My buyer's mortgage is taking ages. How long should it take?

Waiting on a buyer's mortgage is one of the most common stretches of silence in a sale, and one of the most misread. Most of the work is happening out of your sight, between the buyer, their broker and the lender. Knowing the normal timeline tells you when to relax and when to start asking sharper questions.

How long does a mortgage offer normally take?

A formal mortgage offer usually takes around two to six weeks from the point the buyer submits a full application. Many high street lenders turn it around in roughly 18 to 26 days when the paperwork is complete, and straightforward cases, such as an employed buyer purchasing a standard home, can see an offer in about ten to fourteen working days. The clock that matters starts at full application, not at the day the offer was accepted.

What is the difference between a mortgage in principle and a mortgage offer?

A mortgage in principle, sometimes called an agreement or decision in principle, is an early indication from a lender of roughly how much they might lend, based on a few details and a soft credit check. A formal mortgage offer is the real thing: the lender's written commitment to lend a specific amount on your specific property, after a full application and a valuation. A buyer who only has a mortgage in principle has not yet secured the money, and that is an important distinction when you are judging how committed they are.

When does a slow mortgage become a real worry?

The worry is rarely the length of the wait. It is whether the buyer has genuinely applied and is engaging with their lender. A buyer who applied three weeks ago and is answering the lender's document requests is on track. A buyer who keeps saying it is in hand but cannot tell you the lender, the broker or whether a valuation has been booked may not have applied at all. That is the signal to read, because the first four weeks of a sale carry the highest risk of collapse.

What should I do while I wait?

1. 1. Confirm the buyer has actually applied

   Ask your agent to check that a full application is in, not only a mortgage in principle. The difference decides everything else.

2. 2. Instruct your own solicitor now

   The legal work can run in parallel with the mortgage. Starting your conveyancing early is inexpensive and means you are not adding the mortgage wait and the legal wait end to end.

3. 3. Watch for the lender's valuation

   Once the lender books its valuation, the application is moving properly. If a down valuation comes in lower than the offer, deal with that on its own terms rather than assuming the sale is lost.

4. 4. Set a reasonable checkpoint

   If there is still no application several weeks in, agree a clear date with your buyer through the agent. A committed buyer will have applied and will say so; a vague answer tells you to hold your bigger, costly decisions back.

5. 5. Keep your own costs in step with theirs

   Hold the larger spends and the decision to come fully off the market until the buyer has applied and is progressing. Match their commitment with yours, rather than getting ahead of it.

The question is almost never how long the mortgage is taking. It is whether your buyer has actually applied, and whether they are answering their lender.

A sale runs more smoothly when it was priced realistically and matched to the right buyer from the start. ValuQ is a platform that gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side valuations from competing local estate agents, so you can pick the agent most likely to bring a financially ready buyer to the table. The choice, and the pace, remain yours.