Plain-English answers on UK property.
How-to guides, common-question explainers, and translations of what just changed in the market. Sourced, dated, and written for the person actually doing the selling or buying.
What fixtures and fittings do I leave when I sell?
When you sell in England or Wales, anything fixed to the property (a fitted kitchen, built-in wardrobes, radiators) is assumed to stay unless you say otherwise, while free-standing items (sofas, curtains, a plug-in fridge) are yours to take. You record exactly what stays and what goes on a form called the TA10, which becomes legally binding once contracts are exchanged.
My estate agent has gone quiet. Can I leave them?
Yes, you can almost always move to another agent, but the timing is set by your contract, not your frustration. Check your tie-in period and notice period first; once both have passed, a short note in writing is usually all it takes to leave cleanly.
My buyer hasn't ordered searches. Should I worry?
A delay on searches is one of the most common early wobbles in a sale, and it usually means a slow start rather than a buyer pulling out. Searches are normally ordered once the buyer's solicitor has the contract pack and the buyer has paid them on account, so a quiet first few weeks is normal; a buyer who has not even instructed a solicitor is the part to watch.
My chain collapsed. What happens to my sale now?
A collapsed chain is one of the most common setbacks in a UK sale, and most sellers go on to complete with a new buyer or a repaired chain. Your sale is not legally over: nothing binds until exchange of contracts, so a chain break sends you back a step, not back to the start.
A buyer offered under asking. Accept or hold out?
An offer below your asking price is normal, not an insult: in early 2026 the average UK home sold for about 3.5% under its asking price. Whether to accept or hold out comes down to one question, which is whether the offer is close to what your home is genuinely worth, not whether it matches the figure on the listing.
What is conveyancing and how long does it take?
Conveyancing is the legal work that transfers ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer, handled by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. In 2026 it typically takes about 16 to 20 weeks from offer acceptance to completion, though a simple, chain-free sale can finish in as little as 8 weeks.
Nearly a quarter of homes sold since 1995 lost money in real terms
"You can't lose money on bricks and mortar" is the most repeated belief in British housing. ValuQ took 13.7 million repeat sales from HM Land Registry and stripped out inflation. The record says 22.8% of homes sold since 1995 lost money in real terms, even though only 7.8% lost in cash.
Identical-on-paper homes sold £63,000 apart: the limit of every online valuation
An online estimate gives a home one number. The market gives it a range. ValuQ grouped 13.7 million repeat sales by type, street, purchase year and holding period, and found that identical-on-paper homes still ended up about 21 percentage points apart in return, around £63,000 on a £300,000 home. That gap is the part of a home's value no model can see.
My sale fell through. What do I do now?
A sale falling through is one of the most common setbacks in selling, and it is rarely the end of the road. Around a quarter of agreed UK sales collapsed in early 2026, so you are on a well-worn path, and a lost buyer does not change what your home is worth; it changes who ends up buying it.
What happens on completion day when selling a house?
Completion day is the day the sale legally finishes: the buyer's money reaches your solicitor, ownership transfers, and you hand over the keys. For the seller it usually means being moved out and giving vacant possession by an agreed time, often early afternoon, once your solicitor confirms the funds have landed.
My buyer went quiet after the survey. Is my sale falling through?
A quiet spell after the survey is one of the most common wobbles in a sale, and most of them pass. A survey almost always lists something, so a buyer going quiet usually means they are reading the report and getting quotes, not walking away.
Do I need an EPC to sell my house?
Yes. If you are selling a home in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the law says you must have a valid Energy Performance Certificate, and you need to have at least ordered it before your home goes on the market. An EPC is valid for ten years, so if you bought recently you may already have one.
Offer accepted weeks ago and nothing's happening. Is that normal?
In most cases, yes, this is normal. A typical UK sale takes around twelve to twenty weeks from the day an offer is accepted to the day you complete, and the first stretch is usually quiet on the surface while solicitors, searches and mortgage checks grind away in the background.
My neighbour sold for more. Is my house worth the same?
Not necessarily, and a neighbour's sale is one of the most misread numbers in property. Two homes on the same street can sell for very different amounts, because price comes down to condition, size, layout and timing, not just the postcode you share.
