The exact hour sellers must be out on completion day
The exact hour sellers must be out on completion day Completion day is the final milestone in a property sale.
It is the point at which ownership transfers, funds are exchanged between solicitors, and the property legally becomes the buyer’s. For sellers, it is also the day with the most specific logistical requirement in the entire process: vacating the property by the time agreed in the contract.
In most sales, that time is 1pm. It is the default vacate time written into the majority of residential contracts and the figure Zoopla’s completion day guide confirms as standard. In longer chains, the agreed time is sometimes extended to 2pm. The specific time that applies to any individual sale is always set out in that seller’s own contract, not a universal rule, so checking your own completion contract is the starting point if there is any uncertainty. What is consistent across all contracts is that the deadline is a contractual obligation, not an approximate target.
What is actually happening between 8am and 1pm
The morning of completion day involves a sequence of events that your solicitor is managing on your behalf, and the timing of those events determines when you receive the green light to hand over the keys. According to Zoopla’s guide to completion day, the process runs as follows. Your buyer’s solicitor requests the mortgage funds from the buyer’s lender. Those funds are then transferred to your solicitor. Your solicitor creates the completion statement, setting out all payments made and any outstanding sums, and confirms everything is in order. Only once all parties have confirmed that the money has reached the right destination does your solicitor release the keys and notify the buyer that they can move in.
That sequence takes time, and it is not unusual for sellers to be sitting in a removal van for a couple of hours while it plays out. This is normal. It does not indicate a problem. Removal companies are well used to it and generally expect it.
The one thing to wait for before handing over the keys
Zoopla’s guide is explicit on this point: do not hand the keys to anyone before your solicitor has confirmed that the money has come through. The transfer of keys is the final step in the process, not something that happens when you finish loading the van. The keys go to the estate agent, who holds them until the buyer is given the green light to collect. Handing keys directly to the buyer before that confirmation creates a situation where someone has access to a property that has not yet legally changed hands.
When you are in a chain
If you are selling and buying simultaneously, your solicitor is coordinating on two transactions at once. All parties in a chain complete on the same day, which means the funds and confirmations travel up and down the chain before everyone can proceed. This is one of the reasons completion mornings involve waiting. Once your solicitor has confirmed that the sale of your property is complete, they can arrange for the funds from that sale to go toward the purchase of your new home. Once your purchase is complete, you can collect the keys to your next property from the agent handling that sale.
Practical preparation for the day
Completions happen on weekdays, as solicitors and estate agents need to be working to process the transactions involved. The completion date will have been agreed at the point of exchange, which typically takes place one to two weeks before completion, though it can be as few as seven days or as many as 28.
By the time completion day arrives, the paperwork is largely done. The day itself is about logistics, timing, and waiting for the solicitor’s call. Having your possessions packed, the property clean, and the keys ready to hand to the agent are the practical contributions a seller makes on the day.
Talk to our team about selling your home
This article was originally published by BriefYourMarket and is reproduced here with their permission.
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