how long between exchange and completion?

[AugustaProdworthy]

forgive my ignorance here but I can't remember why you exchange and then complete/move on a different date. How long is it usually and why is there a delay? After exchange do you legally own the new house?? thanks

After exchange you are legally obliged to buy the house. You then can make arrangements to move and buy the house on a different day. You wouldn't generally want to do both on one day otherwise you wouldn't know when to pack! Generally 1-2 weeks is standard I think.

you own the house at completion, when you have paid for it. You need to insure it from exchange, as after that you cannot pull out of the transaction except at a big cost, and are obliged to buy the house even if it burns to the ground.

given that you don't know that you are definitely moving until exchange, you need the gap to confirm all arrangements.

There's no set period, it's a mutual agreement between buyer and seller - on our last move, we had ten days between. On the other hand it is possible to exchange and complete on the same day - that's what happened when we sold my dad's bungalow - but that was bought by someone who was planning to refurbish it, so didn't have to make any moving arrangements.

I exchanged and completed on the same day! I had the movers on standby and waited for the phone call from the solicitor in the morning.

We left a four week gap between exchange and completion - we exchanged mid-December but didn't want to move until after the New Year.

Generally, doing both on the same day requires a bit more organisation, so it is standard to leave a gap of 1-2 weeks.

Completion can't happen umtil the funds are cleared, which can be difficult to do on the date of exchange.

Thank you all- fingers crossed we can exchange soon. Just waiting on mortgage company of buyer now.