Buying a house got even slower in Q1, as the time period from agreeing a sale to exchange of contracts grew by seven days since Q1 2025 to almost four-and-a-half months.
Movers in Outer London and the East faced the longest time to exchange contracts at 4.9 months, while Scottish movers – under a different legal system – exchanged in 3.2 months, according to TwentyCi’s Q1 Property and Homemover Report.
Meanwhile, the average time to sell a property priced at £1m and above rose to 128 days, a nine-day increase on last year.
The average time to sell a property in any price bracket now stands at 82 days, an increase of one day compared to 2025 – the highest level in a decade.
Selling times in the North have fallen, while those living in Inner and Outer London have seen a six-day increase.
Speeding up the home buying process has been the focus of a government consultation, which closed at the end of 2025.
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Writing in the report, Colin Bradshaw, chief executive of TwentyCi, said the implementation of the outcomes of the consultation “could not come soon enough”.
Although the outcomes have not yet been confirmed, the data firm expects the government to make the supply of upfront property information to buyers mandatory and binding agreements between buyers and sellers to come earlier in the transaction process.