Once your offer has been accepted, the same question comes up almost immediately: how long does a house move take? For most buyers in England and Wales, it’s somewhere between 12 and 16 weeks from accepted offer to completion day. That figure hides a lot of variation, though, because your chain, your solicitor and your mortgage lender all set the pace. Understanding what happens in each stage makes the wait far easier to handle, and it helps you book home removals at the right point instead of scrambling in the final week.
Offer Accepted To Exchange: The Slowest Stretch
This is where most of the time goes, and it’s the part you have the least control over. Your solicitor orders searches, raises enquiries with the seller’s side and waits for replies. Local authority searches alone can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks depending on the council. Meanwhile, your lender arranges a valuation and works through the formal mortgage offer.
Chains stretch this further. If the person you’re buying from is also buying, every link has to be ready before anyone can exchange. One slow solicitor holds up everybody. You can help by returning ID documents, questionnaires and signed paperwork the day they land rather than at the weekend.
Exchange To Completion: Usually One To Two Weeks
Exchange is the moment the sale becomes legally binding and the completion date is fixed. Most chains leave a gap of roughly one to two weeks afterwards, although same-day exchange and completion does happen. That short window is when the practical side suddenly gets busy.
Use it properly and moving day becomes straightforward:
- Confirm your removal booking and final inventory
- Order boxes and materials, or arrange a packing team
- Book meter readings and final utility accounts
- Set up a Royal Mail redirection so post follows you
- Arrange parking or access for the van at both ends
Our moving house checklist sets these tasks out week by week, which is useful when your exchange date arrives sooner than expected.
How Long Moving Day Itself Takes
This is the part people usually underestimate. A one-bedroom flat with everything boxed can be loaded, driven and unloaded within four to five hours. A three-bedroom house typically fills most of a working day. Four or five bedrooms, a loft and a garage can run into a second day, particularly if there’s a long drive at the other end.
The size of the vehicle matters more than people expect. We run five Luton vans and an 18-tonne lorry, so larger homes usually go in one load rather than three return trips. Fewer trips means fewer hours and less handling of your belongings.
A Typical Three-Bedroom Schedule
Here’s how a standard day tends to run:
- 8am — team arrives, protects floors and doorways, walks through the house
- 8.30am to midday — furniture dismantled where needed, then loading begins
- Midday to 1pm — keys released, travel to the new address
- 1pm to 4pm — unloading, room by room placement, reassembly of beds and wardrobes
Keys rarely appear at nine in the morning. Funds usually move between solicitors late morning or early afternoon, so a midday handover is normal rather than a delay.
What Actually Slows A Move Down
Packing is the biggest culprit. Boxes that are still open at 8am push everything back, and half-filled drawers have to be emptied before anything can be lifted. If time is tight, a professional packing service removes that risk completely because the house is ready before the van arrives.
Access is the second one. Narrow lanes, restricted parking bays and top-floor flats without lifts all add hours. Tell your removal company early so the right vehicle and crew size are booked.
Distance matters less than people assume. Loading and unloading dominate the day, so a local move and a longer one often take a similar amount of effort.
Give Yourself A Buffer Where It Counts
Book your removals as soon as you have a likely completion date, not once it’s confirmed. Friday is the busiest day in the industry by a wide margin, and month ends fill up first. Early booking costs nothing and protects your choice of date.
Leave a gap between moving day and anything else that matters. Starting a new job the next morning or hosting family that evening adds pressure you don’t need. Plan for the day to finish later than expected and you’ll almost always be pleasantly surprised.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Far In Advance Should I Book A Removal Company?
Four to six weeks is ideal, and sooner if you’re moving at the end of a month. We can work with shorter notice, but popular dates go quickly.
Can A House Move Be Completed In One Day?
Yes. Most two and three-bedroom moves are comfortably done within a single day, especially when packing is finished beforehand.
What Time Do Removals Usually Start?
Early starts are standard, often around 8am. We operate seven days a week from 8am to 10pm, so timings can flex around your completion.
Does A Longer Distance Mean A Longer Move?
Not always. Travel time adds hours, but loading and unloading take the largest share of the day whether you’re moving locally or nationwide.
Plan Your Move Around A Date That Works
Every move has its own rhythm, and a quick conversation about your property, your access and your likely completion date gives you a realistic timeline rather than a guess. We’ve been moving families since 2017, with more than 30 years of combined experience behind the team, and we don’t charge waiting time while you’re waiting for keys. Get in touch with our team for a no-obligation quote and we’ll talk through how your day could run.
