Immediate pathway · completion approaching
Completion is approaching. What should you get ready?
Completion day involves a transfer of funds, a handover of keys, and administration that continues for weeks afterwards. Use this route to organise the move, know what to expect on the day, and finish what completion legally requires.
This pathway explains completion and moving in England. It is education, not legal advice or a substitute for your conveyancer's or removal firm's instructions.
Your route
Five lessons, in a sensible order.
Open each lesson for the explanation and questions. Every link is part of the full 48-step journey.
- 1
As soon as a completion date is agreed
Plan Your Move
Organise removals, packing, notifications and your first night before the date arrives.
- 2
On the day
Completion Day
Follow the transfer of mortgage funds and know precisely when the home legally becomes yours.
- 3
Once funds have cleared
Collect the Keys & Move In
Handle the keys, meters, safety checks and promised fixtures on arrival.
- 4
In the weeks after
After Completion: SDLT & Land Registry
Confirm the SDLT return and Land Registry application happen — they do not complete themselves.
- 5
Practise the decision
A delay is not the same as a failure.
Try responding to a realistic completion-day delay before you face one.
Practise the decision
It is 2pm on completion day and your funds still have not arrived. What now?
Your removals van is loaded and waiting, but your conveyancer says the mortgage funds have not yet arrived from your lender, and there is no confirmed time.
Questions to carry with you
Keep the conversation useful.
Take these to your conveyancer and removal firm as the date approaches.
- What time do funds typically need to arrive, and who tells me when they have?
- What meter readings, fixtures and fittings should I check against the sale particulars on arrival?
- Who is responsible for filing the SDLT return and Land Registry application, and by when?
- If completion is delayed, what is the plan for removals, storage or overnight arrangements?
Once you have settled in
You have completed the full journey.
Revisit any lesson, review list or worksheet whenever a question comes up in your new home.
Browse the full journey