and can vary, so confirm the exact amount with your solicitor.

On completion day, your solicitor arranges for the lender to send the remaining money to the seller’s solicitor through the banking system. Once it arrives, the estate agent is told the buyer can collect the keys, usually around midday, though it can take longer. Your solicitor then registers the change of ownership with the Land Registry.

Before the day, book a removals firm and set up your bills so the first month runs smoothly.

When Timelines Stretch and What Causes Delays

Most delays come from chains, where each sale depends on another. GOV.UK’s five-month average includes this, and estate agency Savills estimates a chain-free purchase at around 15 weeks, though a chain can push the process to six months. Other common hold-ups include slow enquiries, survey findings that need renegotiation and mortgage paperwork. If everything falls apart before exchange, you may lose the money already spent on surveys and legal work.

Next steps

• How Much Does It Really Cost to Buy a Home?: budget for the deposit, taxes and fees that land around exchange and completion.
• Leasehold vs Freehold: What the Difference Means for You: check which tenure a property has before you offer, as it affects costs later.
• Credit Reports in the UK: How the Three Agencies Work: understand what lenders see before you apply for a mortgage.

Questions readers ask