Northern cities hit record highs as commuter towns stay below their 2022 peak
Six English cities hit record house-price highs in April 2026, while a string of southern commuter towns are still worth thousands of pounds less than at their 2022 peak. New Land Registry figures released on 17 June 2026 show the recovery from the 2022 dip is now complete in the affordable North and Midlands, but has stalled across the commuter belt.
Two Basildon homes, two miles apart, opposite fortunes: your postcode decided it
Basildon's four postcodes have split this year: the typical home in SS13 (Pitsea and Vange) sold for £290,000, down 4.9%, while two miles south in SS16 it sold for £335,000 and held its value. New Land Registry sold-price data to April 2026 shows the borough average hides a £45,000 gap between Basildon's cheapest and dearest postcodes, and a £119,000 gap on detached homes.
Why does buying a home take so long in the UK vs other countries?
On 18 June 2026, the government set out the biggest overhaul of home buying in England and Wales in a generation. The reason it had to act is simple. A UK home purchase takes around 120 days and roughly one in three sales collapses, while in the United States the same deal is done in 30.
Bank holds rates at 3.75%: what it means if you're selling
On 18 June 2026 the Bank of England held its base rate at 3.75% for the third meeting in a row. For anyone selling or buying this summer the message is steadiness: borrowing costs are not rising, and a held rate gives both sides of a sale a stable backdrop to plan around.
My buyer dropped their offer at the last minute. What now?
This is one of the most stressful moments in a sale, and it has a name: gazundering, when a buyer lowers their agreed offer late in the process. Take a breath, because you are not trapped: nothing is legally binding until contracts are exchanged, and you have clear, calm options.
Can I change my mind and pull out of selling my house?
Yes. In England and Wales you can pull out of selling your home at any point before contracts are exchanged, for any reason, with no legal penalty. You may lose money you have already spent on fees, and there are a few stages where withdrawing gets harder, so it helps to know exactly where you stand.
The home-buying shake-up: what it means for buyers and sellers
The government has set out the biggest change to how homes are bought and sold in England in years, built around sharing key property information upfront and making agreed deals harder to collapse. Most of it is still being rolled out rather than law today, so nothing about your move changes overnight, but here is what is coming and what it means for you.
Do I have to tell buyers what's wrong with my house?
Yes, in most cases you do. When you sell a home in England or Wales you fill in a Property Information Form, and the law says you must not hide a problem that would matter to a buyer's decision.
My agent valued my house highest. Should I trust it?
Be careful. The highest valuation is not the same as the highest selling price, and the agent who quotes the biggest number is not always the one who will sell your home for the most.
Should I sell my house now or wait until next year?
There is no single right answer; it depends on why you are moving and whether you are buying as well as selling. The calmer way to decide is to weigh the cost of waiting against your own plans, rather than trying to time the market perfectly.
Property scams to watch when selling or buying a home
The most damaging property scams target the moment large sums of money or your home's ownership change hands, usually by impersonating your solicitor, your agent or you. You can avoid almost all of them with two habits: confirm any bank details by phone on a number you already trust, and never act on an urgent last-minute change without checking it first.
Sole agency vs multi-agency: which is better for selling?
Sole agency means one estate agent has the exclusive right to sell your home for a set period, usually at a lower fee of around 1.2% to 1.8% including VAT. Multi-agency lets several agents market it at once and only the one who finds your buyer gets paid, but the fee is typically about double, around 3% to 3.6% including VAT.
Should I accept a lower cash offer on my house?
A lower cash offer can be worth more than a higher one that depends on a mortgage, because cash removes two of the most common reasons a sale falls through. The right call comes down to how big the price gap is, and how solid each buyer really is when you look at what they have actually done, not what they have said.
A higher offer came in after I accepted one. Can I take it?
In England and Wales you can legally accept a higher offer right up until contracts are exchanged, because nothing is binding before that point. The harder question is whether you should, and that comes down to how genuine the new offer is and how much you would risk by dropping a buyer who is already moving.
Revealed: the cheaper your town, the faster its homes are rising
The cheapest towns in England are now rising fastest while the priciest are falling, a reversal of the old rule that expensive areas always lead. ValuQ's analysis of the latest official house price data found Hartlepool, the cheapest town we studied at an average of £136,532, rose 8.0% in the year to March 2026, while Watford at £381,977 fell 5.1%.
