If you are selling, buying or both, knowing what happens on completion day takes a lot of the stress out of it. Completion is the day the money moves, ownership changes hands and you get the keys. It is also the day your removal van is loaded, driven and unloaded, often while you are waiting for a phone call from your solicitor to say the funds have arrived.
This guide walks through the day from both sides: what the solicitors are doing, and what is happening at your front door. It is written from the removals side, based on over 20 years of moving households across St Albans, Hertfordshire and London on completion days. The legal process described applies to England and Wales; your own conveyancer is the right person to confirm the details of your contract.
| Quick answer On completion day, the buyer’s solicitor sends the purchase money to the seller’s solicitor. Once it arrives, the seller’s solicitor confirms completion and the estate agent releases the keys, often around midday to early afternoon. Meanwhile the seller’s removal crew loads and leaves the old home in the morning, and the buyer’s crew waits to unload until the keys are released. Completion only happens on working days. |
1. What actually happens on completion day?
By completion day, contracts have already been exchanged, so the date is legally fixed and both sides are committed. Completion itself is mainly a sequence of money transfers and confirmations:
- The buyer’s solicitor sends the money. This is the balance of the purchase price, made up of the buyer’s mortgage funds and their own money, sent to the seller’s solicitor by bank transfer.
- The seller’s solicitor confirms receipt. They check the full amount has arrived, then pay off the seller’s mortgage from it.
- Completion is confirmed. The seller’s solicitor tells the buyer’s solicitor and the estate agent that the sale has completed.
- The keys are released. The estate agent, or sometimes the seller directly, hands the keys to the buyer.
If you are in a chain, this happens for every sale in the chain, one after another. The money usually starts at the bottom, with a buyer who has nothing to sell, and moves up. That is why people near the top of a chain often get their keys later in the day than first-time buyers.
2. What does a typical completion day look like hour by hour?
Every completion day is different, but most follow a pattern like this for someone selling one home and buying another on the same day.
| Typical time | What the solicitors are doing | What is happening at your home |
| The day before | Final checks; buyer’s lender releases mortgage funds to the buyer’s solicitor | Packing finished, beds stripped, fridge defrosted, washing machine disconnected, essentials box packed |
| Early morning | Preparing to send and receive funds as the banks open | Removal crew arrives and starts loading, largest items first |
| Mid to late morning | Money starts moving through the chain | Loading finishes; final walk-round, meter readings and photographs of the empty property |
| Late morning to midday | Seller’s solicitor waits for funds, then pays off the seller’s mortgage | Keys left with the estate agent; van drives to the new property and waits nearby |
| Midday to early afternoon | Funds confirmed; completion declared; keys released | Keys collected; unloading starts once you have them |
| Afternoon | Post-completion paperwork begins, including registration with HM Land Registry | Furniture placed room by room; beds reassembled first |
| Evening | Nothing further needed from you on the day | Essentials box opened, beds made, kettle on |
Times are illustrative, not guaranteed. A long chain, a late mortgage release or bank delays can push key release into late afternoon.
3. When will you actually get the keys?
There is no set time for key release. It depends on three things:
- Your contract’s completion time. Many contracts based on the Standard Conditions of Sale set 2pm as the deadline for completion. Some set a different time, so check yours.
- Your position in the chain. The further up the chain you are, the more sales need to complete before your money arrives.
- How quickly the money moves. Bank transfers between solicitors usually arrive within hours, but a late mortgage release or a missing piece of paperwork can hold things up.
Plan your removal around a realistic key time, not the best case. If you are buying and selling on the same day, the safest plan is to have your old home loaded and empty by late morning, with the van ready to go the moment you get the call.
4. What do you need to do before you leave your old home?
If you are selling, the property usually has to be empty by the completion time in your contract. Before you hand over the keys, work through this list:
- Take meter readings and photos. Gas, electricity and water. Send them to your suppliers the same day.
- Check the fixtures and fittings form. Anything you agreed to leave must stay, and anything you agreed to remove must go. Items like a greenhouse or shed often catch people out, so check before moving day.
- Do a final walk-round. Every room, loft, cupboard, garage and garden shed. It is easy to miss a loft or an under-stairs cupboard.
- Leave manuals and useful information. Boiler and appliance manuals, alarm codes and bin collection days are a kind handover for the buyer.
- Hand over every key. Front and back doors, windows, garage and shed, usually to the estate agent.
- Confirm your post redirection is active. Completion paperwork and bank letters may still be on their way.
For everything in the weeks before, use our printable moving house checklist.
