What Happens on Completion Day? A Step-by-Step Timeline

Completion day is the moment ownership legally transfers. Here is what happens, roughly in order: your solicitor confirms the mortgage funds have arrived from your lender, sends the balance to the seller’s solicitor, and once received, the seller’s solicitor confirms completion by phone. Keys are then released, usually via the estate agent.

Delays almost always come down to one thing: bank transfers. The Bank of England’s CHAPS system has a cut-off time, typically mid-afternoon, and if the solicitors in the chain above you haven’t sent funds by then, everyone below waits until the next working day.