.png)
Moving house is one of the most stressful life events - and not just because of the packing and upheaval. The timing of your move is one of the biggest factors in whether it goes smoothly or becomes a day full of unexpected costs and stress.
Understanding exchange and completion, and how they affect your removal company booking, is essential to avoiding nasty surprises.
What do “Exchange” and “Completion” mean?
When you buy or sell a property in the UK, two key milestones define the legal process:
-
Exchange of contracts: This is when both parties sign identical contracts, the buyer pays their deposit, and the sale becomes legally binding. Once the exchange has happened, neither party can back out without significant penalties.
-
Completion: This is the day when the balance of the purchase price is transferred from buyer to seller, ownership changes hands, and you can collect the keys.
Most people move on completion day, which is why aligning your removal booking with this date is so important.
Photo by Kampus Production from Pexels:
Why delays happen
Even with the best planning, completion can be delayed - and it’s not always within your control.
Here’s why things can go wrong:
-
Chain complexity: Many moves are part of a chain. One transaction depends on another, which may involve 3 or 4 (or more!) estate agents, solicitors, and mortgage providers. If any one link in that chain experiences a delay, it holds up everyone else.
-
Banking and fund transfers: Solicitors rely on receiving cleared funds before they can release keys. If there’s a delay in funds arriving (often due to the buyer’s bank or mortgage lender) everything grinds to a halt.
-
Paperwork and communication: The transfer of documents between solicitors and lenders must happen in sequence. A missing signature or delayed email can cascade through a chain.
What happens if completion is delayed?
If completion is delayed on moving day:
When you’ve already packed up and your removal company has your belongings, any delay can be costly and stressful.
-
Storage fees: If your new home isn’t available, your belongings may have to go into temporary storage until access is possible.
-
Redelivery charges: Once completion finally happens, you’ll need to rebook delivery. This depends on the removal company’s availability and may incur an additional delivery fee.
-
Waiting time or late finish charges: Crews may already be on site waiting for keys. Delays can result in extra labour charges or late working costs.
-
Logistical disruption: Pets, children, work schedules etc, can be thrown off when your belongings are stuck in limbo.
-
Stress and uncertainty: Moving day is stressful enough without being stranded outside your new home, watching the clock tick and the bills rise.
If there are delays before moving day:
Sometimes agreed dates are pushed back days or even weeks before your move has started. In these cases, your chosen removal date may no longer align with when you can actually move.
-
Rebooking fees – Movers schedule crews and vehicles weeks in advance, so rescheduling at short notice can incur cancellation fees, particularly during busy periods.
-
Loss of your preferred mover – In peak seasons like summer, companies may not be able to reallocate a crew easily, so you could lose your booking entirely and have to find another at short notice.
-
Knock-on impact for others – Storage arrangements, temporary accommodation, or childcare plans may all need to be reworked.
Real-world example: Phil’s story
In a recent BBC You and Yours episode, “Phil” shared his moving day ordeal.
He was moving from North West London to Gatwick in Surrey. On arrival at his new property, he spent two and a half hours sitting in the estate agent’s office waiting for the funds to clear. The delay was caused by a banking issue — the buyer’s money hadn’t arrived at his solicitor’s account in time. The removers (unknown company) were ready to unload, but couldn’t access the property. Phil faced a late fee, or an extra £1,300 to redeliver his belongings the next day - plus a huge amount of unnecessary stress.
Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated case. With so many parties involved in a transaction, a simple banking delay can quickly escalate into a major moving-day headache
Additional factors to consider
While these don’t cause delays, they can make the consequences of a delay much worse, so it's important to consider:
-
Short period between exchange and completion – because removers get booked up weeks in advance, leaving a small window can mean your first-choice company isn’t available and your move becomes more stressful to organise.
-
Same-day exchange and completion – These are now the exception rather than the rule and generally advised against in all but the simplest cases, but some buyers still opt for them for various reasons. It’s risky, because if anything goes wrong, there’s no buffer for resolving issues before moving day.