Basildon is one of two Essex towns where prices fell this year
Basildon's average home value fell 1.6% in the year to March 2026, making it one of only two Essex towns out of twelve ValuQ studied where prices dropped. Next door, Harlow rose 5.3% and Rochford rose 4.0%, so a Basildon owner has quietly fallen behind neighbours just a few miles away.
Revealed: the seaside towns where pandemic buyers are selling at a loss
Almost one in three homes bought in Minehead or Bideford during the pandemic boom and resold this year went for less than the owner paid, against roughly one in ten nationally. New ValuQ analysis of completed Land Registry sales shows the race for space being quietly handed back, town by town, along the English coast.
Twice as many homes sell just under £300,000 as just over it
Since the first-time buyer stamp duty threshold dropped to £300,000 in April 2025, 9,616 homes in England and Wales have sold in the £5,000 just below that line, against 4,652 in the £5,000 just above it. New ValuQ analysis of completed Land Registry sales maps the invisible walls the tax system builds into house prices, and the dead zones just above them.
Just 6% of homes bought in 2007 have ever doubled in value
Of the homes bought in Britain's 2007 peak and resold since, just 5.9% have ever sold for double their purchase price, 19 years on. New ValuQ analysis of 12 million repeat sales shows the old rule that property doubles every decade worked for 1990s buyers, then quietly died: 84.5% of 1996 purchases doubled, in a median of 10.4 years.
House prices rise 5% in Harlow but fall 3% next door
Official Land Registry figures for March 2026 show average prices in Harlow up 5.3% in a year while Epping Forest, the next district along, is down 3.4%. That 8.7 point gap between two neighbouring districts is the widest divide in Essex, and it makes the county average of +0.1% close to meaningless for anyone pricing a home.
Freehold vs leasehold: what's the difference when selling?
Freehold means you own your home and the ground it stands on outright, with no time limit. Leasehold means you own the right to live there for a fixed number of years while someone else owns the land, and that difference changes how easily, and for how much, you can sell.
What are the signs a house sale is about to fall through?
The clearest warning sign is a buyer who has stopped spending money on the purchase: no solicitor instructed, no searches ordered, no mortgage application moving. Most quiet patches are normal, but when a buyer goes silent and their costs stay at zero, that is the moment to pay attention.
My buyer's mortgage is taking ages. How long should it take?
From a full application to a formal mortgage offer usually takes about two to six weeks, and many straightforward cases come back faster than that. So a few weeks of waiting is normal; it only becomes a worry when weeks pass with no sign the buyer has actually applied.
Are UK house prices falling in 2026? What the new data shows
On 11 June 2026 the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reported that far more surveyors are still seeing house prices fall than rise, with its price gauge stuck at -35% for a second month. Yet the main sold-price indices show prices are still slightly higher than a year ago, so the honest read for sellers is a flat, cautious market, not a crash.
A buyer offered below asking. Should I accept or hold out?
A below-asking offer is normal, not an insult, and in a flat market most homes change hands a little under their first asking price. Whether to accept comes down to three things you can check in an afternoon: how the offer compares to recent sold prices, how strong and ready the buyer is, and how long your home has been on the market.
My buyer needs to sell their home first. Should I accept?
Accepting an offer from a buyer who still has to sell their own home is common and often works out fine, but it adds a link of risk you can manage rather than fear. The trick is to treat it as a 'yes, if' rather than a flat yes: accept in principle, keep marketing, and judge the buyer by how far along their own sale already is.
Almost half of England's homes have not been sold this century
ValuQ analysis of 31 million HM Land Registry records shows that 44.5% of England's 25.8 million homes have not been sold on the open market since the year 2000. The most frozen markets are not remote villages: they are London boroughs, led by Hackney, where six in ten homes have not changed hands this century.
Basildon's New Town homes have outgrown Billericay since 1995
The Act that built Basildon turns 80 this summer, and ValuQ's analysis of every recorded sale since 1995 shows its New Town estates have multiplied in value 6.6 times, against 5.8 in Billericay and 5.6 in Wickford. One borough, three markets, and the fastest growth came from the homes the planners built.
