Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Property Industry Eye. Read the original article for full details.

Estate Agents Face Record-Long Waits for Commission Payments

Estate agents are now waiting longer than ever to receive their commission, with the average home sale in Great Britain taking more than seven months from listing to completion. New analysis from Rightmove shows that the average move now takes 216 days, the longest at this point in the year since records began.

According to Rightmove, it currently takes an average of 62 days to secure a buyer and a further 154 days between agreeing a sale and completion. The regional picture varies, with London being the slowest market—agreed sales there take an average of 174 days to complete, compared to 141 days in the North East. Scotland is the fastest region, with an average completion time of 98 days, attributed to its different legal process and greater use of upfront information.

The type of property also affects completion times. Flats are the slowest to complete, averaging 169 days, while terraced and semi-detached homes complete in around 149 days. Rightmove reports that completion times have increased by 36 days since 2019, despite technological advances. Factors such as high conveyancing workloads, lengthy chains, leasehold complexities, and manual processes continue to slow transactions.

For estate agents, these longer completion periods mean that sales remain tied up for months after being agreed, increasing the risk of chains collapsing and delaying fee income. Previous Rightmove research found that almost a quarter of agreed sales initially fall through, while around 6% fail altogether and do not return to the market within a year.

Rightmove estimates that there is currently £205 billion worth of residential property for sale on its platform, all of which must still navigate the completion process before transactions are finalised. The company has expressed support for government proposals to reform the home-moving process, including earlier information sharing and greater digitisation of conveyancing, with the aim of reducing fall-throughs and improving certainty for buyers, sellers, and agents.