Keys to buyer before exchange

[scoopmuckanddizzyrollytoo]

Hi, we are moving into rental a few weeks before exit date. Family who are buying are doing it all on same day. Is it ok to give them keys a couple of days before to help them out??

No! Do not hand over anything until completion. The buys can easily just pull out, and although you will still technically own the house what's to stop them changing the locks and trashing the place?
With things like this the only way you should think is worst poss outcome. It may seem helpful if you give them over early but you're opening yourself up to a world possible trouble if you do.

Don't hand over the keys until completion, but I don't understand the hard time you're getting over moving into a temporary rental - it makes life a lot easier to have a bit of overlap - we did the same, most of our stuff went into storage, and we stayed at MILs for a couple of weeks - let me clean the house we were leaving, clean the house we were moving into, and meant that there were no stresses from our end when the people we were buying from still hadn't finished moving out at 3pm when we'd made the transfer at 10:30.

Thanks guys, I was beginning to wonder what heinous crime I had committed

Give the keys to the EA if you don't want to have to go round and hand them to the buyers. Our vendors moved out the day before completion and DP just went to the EA for the keys once we heard we had completed.