The three-year starter flat is now a nine-year hold
A flat sold in England and Wales in 2000 had been owned for a median of 2.8 years; a flat sold in 2025 had been owned for 9.1 years, ValuQ analysis of every repeat sale since 1995 shows. The flat that used to be the property ladder's quick first step has quietly become a near-decade commitment, and in the North East flats are now held longer than houses.
Do new estates drag down nearby prices? Essex data says barely
Existing homes in the Essex postcode sectors that absorbed the most new building since 2015 have grown 69.4% in value since 2013, against 71.8% where almost nothing was built, ValuQ analysis of Land Registry sales shows. Eleven years of heavy construction cost neighbouring owners about two percentage points, and Basildon's busiest building sectors posted some of the strongest growth in Essex.
Half of homes rated D or worse stayed below C for another decade
ValuQ matched 1.98 million homes in England and Wales that hold two energy certificates a median ten years apart, and among the 1.22 million that started at band D or worse, 52.4% were still below band C at the second test. After a decade of insulation schemes, boiler upgrades and net-zero noise, the country's leakiest homes mostly stayed leaky.
Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell my home?
Most people who sell the only home they have always lived in pay no capital gains tax, because a rule called Private Residence Relief covers the gain on a main home. You usually only pay capital gains tax on a property that was not your main home for the whole time you owned it, such as a second home, a buy-to-let, or a home you let out or left empty for part of your ownership.
Should I sell my house before I buy the next one?
For most movers in 2026, selling first is the safer path, because it tells you exactly how much you have to spend and makes you a far stronger buyer when you find the next home. Buying first can work if you have the cash or a bridging plan to carry two properties for a while, but it carries the real risk of paying for two homes at once if your sale is slow.
Two buyers want my house. How do I choose?
When two buyers want your home, the best offer is not always the highest number; it is the one most likely to complete. Pick the buyer with the strongest financial position and the simplest chain, because a slightly lower offer that actually completes beats a top offer that collapses weeks later.
What does Sold STC mean, and is the sale final?
Sold STC means Sold Subject to Contract: a seller has accepted a buyer's offer, but nothing is legally binding until contracts exchange. The property is off the open market in practice, yet the sale can still fall through, and around one in four agreed sales did in early 2026.
My buyer's mortgage valuation came in low. What now?
A down valuation is when your buyer's mortgage lender values your home below the price they agreed to pay, so the lender will not lend the full amount. It is common, it is usually survivable, and there are several routes to try before anyone walks away.
My chain collapsed. What happens to my sale now?
When a chain collapses, one sale somewhere in the line falls through and breaks the run of linked moves, which can stall or end your own sale even when nothing went wrong at your end. Your sale is not always lost, and calm, quick action gives you the best chance of saving it.
My buyer wants money off after the survey. Should I agree?
A buyer asking for a price reduction after the survey is one of the most common moments in a UK sale, and it does not mean the deal is lost. You do not have to say yes, you do not have to answer on the spot, and the calm move is to see the evidence first, then decide your number.
What is conveyancing, and how long does it take?
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer, handled by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. In the UK it usually takes about 12 to 16 weeks from offer accepted to completion, though chains and slow searches can stretch it further.
Has my house gone up in value since I bought it?
There is a good chance your home is worth more than you paid, but the honest answer depends on where you live and when you bought, and the gap between regions is wide right now. You can get a clear, free picture in a few steps using public sold-price data and valuations from local agents, without guessing.
Revealed: the Basildon streets that sell for four times the rest
The most expensive street in Basildon sold homes for a median £575,000 over the past two years; the cheapest we could rank, barely two miles away, for £141,500. ValuQ ranked every Basildon street with enough sales to compare, and the gap from top to bottom is more than four times, which is why the town average tells you almost nothing about your own road.
Forget London: the towns where flats are selling for far less
The national house price indices spent this week arguing over whether prices are flat or up half a percent. ValuQ analysed sold prices in 24 English towns and found a split they all miss: in 10 of them the average flat sold for less than a year ago by a wider margin than in London, led by Manchester, where the average flat changed hands for 17% less even as the city's houses rose.
