Completion day: what time you get the keys and how to plan the move

Completion day is the day the house legally changes hands, and it is almost always the day the removals van turns up. The two do not run on the same clock. The van is booked for the morning, but the keys depend on money moving between solicitors, and in a chain that can take most of the day. My crew and I plan every house move around that gap, and this is how to plan yours. For the weeks before, our house moving checklist covers the full timeline.

What happens on completion day

On the day, the buyer's solicitor sends the purchase money to the seller's solicitor. Once the seller's solicitor confirms it has arrived, they tell the estate agent to release the keys. Until that call is made, the house is not yours, even if the seller has already left. That is why the packing needs to be finished the day before, so loading can start first thing.

In a chain, the same thing happens down the line. The money from the first sale often helps fund the next purchase, so each completion waits for the one before it. Completion takes place on a working day, because the payments go through the banking system.

What time do you get the keys on completion day?

There is no fixed time, but there is a usual deadline. The Standard Conditions of Sale, which most residential contracts in England and Wales are based on, call for completion by 2pm. Your contract can set a different time, so ask your solicitor what yours says.

In practice, a buyer with no chain above them is often given keys late morning or around midday, once the money lands. In a longer chain, keys can come any time up to and sometimes after early afternoon. Plan for the afternoon and treat anything earlier as a bonus. Moving in or around St Albans or Luton, where streets are busy, a late afternoon unload also means planning the parking early.

Why completion day runs late

• The chain. Every link has to complete in turn. One slow transfer at the top holds up everyone below it.
• Funds arriving late. Mortgage money and bank transfers have to clear before anyone releases keys.
• Paperwork. A missing signature or a last minute query can stop a solicitor sending money until it is sorted.
• The seller is still moving out. If they have their own removals running late, you wait for them.

Planning the removal around completion day

The trick is to do everything that does not need the keys before they arrive. Load in the morning at the old house, so the van is packed and ready to go the moment the call comes. If you are selling too, you will usually need to be out of your old house by the time your buyer completes anyway.

• Book the removal for completion day, not the day after. Most people do. Just make sure your removals company knows it is completion day and has planned for a wait.
• Ask about waiting time. Find out how a delay is charged. Our guide to what removal quotes should include covers what to ask.
• Have a plan if keys come very late. If completion slips to the next day, ask whether the loaded van can be held overnight, and look at short-term storage if the gap is longer.
• Sort the parking at the new house. A long wait is made worse by a van that then cannot get near the door. See the parking suspension guide.
• Keep your phone charged and on. The call from the agent is what starts the second half of the day.

If you are selling and buying on the same day

You are both a seller and a buyer, so you need to be out of the old house in time for your buyer, and you cannot get into the new house until your own purchase completes. Ask your solicitor when the seller of your new house has agreed to leave by, and tell your removals company both addresses and both constraints when you ask for a quote. A long chain is a good reason to start loading early, even the day before for a large house.

A short completion day checklist

1. Confirm with your solicitor the day before that everything is ready to complete.
2. Load the van in the morning and keep the essentials, documents and chargers with you.
3. Take meter readings at the old house before you leave.
4. Collect the keys and take meter readings at the new house before unloading.
5. Check the house is as agreed, and photograph anything that is not.
6. Start the admin of changing addresses, using our guide to who to notify when moving house.

If you are moving in or around Dunstable, Luton or anywhere across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, tell us your completion date and whether you are in a chain when you ask for a quote, and we will plan the day around the keys.