Hertfordshire named among UK’s slowest areas for house sale completions

The average house sale in Hertfordshire takes more than six months to complete, making it the second slowest county in the country.

According to new research from Emoov, house sales in Herts take an average of 193 days – more than 27 weeks - which means a typical sale agreed today wouldn’t complete until June.

This would spell bad news for movers hoping to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, which ends on March 31.

UK-wide, the average property transaction takes 26 weeks from offer to completion.

Emoov looked at property transaction data over the last four years and found that Worcestershire was the fastest moving county, with transactions taking an average of 164 days, while the City of London was the slowest (208 days).

Hertfordshire was joint fifth slowest, alongside Lancashire and Northumberland.

Naveen Jaspal, COO at Emoov, said: “It is hard to say how the property market will react to the impact of COVID-19 in the medium-long term, but we can expect to see an even bigger increase in time on the market and how long that might be will depend upon where you are buying or selling in the UK.

“We can also expect the conveyancing process to add to these timelines, as the industry adjusts to working from home and the challenges that brings.”