Timeline for buying a home

Once you receive a mortgage offer, there may still be legal work to complete before contracts can be exchanged and your purchase completed. This guide explains the timescales for the key stages, what can affect the timing and how you may be able to avoid unnecessary delays.

Looking for a complete guide to the process involved in buying a home? Read our guide to the steps to buying your own home.

A Decision in Principle is usually completed the same day. Many lenders let you apply online and give you an instant decision.

A Decision in Principle gives you an indication of how much you could borrow. It’s best to do this before you start house hunting, so you know you’re looking at properties you can afford.

Think of this as the practical starting point of your mortgage journey. It helps you set a realistic budget and shows sellers you’re a serious buyer. 

The time it takes to find a property varies, from a few weeks to several months. It’s important to take your time and research your chosen area to help you make the right choice. 

Once you’ve found a property, your next step depends on where you’re buying.

You’ll typically make an offer through an estate agent. The estate agent should confirm when you’ll hear back from them.

You must instruct a solicitor who will help you prepare a bid for the property. As you can become legally committed to buying the property when your bid is accepted, you need to make sure that you have a Decision in Principle and are ready to go ahead with a mortgage application.

A formal mortgage application typically takes up to 2 weeks, from completing the application to receiving a formal mortgage offer. In some circumstances, though, it could take longer. 

Once your offer on a property has been accepted, you can apply to turn the Decision in Principle into a potential mortgage offer. The process involves detailed checks of your finances, and the lender will conduct a mortgage valuation on the property you want to buy.

 You can help speed up this stage by making sure you have all the relevant documents ready.

After you receive your mortgage offer, it can take around 12 weeks to complete on your property. Remember that each property transaction is different, and your journey to owning a home may take less or more time than outlined here.

If you need to make changes to your application, this could delay your completion.

Conveyancing usually takes 6 to 12 weeks. If there are no issues or hold-ups, the conveyancing process can take around 6 weeks. But it could take a few months, particularly if you end up in a chain.

You’ll need to appoint a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to handle the legal aspects of the property purchase.

A property chain is when there are a number of transactions that need to happen at the same time. For example, if you’re buying a home from someone, and they are buying another place – it can create a chain of buyers and sellers that need to move. 

Chains can add time to your purchase because each link depends on the others being ready to proceed. 

A property survey usually takes 2 to 3 weeks. The survey itself only takes a few hours, but most surveyors produce a report within a couple of weeks before sending it to you. 

It’s a good idea to arrange a survey of the property to flag any potential problems. This is different from a mortgage valuation, which is for the lender’s use only.

In Scotland, sellers must also provide a Home Report. This contains an energy performance certificate, a survey and a property questionnaire. 

Once you or your solicitor has checked this, you can decide whether to make a bid. If your bid is accepted, contract details will be worked out.

Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer will then exchange letters, known as ‘conclusion of missives’ with the seller’s solicitor. Once this process is completed, the deal is legally binding. 

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, this isn’t the case until contracts are exchanged.

Exchange of contracts to completion typically takes 1 to 4 weeks. Completion dates are usually 2 weeks after the exchange, but it could be as little as 1 day.

Once you have your mortgage offer and your solicitor or licensed conveyancer is happy, you’re ready to exchange contracts (please note the process is different in Scotland). 

Here’s what happens at this stage:

• Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer exchanges contracts with the seller’s conveyancer
• You hand over your deposit for the house
• The agreement becomes legally binding
• You’ll need buildings insurance in place at this point. 

As part of exchanging contracts, a completion date will be set. The time it takes to complete is agreed between you and the seller. If you’re in a chain, the other buyers and sellers must be ready too. If not, there may be a delay.

On the day of completion, you should be able to pick up the keys to your new home.

If your mortgage application is declined, it can be unnerving but you can re-apply when you’re ready. Before you do so, it can help to understand why your application has been declined and what you can do to improve your prospects of borrowing money.

Take some time to review your finances, check your credit report, and make sure all your documents are accurate and up to date. A clearer picture of your application can strengthen your next application. 

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.