The Real Answer:

Best Time to Sell a House in The UK (2023)

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So you want to sell your house, huh? 

That’s a big step. 

As with all big steps, it’s not going to be that easy. 

There’s a host of things you need to consider before putting your house up for sale, from timing, supply, and demand to your home’s surrounding environment.

That’s why we’re here. 

In this article, we’ll discuss the best time to sell a house in the UK, and how all of these different elements can affect your experience.

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1. What Is the Best Time to Sell a House in the UK?

In short, the best time to sell a house in the UK is during spring, specifically in March. 

Just bear in mind that the competition might be stiff during that time of the year.

To make sure you avoid the common mistakes when selling a property, read through the rest of this article.

2. Selling a House During Spring

We recommend putting your house up for sale during spring, especially in March. 

It seems to be the best possible time, as the great lighting and nice weather will make your house look alive.

Combine that with the blooming gardens of spring, and your house will never look better. 

Plus, in such weather, people are more likely to go house-hunting. you’ll get more viewers, so there’s a higher chance of making a sale.

It seems too good to be true, right? Well, it’s not all roses. 

Since spring is the best time to sell, everyone will naturally want to list their houses during that time of the year.

You’ll have plenty of competitors and some of them will price their properties competitively, so it’s important to stay aware of your competition.

3. Selling a House During Summer

Summer isn’t really an ideal season to offer your house for sale since it’s associated with school holidays.

Potential buyers will either be away on holidays or too busy taking care of their kids, and you don’t want them to go house-hunting with their kids.

If you have to, try to list your housing in the early summer. 

Any later than that, and you’ll be in trouble.

If, for whatever reason, you had to list your house in the late summer, the best you can do is make it look as good as possible and price it competitively.

4. Selling a House During Spring Autumn

From an aesthetic perspective autumn isn’t the best time to sell a house in the UK.

Subconscious visual cues like barren trees without leaves, and the disproportional increase in fog and rain due to seasonality, give your house a sub-optimal background per se.

From an economical perspective though, autumn seems to be a good month to sell houses, as people want to find a new house before Christmas during that time. 

So if you decide to sell throughout autumn, try not to get into the market too late because no one wants to move into a new house during Christmas.

5. Selling a House During Winter

We strongly recommend avoiding winter as much as possible. 

Usually, it’s the time of the year when people are preparing for Christmas, so you might not have that many buyers.

Plus, the weather makes viewings and travel travel slightly more inconvenient.

For these reasons winter isn’t the best time to sell a house.

There’s one advantage to putting your house up in January or February, though. 

As a new year comes around, some people would be looking to start a new chapter of their lives in a new home.

While you can get some viewers, chances are, people are going to start actually buying in the middle of February.

Let’s assume for a second that you’ve settled on the best possible time to sell your house, but for some unfortunate reason, you had to put it up for sale in a quiet season. 

Don’t worry!

Just because you listed your house in a quiet season doesn’t mean there won’t be any potential buyers.

Remember, there will always be people looking to buy houses no matter the season. 

What’s more, in a quiet season, there won’t be much of a competition since most of it will have faded away after the peak season. 

If you put in the effort to make your house as presentable as possible, you can get a decent buyer.

6. Other Factors to Take Into Consideration

In here, we’ll take a look at some other property selling variables that are worthy of consideration when selling your house.

Supply and Demand

You’ve probably heard of this economics concept before. 

If you haven’t, it has to do with the fact that the price of the product you’re selling depends on how many people need it (demand) and how available it is in the market (supply).

If there’s a lack of supply and high levels of demand for a certain product, that’ll force the buyers to up their budgets so that they can get their hands on it.

That said, if you’re offering a type of property that isn’t quite available but people would still want to buy it, you can guarantee that you’ll sell it quickly and at a great price.

Best Time to Sell a House

You can visit Rightmove to see if a lot of people are offering houses like yours. If there isn’t, then you’re one step ahead. If there is, think of some ways to be a step ahead of the competition.

For more references on supply levels, you can also check the NAEA housing reports.

The demand for your property might vary depending on its type. 

For example, if you’re selling a family house, you’ll notice that the highest levels of demand on it are outside school holidays.

If you’re selling a flat, you’ll see that the one and two-bedroom flats are demanded during the first three months of the year by those who would like to start the new year in a new house.

If you keep all of these elements in mind before listing your house, you’ll be able to choose the best time to sell it.

Surrounding Environment

At first glance, you might think that the changes happening in your neighbourhood won’t affect your sale. That’s not completely true, though. 

You need to consider whether these changes might throw potential buyers off or not.

For example, if there’s construction work happening or going to happen near your house, then we recommend postponing listing your house until it’s done.

If you’re still going to put it up, then be completely transparent about it and about any potential inconveniences in the neighbourhood. 

Don’t forget, buyers are humans, too. 

So they’re probably nervous about the idea of buying a new house. If they find out, or get a feeling, that you’re not being honest, they might back off.

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To understand why going through us is both better and safer, instead of going directly to your home buying company of choice, click below.

We want to help out as many people as possible. That’s why we created this comprehensive article.

If you are looking to sell your property, call us on 0333 242 2814 or message us through the live chat.

Depending on your preference and circumstances, we’ll connect you for free with one of our strictly vetted, ethical partners. 

They will help you sell your property for the best offer you can realistically achieve.

They will take care of all of the legal processes and fees and you’ll get the cash straight into your bank account. 

With our partners you can achieve a very fast sale or a slower one if you’re not pressed on time.

Faster sales usually yield a lesser price but they save you time.

It all depends on your circumstances and preference.

Final Thoughts

Selling a house is an overwhelming step, but don’t let it scare you. 

A lot of people do it, and you can, too. 

When it comes to the best time to sell a house, try to put your property up in March since that’s when it’ll look its best. 

The worst time to put your house up for sale, per contra, is in the winter. 

If you had to put your house up in a quiet season, you can still get buyers. 

Just make sure your house looks as good as possible.

It’d help significantly if you’d know the supply and demand levels in your area and how they change throughout the year.

Finally, be completely transparent about anything in the neighbourhood that might put your buyers off.

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