Only in England! 14-Month Battle to Sell a House

After 14 months, four buyers, countless delays, and one serious test of patience, we’ve finally sold our small buy-to-let property in the Northwest.

You’d think selling a house would be the hard part—but we had a full-price offer within weeks. In fact, we had four. 

As someone who knows how to present a property and get strong offers in, I felt confident at the start. What I couldn’t control was the outdated, painfully slow legal process that defines the UK housing market.

Why Did It Take So Long?

Let me break it down for you.

Buyer #1

They were very excited and very keen until her mum spoke  to our neighbours—who we’ve always had issues with. They scared her off with tales of local crime and drugs.  They pulled out the next day.

Buyer #2

She made it all the way to the contract signing day, then changed her mind. This left us with extra legal fees,  mortgage payments which had gone up 150%, and double council tax due to being an empty property. Plus the need to change Estate Agents as our wonderful estate agent worked for herself and by this time was heavily pregnant.

Buyer #3

We pulled the plug ourselves here. This buyer wanted a miracle! He wanted major improvements: raising the EPC by two levels and sorting out known kitchen damp. We’d priced the home with those issues in mind and disclosed everything upfront. All that, for just £2k more? If it was possible for that price we have down it ourselves! 

Buyer #4

we accepted his offer on Jan, it wasn’t the highest offer that we had received but he apparently could move quickly and since the house was now haemorrhaging money, fast move was more important to us than the slightly higher offer. Unfortunately, “quick” turned out to be… not quick at all.

The UK Property Process: A Masterclass in Delays

Unlike most countries, in the UK, we have nothing in place that makes an offer legally binding until the sale contracts are exchanged—and there’s no deadline for when that must happen  (unless bought at auction). This creates a limbo where buyers can drag their feet or pull out at the last minute.

In our case, the buyer’s solicitor moved at a snails pace. Weeks would go by between updates. In the final stretch, I was emailing and calling both solicitors and the estate agents daily. The most common response?

“Oh, I’ll chase that today and get back to you!”

Did they? Rarely.

Fun Fact (Or Not So Fun, Really)

According to analysis across 12 countries, the UK is officially the slowest nation for selling homes.

Let’s put that into perspective:

Yes, you read that right. 179 days on average—almost six months. That’s 70% longer than the US, and a full 126 days more.

Gemma Young, CEO of Moverly, attributes this to the UK’s outdated legal processes and the wide legal window where buyers can change their minds without consequence. She’s not wrong.

Final Thoughts

I’d love to say we’ve come out of this with deep wisdom and life lessons. But really, the only takeaway is: don’t give up, and don’t be afraid to be a nuisance. Call. Email. Chase. Repeat. I made over 50 calls in the last 3.5 months! I truly believe if I hadn’t been chasing and pushing we’d still be waiting to exchange!

You’re not being annoying—you’re holding people accountable. You’re also paying them, remember?

So to anyone still waiting on contracts: keep pushing. The finish line does exist. You’ll get there……Eventually!