North-South divide for time to move as Londoners see longest wait

New analysis by Rightmove, the UK’s largest property platform, reveals the extent of the north-south divide when moving home.

London is the slowest region in Great Britain to complete a move, taking an average of 174 days from agreed sale to completion, or nearly six months. This is the joint-longest at this time of year in London in Rightmove’s records dating back to 2012.

By contrast, in the North East of England, it is over a month (33 days on average) quicker to complete a property transaction. The North East is the quickest region in England to complete a move.

Scotland is the fastest part of Great Britain overall to complete a move (98 days on average) due to its different legal processes. This includes greater use of upfront information, Home Reports and earlier certainty for buyers and sellers.

Looking at the data more locally, Clackmannanshire in Scotland is the fastest area to complete in Great Britain (76 days), while Slough in England is the slowest (229 days). North East Derbyshire is the fastest area to complete outside of Scotland (120 days).

It currently takes 216 days on average for a seller to move in Great Britain, made up of 62 days to find a buyer and 154 days to complete the move, the longest this total process has taken at this time of year on record.

Flats are the slowest type of property to complete a move (169 days), versus terraced and semi-detached houses (149 days).

Long-term increases to the completion process, despite advances in technology, point to broader issues in the system. It takes over a month (36 days) longer to complete a move than in pre-pandemic 2019, an unwanted 31% increase.

Individual delays can be caused by a variety of factors including chain length, searches and leasehold complexity. However, a big driver of long completion times is conveyancers and other stakeholders managing increasingly high caseloads, navigating what is a fragmented and manual moving process.

Rightmove analysis earlier this year also found that 23% of transactions initially fall through, while around 6% of property transactions fall through and don’t come back to market within 12 months, with long completion times and an uncertain process a key cause.

This is why Rightmove strongly welcomes the government’s home-moving reform agenda. Greater digitisation and transparency in the home-moving process will help to speed up the market and reduce the number of home transactions falling through.

A more liquid and frictionless house-moving market would also be beneficial for economic growth. Emphasising the economic scale at stake, there is an estimated £205bn in residential property value currently for sale on Rightmove, from which there are mortgages, services, fees and potential home-upgrade work opportunities once the properties complete.

That economic value gets stuck during lengthy completion times. Naturally, home-movers themselves are also held back from making the life changes they want to accomplish, not least first-time buyers.

An improved and shortened home-moving process would benefit estate agents, who often have to hold complex chains together for elongated periods, resulting in completion fees for their work delayed.

The arrival of the new Prime Minister and his cabinet provides an opportunity to make housing a renewed priority. Rightmove has already been working closely with government on its home-moving reform roadmap and looks forward to continuing to support efforts to speed up and digitise the process.

Johan Svanstrom, Rightmove’s CEO says: “A healthy housing market depends on people being able to move home easily and with certainty. However, the entire home-moving process currently takes more than seven months on average, making this the longest summer wait on record.

“An average 154 day wait to complete the transaction process itself is simply far too long. Rightmove data shows that in some parts of the country the delays are even more significant. Housing mobility is closely linked to economic growth. We believe greater digitisation of moving journey processes, stronger information standards and transparency to all stakeholders is key.”

Rightmove is working to digitise the home-moving journey through the launch of products and consumer home-moving features including:

An exceptional and high-quality digital search experience, driven by its AI-powered ‘Ask Rightmove’ conversational property search ensuring that ‘However you discover, we have you covered’
A digital Mortgage in Principle in collaboration with NatWest, alongside a suite of online mortgage tools to help people to understand their affordability much earlier in their search journey, including the recently launched ‘Equity Tracker’
Online Agent Valuation, a digital valuation tool to help potential future sellers to connect with an agent online and receive an initial valuation ahead of an in-person visit
A Renters’ Checklist to help guide people through the process of renting a home

Brad Fordham, Head of Mortgage Distribution & Underwriting at NatWest Group comments, “The Rightmove figures released today show we need 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 our customers. We believe that widespread adoption of digital technology is the fastest way the industry can accelerate the home ownership journey. Our partnership with Rightmove allows prospective homeowners to get a mortgage in principle decision, so they can view properties confident they can afford them.”

Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, comments: “Despite continued intent and activity in the market, reforming the home-buying and selling process must remain a priority for our new Housing Minister and the Government. We have seen positive signs, but maintaining momentum will be essential to delivering a process that provides greater certainty for buyers and sellers and supports a more fluid housing market.

“Once a sale has been agreed, there are a number of legal and administrative stages before completion, involving conveyancers, mortgage lenders and local authorities. Completion times naturally vary across the country because every transaction has its own circumstances, including factors such as local authority search turnaround times, the complexity of individual transactions and the length of property chains. Throughout that process, experienced estate agents have an important role to play in maintaining clear communication between buyers and sellers.”