How long does it take to sell a house in 2026?

On average, the process of selling a house in the UK, from the first listing until completion, takes just under six months, which is about 185 days as shown in Zoopla's own data; part of that time is due to the effort put in, and the rest is waiting time which can only be avoided by starting earlier.

The stages, with typical times

It usually takes between 7 and 14 days to select an estate agent and to prepare the property for sale, while the time it takes to find a buyer is about eight weeks, the typical duration being between three and fourteen weeks, and nationally Zoopla says that properties reach an offer stage after an average of 38 days. The period from accepted offer to the exchange of contracts is 10 to 12 weeks, this being the legal stage, and after both parties have agreed on a date the time from exchange to completion is about seven days on average.

The middle stage is considerably affected by location; according to Rightmove's House Price Index, the average time taken to find a buyer is 32 days in Scotland and 52 days in the North East, while in the other parts of England it varies from the upper 50s in the North West to 73 days in London.

Pricing right beats waiting

According to data from Rightmove, homes which sell without having to reduce their price take an average of 36 days, whereas those which do need a price reduction take around 127 days, more than three times as long, and 74% of the homes that completed sales in 2026 sold without any price reduction at all. Zoopla's figures tell the same story but from a different perspective: 53% of the sellers who completed the sale had to lower their asking price initially, by an average of 7%, and overall in the market the typical property sells for about 3.5% less than the original asking price. For a listing of £300,000, that works out to roughly £10,500 below the original asking price in a typical sale, or about £21,000 if a price reduction is required. A price that is set high in order to allow for negotiation usually results in both time and money being lost.

Where sellers lose weeks

It is at the legal stage that experienced sellers are able to gain an advantage. If you instruct your conveyancer when you put the property on the market rather than when you receive an offer, then the identity checks, the title documents and the property information forms can be carried out before the buyer has even been identified. Although the average time taken for local authority searches to return has now dropped to 13 days nationwide from 17 a few years ago, the length of time for these searches still varies considerably depending on the local council and the searches lie on the critical path to the exchange.

When planning searches, two points are important. Although searches are generally valid for six months, new-build properties are usually only covered for three, so if a sale takes longer than this period then the searches will need to be updated. Additionally, leasehold sales require a management information pack whereas freehold sales do not, so get this pack from the managing agent as early as possible.

Chains have the effect of extending the time frame since your completion date will be set by the slowest party; a sale without chains can take as little as four weeks. Although most of the parties agree on about a week between the exchange and completion, this date is negotiable and it is possible to agree to an exchange and completion on the same day when all parties are ready.

If nothing has happened after three months

A house receiving no acceptable offers after two or three months is sending a pricing signal rather than indicating bad luck. The practical choices in such a situation are to reduce the price, to switch to a different agent, or to enter into a multi-agency agreement which brings in competing agents at a higher fee. The figures cited above indicate that action should be taken early on: a property that stays on the market is already being sold at a lower percentage rate.

Planning backwards from a deadline

When you have to finish by a certain date, such as a school admissions deadline or when making a purchase elsewhere, work backwards: allow about two months to secure a buyer and then another three months to legalise the sale. The typical timeline for a sale in 2026 would be to list the property in the first month, make an offer in the third month and carry out the exchange in either the fourth or fifth month. We go into more detail about the legal aspect in our other article on the time taken by conveyancing.

The average period of six months can be divided into two equal parts, one that you can affect through pricing and presentation and the other that you can influence through preparation. Sharp pricing reduces the first of these parts, while early legal work reduces the second. You can begin the second half today by obtaining comparisons of conveyancing quotes before your home is put on the market.