Completion day is the day you become a homeowner. After months of viewings, offers, surveys, and solicitor letters — this is the day the money moves and the keys come out.
Here's exactly what happens.
The night before completion
Your solicitor sends you a completion statement — a detailed breakdown of every figure involved in the transaction:
- The purchase price
- Minus your mortgage (which your lender sends directly)
- Minus your deposit (already paid on exchange)
- Plus any adjustments (council tax apportionment if the seller has prepaid, ground rent adjustments on leasehold)
- Plus your solicitor's fees and disbursements
- = The amount you need to transfer to your solicitor
You transfer this balance to your solicitor's client account the night before or early on completion day. Most solicitors ask for it by 9am. This is a large CHAPS transfer — check the bank transfer limits on your online banking and call your bank if you need to arrange it.
Completion morning: what your solicitor does
8–9am: Your solicitor confirms they've received your balance (and that the mortgage funds have arrived from your lender, if applicable).
9–11am: Your solicitor prepares the CHAPS transfer for the completion funds — the full purchase price. This is usually the sum of: your deposit (already with your solicitor from exchange), your balance, and your mortgage advance.
~10–11am: Your solicitor sends the CHAPS transfer to the seller's solicitor.
~11am–12pm: The seller's solicitor confirms receipt of funds to the estate agent. The estate agent notifies you and releases the keys.
When you collect the keys
Estate agents usually hold the keys until the seller's solicitor calls to authorise release. This call happens once the transfer is confirmed received — typically between 11am and 1pm on a normal completion day.
You (or your removal team) go to the estate agent's office to collect the keys. Bring ID — most agents will check. Some agents have digital key-safes or arrange handover directly from the seller.
Once you have the keys, the property is yours.
If there's a chain
In a chain — where your seller is buying somewhere else, and so on — completions all happen on the same day. The money moves sequentially through the chain: from the first buyer's solicitor, to the next, to the next, until it reaches the last seller.
This means you're waiting for everyone else to complete before you can complete. It's why completions in a chain can take until 2pm or 3pm, even when everything goes smoothly.
What to do on completion day
Before keys: Arrange your removal team to load up from your current home in the morning. Don't book them to arrive at your new home until you have the keys — staging the timing saves standing around on a lorry.
Once you have keys: Take meter readings immediately. Gas, electricity, water. Photograph them. Contact the utility suppliers to register as the new occupant.
First evening: Make sure buildings insurance is active from this day (it should have been arranged from exchange). Change the locks — you don't know how many previous key copies are in circulation.
Within 7 days: Contact the council to register for council tax from completion day. Set up a mail redirection with Royal Mail. Update your address with your bank, employer, DVLA, HMRC, and any subscriptions.
This guide is information only. Dom does not provide financial, mortgage or legal advice. Always consult a qualified adviser for decisions specific to your circumstances.