How to Sell Your House in the UK: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
Selling a home is mostly waiting. Waiting for viewings. Waiting for offers. Waiting for solicitors. This guide walks you through what you can actually control — and how to move fast through the bits you can’t.
Before you list: get your house ready
Three things, in this order:
- Tidy up. Declutter, deep clean, put away anything personal. Buyers want to picture themselves living there, not look at your kids’ artwork.
- Fix the obvious. Broken doors, dripping taps, cracked tiles. Small stuff turns buyers off disproportionately.
- Take good photos. Daylight, wide angle, neutral. If you can afford a £150 pro photographer, it pays back tenfold.
Get a valuation (1–3 days)
You need to know what your home’s actually worth. Three free ways to do this:
- Online valuation tools — quick but rough.
- Two or three estate agents — they’ll come round and tell you. They’ll usually overquote to win the listing, so take the middle of three.
- Woosh valuation — based on recent sales of comparable homes in your postcode. Free, takes 60 seconds.
Pick an asking price that’s realistic. Overpricing kills momentum. Homes that sit on the market for 6+ weeks often end up selling for less than well-priced ones.
Choose how you’ll sell
You have three real options:
1. Traditional high-street agent. They handle everything but charge 1–3% commission. On a £300k home, that’s £3,000–£9,000.
2. Online estate agent. Cheaper (£99–£1,500 upfront, paid whether you sell or not). You do more of the work.
3. Flat-fee platform (like Woosh). £999 paid only when you actually sell. No commission. No upfront cost. You list and manage offers; we handle everything else.
There’s no “right” answer — it depends on how hands-on you want to be and how much you want to keep.
Get listed (1–2 days)
A good listing needs:
- 8–15 photos (every room, plus exterior and garden)
- A clear, factual description (no estate-agent waffle)
- Floorplan (adds 30%+ to enquiry rates — seriously)
- EPC certificate (legally required before listing)
- Council tax band, tenure (freehold/leasehold), and any service charges
With Woosh, you list once and it appears on Woosh plus all major property portals.
Viewings (2–8 weeks, usually)
Either you host or your agent does. Tips for hosting:
- Open windows for 10 minutes before
- Put fresh coffee or bread in the oven (cliché, works)
- Keep it short — 15–20 minutes
- Let the buyer wander rather than narrating every room
- Have answers ready for: how old is the boiler, when did you last redecorate, why are you moving
Receive and negotiate offers
Offers come through your agent or directly through the Woosh dashboard. For each offer, check:
- Price — obviously.
- Position — are they cash buyers, first-time buyers, in a chain? Chain-free is usually worth taking 1–2% less for.
- Mortgage status — do they have a Mortgage in Principle?
- Timeline — do they need to move fast or are they happy to wait?
You can accept, reject, or counter. Don’t feel rushed.
You’ve accepted an offer. Now what? (8–16 weeks)
This is the slow bit. Your buyer’s solicitor will:
- Request the contract pack from your solicitor
- Run searches
- Raise enquiries
Your job is mostly to answer enquiries fast. Every day you delay is a day the chain might collapse. Things like “do you have FENSA certificates for the windows” — track these down quickly.
Exchange and completion
Same as buying, in reverse. Contracts exchange, deposit transfers, and a few weeks later completion happens. The money lands in your account, you hand over the keys, and you’re done.
What it actually costs to sell
Rough budget for a £300k UK home:
- Estate agent / platform: £999 (Woosh) up to £9,000 (traditional)
- Solicitor: £900–£1,800
- EPC (if you don’t have a current one): £60–£120
- Removals: £400–£1,500
- Mortgage early repayment charge: check your lender
So somewhere between £2,000 and £12,000 total.
How Woosh works for sellers
You pay £999. Once. Only if your home actually sells. That’s the whole deal. No commission, no upfront fees, no tie-ins. We give you a dashboard to manage viewings, offers, and the whole sale process — plus access to vetted conveyancers, photographers, and EPC providers.