Most guides to completion day are written by solicitors, and they stop at the point where the money moves. For you the day is mostly about something else: getting everything out of one home by a deadline and into another whose keys you do not have yet. This is how that part usually goes, and what to sort out before it starts.
The legal part in one minute
On completion day your buyer’s solicitor sends the money to your solicitor. Once it arrives, your solicitor confirms completion, and the estate agent releases the keys. If you are buying as well, the same thing happens one step up the chain, and your money has to reach your seller’s solicitor before you get your new keys.
That is why times slip. In a chain of three or four sales, every transfer has to land before the next one can go, and one slow bank or one late mortgage release holds up everybody behind it. Your solicitor will ring you when it is done. Nobody else, including the removal company, can speed that part up.
Completion day hour by hour
Every move is different, but a typical completion day for a seller who is also buying runs like this.
- Early morning. The crew arrives at your old home, protects floors, doorways and banisters, and starts loading. Anything that needs dismantling, such as beds and some wardrobes, is taken apart first.
- Late morning. The van is loaded and the old home is empty. You do a last walk round, read the meters, take photos, and leave the keys where the agent has asked.
- Around midday. The van drives to the new address, or close to it, and waits for the call. This is usually the slowest part of the day.
- Early to mid afternoon. Completion is confirmed and you collect the keys from the agent. Unloading starts, beds first so they are ready tonight, then the kitchen, then everything else room by room.
How waiting time is handled is set out on your written quote before moving day, so there are no surprises if the call comes late.
What the crew needs from you on the day
A lot of a smooth completion day is settled the week before.
- Where the keys are. Confirm with the estate agent whether you collect from the office or someone meets you at the door. Being outside a locked house with a loaded van is the most common avoidable delay.
- Parking at both ends. If either street has residents’ bays or yellow lines, the van needs a suspension or a dispensation booked in advance. Our parking suspension guide lists the fees and notice for each council.
- An essentials box that stays with you. Phone chargers, medicines, documents, kettle, mugs, toilet roll and bedding for the first night.
- The fridge and freezer. Defrost and dry them the day before, or they leak in the van.
- Meter readings and photos. Take them at both addresses, then sort council tax and the rest of the list in our moving house checklist.
If completion is delayed
Sometimes the call does not come until late afternoon, and now and then completion slips to the next day because a chain has stalled. You still have to leave the old home on time, so the question is where your furniture goes in the meantime.
If the keys come too late to unload, the load can usually stay on the van overnight or go into storage. Which one, and any cost, depends on the day and is agreed with you. If the chain breaks for longer, storage can often be arranged at short notice, depending on the day. Our storage is containerised and starts from £20 + VAT a week per container, and everything comes out again when your keys are ready.
The best protection is planning for it: tell your removal company if you are in a long chain, keep the essentials box and a change of clothes with you, and know where you could stay for a night if you have to.
Should you move on completion day or after?
If you are selling, you have no choice: the buyer gets the keys on completion day, so you move that day. If you are a first-time buyer, or you rent your current home and can stay there a little longer, you can book the removal for the day after completion instead. The keys are already in your hand, there is no waiting on the call, and the whole day goes on moving rather than waiting.
Moving with Sal Removals
We are based in Kingsbury, north-west London, and move homes across North London, central London and Hertfordshire with our own team and our own branded vans. We are rated 5.0 from 200 Google reviews, correct as of 26 October 2026, are a Checkatrade member, and are fully insured. A house removal starts from £449 for a one bedroom home, and every job is priced individually after a free survey.
Got your completion date? Call 020 3475 0377 or get a fixed quote, and tell us the date and both addresses.