ValuQ Property Watch: Basildon flats fell 6% as terraces rose
On 5 June 2026 Halifax reported that UK house prices barely moved again, the latest in a run of near-flat national figures. ValuQ went to Basildon's own sold prices and found the calm headline hides a market splitting in two: terraced homes rose 2.3% over the year while flats fell 6.3%, even though the town's overall median price did not move at all.
What documents do I need to sell my house in the UK?
To sell your house in the UK you need proof of your identity, proof that you own the property, a valid Energy Performance Certificate, and the standard property forms your conveyancer sends you (the TA6 and TA10, plus the TA7 if the property is leasehold). Getting these ready before you list is one of the simplest ways to keep your sale moving once a buyer is found.
My house isn't getting viewings. Should I drop the price?
A house going quiet for viewings is one of the most common wobbles in a sale, and in most cases it points to the asking price or the listing itself, not to anything wrong with your home. Before you cut the price, give it two to three weeks of real marketing, read the viewing and enquiry numbers, and only adjust once the data tells you to.
My estate agent has gone quiet. Can I leave them?
Yes, in almost all cases you can leave an estate agent who has gone quiet, but the timing depends on the contract you signed. Check your tie-in period and your notice period first, because leaving the right way protects you from paying two agents for the same sale.
27,000 homes are coming to Basildon. Can the town cope?
Basildon is being asked to build 27,000 new homes by 2043, more than three times the number it was born with as a New Town in 1949. The honest answer to whether the town can cope is yes, but on one condition: the homes are not the threat, and the fight worth having is not to stop them, but to make the schools, surgeries and roads arrive with them.
What is a property chain, and how does it work?
A property chain is a line of linked home sales where each move depends on the one before it going through, so your sale can rise or fall with people you never meet. The longer the chain, the more moving parts there are, which is why knowing your position in it is the best way to protect your sale.
Should I instruct my solicitor before my buyer's mortgage offer?
Yes, instruct your own solicitor now, because lining one up the moment you accept an offer is cheap, keeps your sale moving, and commits you to nothing risky. What you should hold back is the bigger, harder-to-reverse spending, and taking your home off the market, until your buyer has shown real financial commitment.
My neighbour sold for more. Is my house worth the same?
Not necessarily, because one neighbour's sale price is a single data point, not the value of your home. Two similar-looking houses on the same street can sell tens of thousands apart on condition, layout, plot, and timing, which is why you compare several recent sales and more than one agent's view rather than anchoring to one number.
ValuQ Property Watch: Basildon has the c2c line's cheapest homes
A typical home one stop down the c2c line at Pitsea sold for £310,000 in 2025, and at Basildon for £324,750, the cheapest cluster of stops on the whole Fenchurch Street line. That is £260,000 less than a home at Upminster, which is only about 13 minutes closer to London, and £81,000 less than Leigh-on-Sea, which is further away.
My buyer hasn't ordered searches yet. Should I worry?
If your sale was agreed a few weeks ago and the buyer's solicitor still hasn't ordered searches, that is common and usually not a warning sign on its own. Searches are one of the later steps in conveyancing, often paid for only after the buyer has their mortgage offer, so a quiet first few weeks is normal rather than a sign your sale is failing.
My house sale fell through. What do I do next?
A sale falling through is one of the most common setbacks in the UK market, and it does not mean your home will not sell. Around 1 in 4 agreed sales fell through in early 2026, most of those homes go on to sell to a different buyer, and the steps below help you relaunch quickly and protect yourself the second time around.
What is exchange of contracts, and when does it happen?
Exchange of contracts is the moment a property sale in England and Wales becomes legally binding. Until contracts are exchanged either side can walk away without a legal penalty, and once they are exchanged both the buyer and the seller are committed to completing on the agreed date.
My buyer went quiet after the survey. What should I do?
A quiet spell after the survey is one of the most common wobbles in a sale, and most of these sales still complete. The usual reason is simple: the buyer is reading the report, getting quotes for anything it flagged, and deciding whether to ask you to adjust the price, so a silence of a few days to a couple of weeks is normal.
Sale agreed but nothing's happening: is this normal?
Yes, in most cases this is completely normal. The first few weeks after a sale is agreed are usually the quietest, because solicitors are being instructed, searches are being ordered, and the buyer's mortgage is being processed, and almost none of that produces a visible update for you.
