Britain's homebuyers face record 216-day wait to complete house moves
Homebuyers and sellers across Britain are experiencing the longest waits on record to complete house moves, with the entire process now taking an average of 216 days from listing a property to moving in, according to new data from Rightmove.
The property website's analysis shows sellers typically spend 62 days finding a buyer, followed by a further 154 days from accepting an offer to completion. This represents the highest completion time since Rightmove began tracking the data.
London faces longest delays
Homebuyers in London endure the most protracted process, waiting an average of 244 days in total. Finding a buyer takes 70 days, while the period from offer acceptance to completion stretches to 174 days, nearly six months.
The East of England and South East follow closely behind, with total moving times of 237 days each. In the East, sellers wait 66 days for a buyer and 171 days to complete, whilst South East homebuyers face 67 days to find a buyer and 170 days to complete the purchase.
In contrast, Scotland offers the fastest completion times in Britain, at just 127 days total. Scottish sellers find buyers within 29 days on average, with completion taking 98 days from offer acceptance. The North East of England performs best among English regions, with a total timeline of 194 days.
Why completions are taking longer
Rightmove attributed the delays to conveyancers managing increasingly high caseloads whilst navigating what it described as a fragmented and manual moving process. Property chains remain the single biggest cause of delays in residential conveyancing in 2026, as one delay in a chain affects all other transactions simultaneously.
Local authority searches represent one of the biggest bottlenecks in the conveyancing process, with some UK councils taking several weeks and occasionally months to return search results in 2026. Conveyancing solicitors now face far stricter anti-money laundering checks, source-of-funds verification, sanctions screening and lender compliance obligations than ever before, which add time to transactions.
For leasehold properties, management pack delays can add two to six weeks to the process, with managing agents still notorious for delays in 2026. This partly explains why flats are the slowest property type to complete, taking 169 days from offer acceptance to moving in, compared with 149 days for terrace and semi-detached houses.
The financial burden
The delays come at a significant cost. The average expense of completing a home move in the UK stood at £13,018 for those buying and selling a property at the UK average price in 2026, according to Moving Compared.
Transaction failures compound the problem. Roughly one in four agreed sales in the UK collapsed before completion in the first quarter of 2026, with survey issues being the leading cause at 37.5% of failed transactions. The UK's house sale fall-through rate of 25-30% is significantly higher than other countries, with the USA at 5-10%, Germany at less than 10% and Australia at 10-15%.
Gazumping affects approximately 37% of UK homebuyers, according to 2024 research, a figure that has grown by 6% in the last two years.
Scotland's faster system
Scotland's notably quicker completion times are attributed to its different legal processes for selling residential property. Home Reports have been compulsory in Scotland since 2008, requiring sellers to provide upfront information including a single survey, energy report and property questionnaire before marketing a property. This includes greater use of upfront information and earlier certainty for buyers and sellers.
Johan Svanstrom, Rightmove's chief executive, said a healthy housing market depends on people being able to move home easily and with certainty. An average 154-day wait to complete the transaction process itself is simply far too long, he added.
Rightmove estimates there is £205 billion in residential property value currently for sale on its platform, representing significant economic value tied up in delayed transactions. The company believes greater digitisation of moving journey processes, stronger information standards and transparency to all stakeholders is key to improvement.
Government reforms on the horizon
Last month, Labour announced proposals aimed at modernising the home-buying process in England and Wales. Labour's June 2026 home buying reforms aim to cut buying times by around four weeks and save first-time buyers an average of £650, whilst halving the number of sales that fall through.
A central element of the reforms is the wider use of reservation agreements, under which buyers and sellers each pay a reservation fee and agree to progress the sale within a set timeframe. If they pull out, they will lose money. The agreements are intended to encourage both sides to stick to the transaction by giving them a financial stake in completing the deal.
Ministers also want more information about a property to be available before it is listed for sale, allowing buyers to make better informed decisions from the outset.
Brad Fordham, head of mortgage distribution and underwriting at NatWest Group, said the industry needs to reduce the time it takes people to move house in the UK. Delays within the conveyancing journey cause emotional distress and real financial costs for customers, he added, noting that widespread adoption of digital technology is the fastest way the industry can accelerate the home ownership journey.
Where moves complete fastest
People wanting to move quickly should consider Clackmannanshire in Scotland, where it takes 76 days to complete the legal process of buying a home. Angus in Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway also offer quick completions, both typically taking 77 days for purchases to complete.