5. What happens if completion is delayed on the day?
Most completions happen on time. When they don’t, the cause is usually one of the following, and the practical effect on your removal is similar: the van is loaded and waiting.
| Cause of delay | What it usually means | What to do |
| Money late moving through the chain | Keys released later in the afternoon | Stay in contact with your solicitor; keep the van nearby |
| Mortgage funds released late | Your solicitor cannot send money until it arrives | Ask your solicitor for updates; warn your removal crew early |
| Bank or payment problem | Can push completion past the bank cut-off | Plan for the chance of completing the next working day |
| Seller not ready to leave | You cannot enter or unload | Do not move in without agreement; contact your solicitor and agent |
| A sale in the chain fails to complete | Your completion may not happen on the day | Your conveyancer will advise on your contract; arrange where you and your belongings will stay |
After exchange, failing to complete on the agreed date is a breach of contract, and your contract will usually set out what happens next, which can include compensation. Your conveyancer handles that side. Your job on the day is to keep your belongings safe and your removal company informed.
If a delay turns into a gap of days or weeks, our guide to your options when there is a gap between moving out and moving in covers storage and temporary accommodation.
6. Should removals start the day before completion?
For many moves, some of the work should happen the day before. It depends on the size of the home and how much you are doing yourself.
| Home size or situation | Suggested approach |
| Studio or one-bedroom flat | Pack yourself in advance; load and move on completion day |
| Two to three-bedroom house | Finish packing the day before; load early on completion day |
| Four bedrooms or more | Consider professional packing the day before and starting to load then too |
| Long distance move | Load the day before if possible so the crew can leave early on completion day |
| Contracts not yet exchanged | Provisional booking only; confirm once the date is fixed |
If you would rather not pack at all, our packing and unpacking service can be booked for the day before completion, so the whole of completion day goes on loading and moving.
7. Is a Friday completion a bad idea?
Friday is a popular completion day because it gives buyers the weekend to settle in. The downside is what happens if something slips. Because completion money only moves on working days, a delay that runs past the bank cut-off on a Friday cannot be fixed until Monday. That can mean a loaded van, a family with nowhere to sleep and a weekend of uncertainty.
If you can choose, a Monday to Thursday completion gives you the next working day as a fallback. If Friday is the only option, book your removals as early as possible and have a backup plan for where you and your belongings could stay if keys are not released.
8. How Shaheen Express Removals handles completion day
Completion day is where removals and conveyancing meet, and most of the stress comes from the timing between them. We plan the move around your completion, not the other way round.
- Early starts. We are available 24/7, so we can start loading first thing and have your old home empty well before the completion deadline.
- Two-day moves for larger homes. Packing and loading can start the day before, leaving completion day for the move itself.
- Storage if the dates don’t line up. Personal storage, including shipping containers and crates, if keys are delayed or completion moves.
- Furniture dismantled and rebuilt. Beds are reassembled first so your first night in the new home is a comfortable one.
- Trusted locally. Rated 5.0 from 444 Google reviews, over 20 years in removals, fully insured and DBS-checked staff.
Based in St Albans, we move households across Hertfordshire, Luton, Essex and London. See our house removals service for more.
| Got a completion date? Call 07903 494502 or request a free quote online. Tell us your completion date, both addresses and whether contracts have been exchanged, and we will plan the day around your key release. |
Frequently asked questions
What time do you get the keys on completion day?
There is no fixed time. Keys are released once the seller’s solicitor confirms the money has arrived, which is often around midday to early afternoon. Many contracts based on the Standard Conditions of Sale set a 2pm deadline for completion, but if you are near the top of a chain, you may wait longer while funds pass through each sale below you.
Can completion happen on a weekend?
In practice, no. Completion money is sent between solicitors by bank transfer on working days, so completion almost always takes place Monday to Friday and not on bank holidays.
Do I have to be out of my house before completion?
Yes. Most sales are agreed with vacant possession, which means the property must be empty of you and your belongings, apart from anything agreed on the fixtures and fittings form, by the completion time in your contract. Plan for the removal van to be loaded and away before the money is due to arrive.
Can removals start before completion?
Loading at your old home can start first thing in the morning, before completion. Unloading at your new home should only start once your solicitor or estate agent confirms completion and the keys are released.
What happens if the seller hasn’t moved out when I arrive?
Do not move your belongings in or enter the property without agreement. Contact your solicitor and the estate agent straight away. Your removal crew can usually wait with the loaded van while the situation is resolved, so ask in advance how your remover handles waiting time.
Should I book removals before exchange of contracts?
You can make a provisional booking before exchange, which is sensible at busy times of year, but only confirm the date once contracts are exchanged. Until exchange, the completion date is not legally fixed and can still move.
