Selling a house in Cambridge follows the same legal process as anywhere else in England. You check what you owe and what your home is worth, choose an estate agent and a solicitor or conveyancer, get your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and paperwork ready, market the property, accept an offer, then work through conveyancing to exchange of contracts and completion. GOV.UK says selling a home takes about 5 months on average, and longer if you are part of a chain.
This guide sets out each step in order, what you need to do at each one and where to find more detail. It is written for England. Wales follows broadly the same process, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems.
If you have a mortgage, you will need to either move it to your next home or pay it off. GOV.UK advises contacting your lender to check how much you owe, whether there are early repayment charges and whether there are fees to move your mortgage. On completion, your solicitor pays off the mortgage and any other debts secured on the property from the sale money.
The other costs to budget for are the estate agent's fee, legal fees, removals, any essential repairs, resolving any problems with the deeds and, if the property is not your main home, Capital Gains Tax. Our guide to what fees you pay when selling a house goes through each one.
Knowing the value of your home tells you what you will have left after the mortgage and costs, and helps you set the right asking price. GOV.UK suggests researching local prices online, checking what homes nearby recently sold for using HM Land Registry's sold price records, and asking estate agents to value your home. The government's How to sell a home guide, last updated in 2019, recommends getting valuations from 3 agents and asking each for evidence, such as similar homes they have recently sold. An agent's valuation is not a formal valuation, which a qualified valuer or surveyor charges for.
Do not simply choose the highest figure. The government's guide warns that a high valuation does not guarantee that price, and that a home put on the market well above the agent's valuation may take a long time to sell or attract no offers at all.
For context, HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index put the average price in the Cambridge City Council area at £475,151 in July 2026, unchanged on a year earlier. In South Cambridgeshire the average was £439,573, up 2.2%. A city average says little about one street, so our analysis of what is really happening to Cambridge prices breaks the figures down by property type, and you can book a valuation of your home with our Cambridge team to see it against recent local sales.
You can sell your home yourself or use an online, high street or hybrid agent. If you use an agent, you sign a legally binding contract with them, so check:
Conveyancing is the legal work of transferring ownership to your buyer. It can be done by a solicitor, a licensed conveyancer or a chartered legal executive (CILEX lawyer), and GOV.UK advises checking that yours is regulated by the appropriate body. You can legally do your own conveyancing, but most sellers use a professional.
Instruct one early. The government's guide to selling says to choose your legal representative shortly before you put your home on the market, or as soon as possible once it is for sale, because this reduces delays. The Law Society also encourages sellers to instruct a conveyancer as early as possible, ideally before marketing. Your estate agent, solicitor and any mortgage lender are each legally required to check your identity, so have photo ID and proof of address ready.
You must have an EPC to sell a home, and GOV.UK says you must order one before you market the property. The certificate rates the home from A (best) to G (worst), lasts 10 years and must be given to your buyer free of charge. You can check for an existing certificate and download it for free on GOV.UK's find an energy certificate service. For a home, the penalty for breaching these duties is £200. Our guide to whether you need an EPC to sell your Cambridge home covers the rules in detail.
GOV.UK also lists the paperwork to gather before you put your home on the market:
If your home is leasehold, gather documents about service charges, buildings insurance and recent correspondence from the freeholder or managing agent, as your solicitor will need them.
Be ready to tell your agent the material facts about the property. The government's guide describes these as things that may have a major impact on whether a buyer decides to buy, such as whether the home regularly floods, and under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 an estate agent must not leave out material information where that is likely to affect a buyer's decision. The government has also said it will legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to require a sales pack, including searches and a property condition report, before a home is listed. That is not yet law.
The government's guide suggests getting the home ready before you instruct an agent and begin viewings: tidy the front of the property, fix unfinished jobs and small snags, declutter and clean. Do not cover up defects, for example by painting over damp. Problems are likely to show up in the buyer's survey and lead to price negotiations you could have avoided.
Your agent will market the property, including listing it on property portal websites. Buyers may want to see the loft, garage and garden, so make sure the agent can get into them, and ask for feedback after each viewing so you can fix problems or review the price. Some agents offer a cheaper package if you show buyers round yourself.
If you are selling through an agent, buyers make their offers through the agent, who must pass on every offer to you promptly and in writing, including ones below the asking price and ones that arrive after you have accepted another, unless you have told them in writing that you do not want offers of that kind. The duty to pass on offers lasts right up to exchange of contracts.
The highest offer is not always the best. The government's guide suggests weighing up:
An accepted offer is not legally binding in England and Wales. Until contracts are exchanged, the property is "sold subject to contract" and either side can still withdraw or renegotiate. If the buyer's survey uncovers significant problems, they may ask you to fix them, reduce their offer or pull out.
