If you are considering selling your house, it is essential to have a realistic idea of how long it will take but the answer to the question ‘How long does it take to sell your house?’ is not straightforward.
Many factors, including the type of property, the current state of the market, the property chain and even the time of year, influence the timescales. Consider the detached properties and new build luxury apartments of Wimbledon Village, or Wimbledon Park’s terraces of period homes, even within Wimbledon and Coombe, variation results in different market trends.
We look at the average timelines involved in selling a home in 2026 and what you can do to speed up the process.
According to Zoopla, the selling process takes an average of 25 weeks from listing to completion and goes under offer in 38 days on average. The fastest property sales can go through in 2-3 months, with slower sales taking 4-5 months.
Smaller properties such as 2 or 3-bedroom homes tend to sell faster than larger detached properties or leasehold flats. The average time for 2-bed terraces to go under offer is around 27 days, while for larger detached houses, the average time is around 40 days.
| Listing your property | Between 1 and 3 days |
| Offer accepted | Between 5 and 14 weeks |
| Offer acceptance to exchange of contracts | Between 8 and 16 weeks |
| Exchange of contracts to completion | Between 1 and 28 days (often 7-14 days) |
The house sale timeline varies depending on the property type, with the offer to completion averages in England and Wales shown below:
| Property type | Typical offer-to-completion timeline |
|---|---|
| Leasehold flat | 12–16+ weeks |
| 2-bed terraced house (freehold) | 8–12 weeks |
| 3-bed house (freehold) | 8–12 weeks |
| 4-bed detached house (freehold) | 8–14 weeks |
Listing your property in the UK can take 1 to 3 days. Your agent will check that you hold a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and arrange photography.
In 2026, the average time it takes for a property to go under offer from being listed is 38 days.
Properties listed with Robert Holmes & Co beat the national average, spending between three and four weeks on the market. In a seller’s market, where demand outstrips supply, the time spent on the market can fall to just one day. However, when a property suits a more specific type of buyer, it can spend longer on the property market.
If your home has been on the market for a long time, talk to your estate agent about ways to boost its appeal. Alternatively, consider switching to a more effective local estate agent.
How does the average time to sell your house vary if you choose a high street agent, online service or auction?
Most sellers still opt for a high street agent – it normally takes 2-3 months to sell, but estate agents often know potential buyers waiting for a house like yours. Offering an additional level of service, they can help with selling your property and often secure a higher selling price.
Online sales make up less than 1 in 10 UK property transactions. A newer, hybrid agency will offer a local representative’s services, but you’ll often pay a fixed fee, giving the agent less incentive to sell fast and achieve the best price.
You may sell your house fast by auction, where it takes an average of 6 to 10 weeks for the sale to complete. Be aware, auctions are generally more suited to a hard-to-sell property, and while you can set a reserve price you’re unlikely to achieve a strong selling price.
The timeline for selling a house in Wimbledon is currently slightly longer than the national average, taking between 5 and 7 months from listing to completion. However, there is a higher demand for family homes close to top performing schools, which tend to sell considerably faster.
In other areas of south west London such as Merton Park, Roehampton, Raynes Park and New Malden, the timeline can vary depending on property type and whether pricing is sensible.
Expect the time between accepting an offer and completion to be around 12 weeks. These are the stages of selling a property and how long each takes on average.
Getting from offer acceptance to exchange of contracts is the most complex part of the process and relies on the following:
Timescale: 9- 10 weeks
Aim to allow around three weeks from the exchange of contracts to the completion date. This allows all parties sufficient time to prepare for moving. It’s possible to exchange and complete on the same day, but the stakes are high. The sale isn’t legally binding until exchanging contracts.
Timescale: 1-3 weeks
There’s no universal ‘best’ month to sell a house, as people need to move house at every time of the year for work, family or financial reasons.
We find that different property types sell best at different times of the year. Sell your property quickly, for the best possible price, by coming to the market at the right time for your target buyers.
Traditionally, Spring is considered the best time to sell your home quickly, with March being the best month to market. Late September and October attract many prospective buyers as people return from their summer holidays but haven’t yet started planning for Christmas.