How much do estate agents charge to sell a house?
Most UK high street estate agents charge a commission of around 1% to 1.5% of your sale price plus VAT, which works out near 1.42% once VAT is added. On a £300,000 home that is roughly £4,260, while online agents offer fixed fees from about £500 to £1,500 instead.
What to do if estate agents value your house differently
If three agents value your home at very different prices, the highest number is often a sales tactic rather than the true market value. Ask every agent for the recent local sales that back their figure, and lean towards the price the evidence supports, not the one that sounds best.
Do you need an EPC to sell your house in 2026?
Yes. By law you must have a valid Energy Performance Certificate, known as an EPC, before you put your home on the market to sell, and you can be fined if you do not. There is no minimum rating you must reach to sell, so even a low rated home can be sold legally.
Why the average UK house price ranges from £268k to £378k
There is no single average UK house price. Depending on which official source you read, the typical UK home is worth anywhere from £268,132 to £378,304 right now, a gap of more than £110,000, because each measure tracks a different stage of the sale on a different timetable.
Is Basildon a good place to live in 2026?
Basildon is an Essex new town about 23 miles from London, with fast trains reaching London Fenchurch Street in around 37 minutes and an average house price near £362,000 in early 2026. For buyers priced out of London it offers a shorter commute than much of the home counties and more space for the money, which is the main reason people move here.
Basildon house prices by postcode: SS13 to SS16
Across Basildon, homes have sold for an average of £334,000 in the period to March 2026, but that single figure hides a wide split by postcode: a detached home runs from about £414,000 in SS14 to £591,000 in SS16. This is ValuQ's own analysis of 3,162 Basildon sales recorded by HM Land Registry, broken down by the four SS postcodes and plotted on our free Basildon postcode map.
Nationwide: UK house price growth slows to 1.7% in May
UK house price growth slowed to 1.7% in the year to May 2026, down from 3.0% in April, with prices falling 0.6% over the month, according to the Nationwide House Price Index released on 1 June 2026. For anyone thinking of selling, it confirms a market that is tilting towards buyers, where a realistic asking price now matters more than an optimistic one.
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty in 2026?
First-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland pay no stamp duty on the first £300,000 of a home priced up to £500,000, and 5% on any part of the price between £300,001 and £500,000. Buy for more than £500,000 and the first-time buyer discount disappears, so you pay the standard rates that apply to everyone else.
How to choose between estate agents after a valuation
Choose your estate agent on the strength of their evidence, not the size of their valuation. Compare each agent's suggested asking price against recent local sold prices, weigh their fee and contract terms, and pick the one with the most convincing plan to sell your home, not the one who simply quoted the highest number.
How much is stamp duty in 2026?
In 2026 you pay stamp duty on a home in England or Northern Ireland once the price passes £125,000, and the rate climbs in bands from 2% to 12%. First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000, and the rates have not changed since they were set on 1 April 2025.
UK mortgage rates in late May 2026: where they stand
As of 30 May 2026, the average two-year fixed mortgage at 60% loan-to-value sat at 4.59%, with the equivalent five-year fix at 4.72%, according to Rightmove. Rates have edged down over recent weeks but remain above where they were in early March, and the Bank of England base rate is being held at 3.75%.
How to set the right asking price for your home
Set your asking price from recent sold prices for similar homes nearby, not from the highest figure an agent quotes to win your instruction. Price it close to what the market will actually pay and you sell faster; over-price it and the home sits, then needs a cut that usually costs you more than getting it right from the start.
UK seaside hotspots: where house prices are rising fastest
Coastal Britain is pulling away from the wider property market in May 2026. Rightmove data published this week shows Bootle in Merseyside leading the country at 11% year-on-year asking-price growth, while around eight in ten coastal towns analysed still sit below the UK average price.
What to ask an estate agent at your valuation
Most sellers prepare nothing for the valuation appointment. The agent prepares everything. The questions below close that gap and give you a clean way to decide who actually deserves the listing.
What is gazumping and what to do if it happens to you
Gazumping is when a seller accepts a higher offer from a different buyer after they have already accepted yours, before contracts are exchanged. It is legal in England and Wales, painful for the buyer caught in it, and most common in markets where demand outpaces supply.
