Homebuyers across the nation are keen to complete in order to make a saving, presenting sellers with an opportunity to take advantage of increased market demand, whilst potentially securing a higher asking price for their home, not to mention saving on SDLT when it comes to their onward purchase.
It is estimated that the average time to sell a home in the UK saw an annual increase of 12.3% in 2024 to sit at 178.5 days, equivalent to almost six months. Meanwhile, the government is increasing Stamp Duty Land Tax rates from April, which means that homebuyers could be facing an additional cost of thousands of pounds when purchasing a home.
So with little more than two months before the deadline, how can sellers give themselves the best possible chance of selling quickly in order to ride the current increase in market activity whilst also improving their own chances of a stamp duty saving on their onward purchase?
Sell to a cash house buying company - 2–6 weeks
The fastest way to secure a sale is to sell to a house-buying company. They will usually take the property off your hands for 75%-80% of its open market value with a cash purchase that completes within 2-6 weeks.
This is ideal for beating the SDLT deadline but also offers an important lifeline when trying to sell a non-standard property or one which has structural issues that will make it difficult to sell on the open market.
But do your research and choose a buying company carefully because some of them can be unreliable. Check their track record, certifications, and reviews, and only ever pick a company that will let you speak to their previous customers.
Sell at auction - 4–12 weeks
Property auctions are an interesting option if you’re looking to secure a fast sale. When a home is purchased at auction, the buyer is obliged to deliver the money within 28 days of the hammer falling, although special conditions might vary this.
However, auctions come with the risk that a property will sell for much less than hoped for. To avoid this, you can set a reserve price, but then you have the risk that no bidders will want to match the reserve price, and you’ll be back at square one with your sale.
Auctions are particularly useful for selling unconventional or poorly maintained properties and will help you avoid estate agency fees. You will, however, be obliged to pay auction fees.
Sell to an online quick sale estate agent - 8–12 weeks
A quick sale estate agent is a hybrid between a cash buying company and a traditional estate agent. They try to achieve sales at around 80%-85% of the open market value, but if they can’t, they are known to hit the seller with lower offers in order to get the sale done.
Part exchange with a new-build developer - time frame varies
If you’re looking to move into a new-build home for your onward purchase, you might be able to part-exchange your existing property with the new-build developer and use its value to offset the cost of your new home. Developers can be trusted to offer a reasonable price for your home as they will usually seek advice from agents and surveyors.
However, the speed of the transaction depends entirely on the timeframe of the new-build development, so the seller has little control over the situation.
Multi-agency listing - time frame varies
If you’re keen to keep your home on the open market, choosing a good estate agent is vital to facilitating a fast sale, and in some cases, instructing more than one agent to handle the sale can further speed the process up by broadening the potential customer pool, and creating a healthy competition between the various agents involved.
However, you’re still relying on the open market which can move incredibly slowly, and you’re still going to have to pay estate agency fees.
Reduce the asking price – time frame varies
If you’re struggling to find a good buyer, you might want to consider reducing the asking price. Before doing so, it’s always best to seek the advice of a new estate agent – not the one who initially valued the property – to see if they agree that the initial price is appropriate for the local market’s current conditions. By reducing the price, you can entice a wider pool of potential buyers, but if you reduce it too much, you’re going to end up leaving a lot of money on the table. So it’s a fine balancing act that comes with substantial risks.
“In a couple of months, England’s home sellers are going to face a significantly higher tax burden than they have done for many years due to the stamp duty increase announced during the government's Autumn Statement back in October 2024," explains the CEO of Open Property Group, Jason Harris-Cohen.
"Even in the most healthy and active of housing markets, this creates an incredibly tight window for securing a sale before the deadline expires, and given how much of an increase the average time to sell has seen in the past year, it’s safe to say that sellers face a difficult challenge when trying to secure a buyer whilst avoiding paying thousands of pounds in additional tax on their onward purchase," he adds.
"This is exactly why property-buying companies such as Open Property Group exist, to ensure that people who need to sell quickly have a transparent, secure, and reliable way of doing so without compromising too much on the sale price. Our average offer comes in at 80% of market value, and you pay absolutely no fees or hidden costs.
He concludes, "So when you consider what you’re going to pay in agency fees and potentially stamp duty on the open market, it’s not at all unusual for your final bank balance to be just as healthy with a quick sale as it would be by taking the more traditional route.”