If you are buying your next home at the same time, you will usually pay the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase if you still own your old home at the end of the day you complete it, although you can claim the extra back if you sell your previous main home within 3 years of buying the new one. Our guide to putting an offer on a house before selling yours explains the options.
Once you accept an offer, both solicitors start work. Your solicitor drafts the contract, which covers the price, the boundaries, which fixtures and fittings are included, rights and restrictions such as public footpaths, planning restrictions, services such as drainage and gas, and when the sale will complete. You complete the Law Society's forms with your solicitor's help:
Answer the TA6 truthfully and completely. The Law Society's notes say buyers can rely on your answers, that if you do not know an answer you must say so, and that if you give misleading information the buyer may be able to claim compensation after completion.
Meanwhile, the buyer's solicitor arranges searches, usually a local authority search, a water and drainage search and an environmental search. The buyer pays for these, normally up front. A seller normally pays for searches only if they choose to order them early. For homes in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire, official local searches come from Greater Cambridge Shared Planning, which says it will get back to you within 10 working days on a full official search. The buyer's solicitor then raises enquiries about the title, the searches, the property and the transaction, and your solicitor will help you answer them. Our guide to the stages of conveyancing walks through this part in detail.
When both sides are happy, you and the buyer sign final copies of the contract and your solicitors exchange them. The sale is then legally binding. Usually neither side can pull out without paying compensation: a buyer who withdraws may lose their deposit, and a seller who withdraws may be liable for breach of contract and the buyer's costs. Citizens Advice says the deposit is often 10% of the price, though it can vary.
The completion date is agreed before exchange and written into the contract. Citizens Advice says completion usually takes place about four weeks after exchange, although it can be sooner.
On completion day, the buyer's solicitor sends the money to your solicitor, who pays off your mortgage and any other secured debts, any outstanding estate agent's fee, any service charges due and their own fee, then sends the balance to you. You must leave the property in the state agreed in the contract. The government's guide says you are likely to have to be out by lunchtime, and Citizens Advice says you must leave by the agreed time, so check the time in your contract and aim to be packed the day before, and arrange for the keys to go to the agent or the buyer.
Large sums move on completion, and GOV.UK warns that this carries a risk of fraud. Check you are dealing with the people you think you are and that money is going to the correct bank account. After you move, tell your council, utility suppliers and other organisations your new address.
You do not pay Capital Gains Tax on your home if you have lived in it as your main home for the whole time you owned it, you have not let part of it out or used part of it only for business, and the grounds, including buildings, are smaller than 5,000 square metres. This relief, Private Residence Relief, applies automatically. If the property was your main home at some point, the last 9 months of ownership always qualify.
If you do not meet all of these conditions, for example on a second home or a buy-to-let, you may have to pay some Capital Gains Tax. For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, the tax-free allowance is £3,000, and gains are taxed at 18% where they fall within the basic rate band and 24% above it. You must report and pay any tax due on UK residential property within 60 days of completion, or you may face interest and a penalty.
GOV.UK puts the average at about 5 months, and longer in a chain, although it does not say which stages that figure covers. Once an offer has been accepted, the government's June 2026 home buying and selling reform roadmap says it takes around 120 days on average to complete, and around one in three transactions fall through. The government's guide to selling suggests you can reduce delays by choosing your solicitor before you market, having your documents in order, and signing and returning paperwork and answering queries promptly.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Speak to a solicitor or licensed conveyancer about your own sale, and a tax adviser about Capital Gains Tax.
GOV.UK says selling a home takes about 5 months on average, and longer in a chain, although it does not say which stages that covers. The government's June 2026 roadmap puts the time from an accepted offer to completion at around 120 days on average.
Check what you owe on your mortgage, including any early repayment charges, and find out what your home is worth. Together they tell you what you are likely to have left after the sale and help you set a realistic asking price.
Yes, unless the property is exempt. GOV.UK says you must order an EPC before you market the property, and it must be given to your buyer free of charge. A certificate lasts 10 years, and the penalty for a home is £200.
Normally the buyer. Once you accept an offer, the buyer's solicitor arranges the searches and the buyer usually pays for them up front. A seller normally pays only if they choose to order searches themselves.
Only when contracts are exchanged. Before then, an accepted offer is subject to contract and either side can withdraw or renegotiate. After exchange, pulling out usually means paying compensation.
Not if it has been your only main home throughout and the other conditions for Private Residence Relief are met. On a second home or buy-to-let, gains above the £3,000 allowance are taxed at 18% or 24%, and any tax due must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion.