Zoopla May 2026: UK prices up 1.5%, demand down 10%
Zoopla's May 2026 House Price Index puts UK house price growth at 1.5% over the past year, while buyer demand is running 10% behind last year and listings are 3.4% higher. That paints a market with more homes for sale, fewer committed buyers, and prices that have held up despite the cooler demand.
How to compare estate agent fees in the UK
Comparing estate agent fees properly means looking at three things side by side: the percentage rate, the contract terms, and what's included for that fee. The cheapest headline number can easily turn out to be the most expensive deal once tie-in periods, add-on charges, and over-quoted asking prices are accounted for.
How long does it take to sell a house in the UK?
A UK house sale takes about six months end to end in 2026, with around five to seven weeks to find a buyer and another 16 to 22 weeks of conveyancing. The range between fast and slow sales is wide, and is usually decided by pricing, paperwork, conveyancer choice, and chain length.
How to sell your house in a UK buyer's market
When buyers have more choice, the sellers who win are the ones who price right, present sharply, and pick their agent on strategy rather than the highest valuation. The UK has the highest stock of homes for sale in May since 2015, so the basics matter more than they have in years.
UK asking prices vs sale prices: what May 2026 data shows
Sellers asked 1.2% more for their homes in May 2026, but actual sale prices fell 0.4% in the latest official data. The gap means homes are listing high and selling lower, and the stock of homes for sale is at its highest level for May since 2015.
Leasehold reform 2026: what it means if you're selling a flat
The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill was published on 27 January 2026 and confirmed in the King's Speech on 13 May 2026. It caps ground rents, makes commonhold the default for new flats, and is expected to start taking effect from late 2028, so leasehold flats sold in 2026 still trade under the current rules.
How does a house valuation work in the UK?
A house valuation is an estimate of what your home would sell for on the open market today. In the UK you can get one in three ways: free from local estate agents, paid from a RICS chartered surveyor, or instant and approximate from an online tool.
UK mansion tax 2026: bands, dates, and who pays
The UK's new mansion tax is an annual surcharge of £2,500 to £7,500 on homes worth more than £2 million in England, due to start in April 2028. Officially called the High Value Council Tax Surcharge, it is paid by the owner alongside their existing council tax, and the government opened a public consultation on the rules on 19 May 2026.
Should I accept the first offer on my house?
Whether to accept the first offer depends on three things: how it compares to your home's true market value, how strong the buyer's position is, and how soon you need to move. Quick is not always best, and high is not always safe.
What to do if a buyer gazunders you
Gazundering is when a buyer who has already agreed a price lowers their offer at the last minute, usually just before contracts are exchanged. If it happens to you, pause before you answer: set your real walk-away price, ask for the buyer's reason in writing, and know that most sellers who hold firm still complete at the price they first agreed.
Do I pay estate agent fees if my house doesn't sell?
With most high-street estate agents you pay nothing if your house does not sell, because their fee is a commission tied to completion. The exceptions are fixed-fee online agents that charge whether or not the sale happens, plus withdrawal fees and certain contract clauses that can still cost you.
What is a tie-in period in an estate agent contract?
A tie-in period is the fixed stretch of time at the start of an estate agent contract during which you cannot instruct another agent or walk away without paying a fee. It is the lock-in window, separate from the notice period, and once you sign it you are committed to that one agent until it ends.
Sole agency vs multi-agency: which costs less?
Sole agency almost always costs the seller less, because you commit to one agent and pay a lower commission. Multi-agency spreads your home across several agents but charges roughly double the rate, since only the agent who sells gets paid.
How much does it cost to sell a house in the UK in 2026?
Selling an average-priced UK home in 2026 costs roughly 4,800 to 6,000 pounds once estate agent commission, conveyancing, and an Energy Performance Certificate are added up. Estate agent fees are the largest single line, and extra costs such as removals or a mortgage early-repayment charge can push the total higher.
How accurate are online house valuations?
An online house valuation is a computer estimate built from past sold prices and property data, and for ordinary homes it usually lands within a sensible range of the true figure. It is less reliable for unusual, period, extended or improved homes, because the model has never seen the inside of your home.