Winter and Summer typically have the fewest buyers. Many people take their summer holiday in July and August, and parents prefer to avoid viewing houses with their kids in tow. Christmas preparations dominate November and December. Fewer potential buyers come for viewings, but those who do are more serious about finding a new home.
Realistically, there can be hold-ups in any house sale. These are the most common causes of a delay:
How long it takes to sell a house in the UK can be determined by hot or cold market conditions and pure luck that a keen buyer searched at the right time.
In a hot market with more buyers than sellers, homes sell quickly, and bidding wars are common. In a cold market with few buyers, expect to price your home competitively if you want a quick sale.
Getting stuck in a chain can add weeks or months to the speed of your sale. Perhaps your buyer is struggling to sell their property, or your vendor is stuck in an onward chain. Property chains can also fall through, putting everyone back at square one.
The main factor that affects the time it takes to sell your house is price. Price your property too high, and it won’t appear on buyers’ online searches, resulting in fewer viewings.
Selling a leasehold property typically takes 2-4 weeks longer than selling a freehold property as there are additional steps involved, including:
The secret to a quick sale is to attract as many potential buyers as possible, then keep up the momentum.
There are no legal time limits on selling a home, but some mortgage lenders have a resale limit of 12 months.
It is worth considering that estate agents and buyers may ask questions if you sell a home after a few months and it could put prospective buyers off if they think there is a property issue causing the quick resale.
Property experts recommend living at a property for at least five years, as each move incurs tax and moving fees. You may also have to pay mortgage early repayment charges if you sell within a fixed term. However, you may consider selling within five years if the sellers’ market is hot.
If there is no chain, conveyancing usually takes six to eight weeks but can take up to 12 weeks or longer.
When you are in a chain, you are held up by the pace of other properties’ selling processes, so selling without a chain removes one of the most common causes of delay.
There is also no need to agree on a moving date that suits multiple households, so it is often quicker to get to completion.
Hopefully, this article answers the tricky question of ‘How long will it take to sell your house in South West London?’. The type of property, number of motivated buyers, and skill of your estate agent and conveyancer all influence it.
On average, expect it to take around four months to sell your house with Robert Holmes & Co, which is faster than the local market average of 5-7 months. It will typically take one month to receive an offer you are happy with and around three months to complete conveyancing.
If you have a property to sell in Wimbledon, Merton Park, Roehampton, Raynes Park, New Malden or the surrounding area, get in touch with our experienced and dedicated team today.
Most lenders issue a mortgage offer within 2 to 4 weeks of a full application, though this can stretch to 6 weeks for complex cases or busy periods. Delays here often push back exchange of contracts, since solicitors need a formal mortgage offer before proceeding. Buyers with a mortgage agreement in principle already secured tend to move through this stage faster.
Yes, listing in November or December can mean exchange or completion falls over the Christmas period, when solicitors, local authorities and mortgage lenders often work reduced hours. This can add one to two weeks to an otherwise straightforward sale. Listing in spring or early autumn generally avoids this seasonal slowdown at the conveyancing stage.
Booking a valuation with Robert Holmes & Co is the quickest way to get a timeline specific to your home – we know the local property market well.
Coordinating a same-day exchange and completion means keeping both transactions moving at a similar pace, so tell both solicitors from the outset that you’re in a linked chain. Delays on either side can hold up the whole chain. Build in some flexibility around your target date to keep the pressure off.
Aiming to complete by late August generally means listing by around March or April, allowing time to attract an offer and complete the average 12-week conveyancing process. Speak to our agents early if you have a fixed deadline in mind – this will help them determine the best strategy for your home sale.
A pre-sale survey can flag issues before a buyer’s survey does, giving you time to fix problems or adjust your price expectations in advance. It’s an extra cost, but it could prevent weeks of delay further down the line – provided that the buyer trusts a survey you have commissioned yourself.
It could be several weeks to a few months. It depends on whether you need a Lawful Development Certificate, retrospective permission or indemnity insurance. Indemnity insurance is usually the fastest fix, often arranged within days. Retrospective permission or a certificate application takes considerably longer.
It can often take longer, though how long depends how complex the case is. You can market the property before probate is granted, but you cannot complete the sale until the grant is issued.
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