-
Friday completions – Fridays have long been the most popular day to move (especially the last Friday of the month which is usually after payday or when previous rental contracts might come to an end), but they’re also the riskiest. If funds are delayed late on a Friday, banks and solicitors won’t reopen until Monday. This potentially leaves you without access to your new home and belongings all weekend.
-
Chain length – The more people involved in your chain, the greater the chance of complications. With multiple agents, solicitors and banks in play, communication and timing become harder to control.
Why exchange and completion timing matter to your removal company
Removal companies have to plan their schedules carefully to keep moves running smoothly and to price accurately. Crew time, vehicle allocation and legal working time regulations all factor into this. A specific crew and vehicle are reserved for your move, so any delay can create extra costs for the mover that weren’t included in your removals quote, or even result in the crew reaching their legal working limits for the day. That’s why most companies charge waiting time, overnight storage or redelivery fees if completion is delayed.
Movers are often booked several weeks in advance, so they may not always have capacity to return the next day for redelivery.
Booking your removal date before the exchange of contracts can therefore be tricky, as the date could still change. In quieter periods some movers will allow you to provisionally hold a date, but it’s important to discuss what happens if things slip. Some also offer late key waivers or cancellation and postponement protection, which can limit your financial risk - especially if you’re in a long or uncertain chain.
How flexible your mover can be often depends on seasonal demand. During quieter months, larger companies may have more capacity to accommodate changes if your date moves. But in peak periods such as summer, when diaries are full weeks in advance, flexibility is limited, and most movers will only confirm bookings after exchange or with a cancellation policy in place to protect against lost work.
Further reading suggestion: When should I book a removal company?
How the system might change
The Government is currently considering changes to the home buying and selling process to make transactions smoother and more predictable.
The British Association of Removers (BAR) — the UK’s leading trade body for professional movers — is lobbying for a 10-working-day window between exchange and completion and a guaranteed access time of 1 p.m. on completion day.
These changes would reduce uncertainty and make it far easier for removal companies (and customers) to plan moves with confidence.
How to reduce your risk
You can’t control everything in the moving chain, but there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of delays and unexpected costs:
-
Avoid same-day exchange and completion wherever possible. Build in at least a few days between the two – ideally the traditional “2 weeks” (10 working days) recommended by the BAR.
-
Avoid moving on a Friday if you can. Mid-week moves are less stressful and offer more flexibility if delays occur.
-
Confirm readiness with your solicitor - ensure funds are requested early and everything is in place for completion day.
-
Ask your removal company about their policy (and check terms and conditions) for last minute delays or cancellations, waiting time, overnight storage, and redelivery so you know where you stand.
-
Have a contingency plan - whether that’s overnight accommodation or a short-term storage option, just in case.
-
If you’re particularly concerned about delays (for example, if you’re in a long chain, if there are unpredictable factors or if you just find the whole thing too stressful), discuss alternative move plans with your removal company. You might choose to deliver only essentials on completion day, with the rest of your belongings held overnight in storage and delivered once access is guaranteed the following day, or you may decide to arrange alternative accommodation for one night to allow you to move out one day and in the next for a less stressful move.
-
Communicate early and often with all parties in the chain: estate agents, solicitors, mortgage brokers, and your movers.
-
Be aware of the odds - around one in three property transactions falls through during conveyancing. Don’t make irreversible plans until the exchange has taken place.
Packing and loading your items early and storing overnight can be a good option if you are concerned that keys might not be available in time to unload on completion day. Many removers offer secure furniture storage facilities to support this kind of move.
The takeaway
Exchange and completion may sound like legal jargon, but understanding them, and their timing, can save you thousands of pounds and a great deal of stress.
Until the government and industry bring in reforms to make the system smoother, preparation and communication remain your best defences.
Listen to Phil’s full story on BBC Sounds:
🎧 You and Yours: Delays in Property Completions
