NS&I has identified £367m in savings owed to bereaved families. Could you be affected? Find out →
Farra is a death administration assistant for UK families. Get step-by-step guidance for registering a death, applying for probate, notifying banks, and managing bereavement admin. From essential documents to practical checklists, Farra simplifies estate paperwork and funeral-related tasks so you can focus on what matters.
Selling an inherited house is a six-step journey: confirm you have the right to sell, get the house valued, apply for the grant of probate, prepare and market the property, complete the seller forms and conveyancing, then exchange and complete once the grant is in hand. You can overlap the marketing with the probate wait, and most sales take around 4 to 9 months in total.
Selling a house that belonged to someone you loved is rarely just a transaction. It often means clearing a lifetime of belongings, coordinating with siblings, and learning a set of legal steps you never expected to need. This guide walks you through the whole journey in order, with realistic timelines and costs, and links to detailed guides on each stage. If the house was your mum or dad's home, our guide to selling your parents' house after death covers the emotional side of the journey alongside the practical one.
The six steps at a glance
Before anything goes on the market, work out who legally owns the house now and who has the authority to sell it.
If the house was owned as joint tenants (a form of joint ownership where each owner owns the whole property together), it passes automatically to the surviving owner by what lawyers call survivorship. Probate is not needed to sell it. The survivor simply sells as the owner, and the death certificate deals with removing the deceased's name from the title.
The sellers are the personal representatives of the estate. That means the executors named in the will, or the administrators if there is no will. The personal representatives are the ones who sign the sale contract and the TR1 (the Land Registry transfer deed), and they usually need the grant of probate to prove their authority.
There is an alternative route: the personal representatives can first transfer the house to a beneficiary using form AS1 (an "assent", the document that formally passes property from an estate to a beneficiary), and the beneficiary then sells as owner. Which route is better can affect Capital Gains Tax, so it is worth taking advice before choosing. Our guide to CGT on inherited property explains the trade-off.
All the personal representatives must agree to the sale and all of them sign. Disagreements between siblings or co-executors are one of the most common causes of delay, and they are usually about timing, price or whether one person wants to keep the house. The most constructive thing you can do is talk early: agree in writing on the asking price, the agent, and how you will make decisions about offers, before the house goes on the market. If you genuinely cannot agree, a solicitor can talk you through the options, but most families resolve it around a kitchen table rather than in court.
You need the house's market value at the date of death. This figure, usually called the probate value, goes into the probate and Inheritance Tax paperwork, and it also becomes the starting point for any Capital Gains Tax if the house later sells for more.
Because it does two jobs, it needs to be honest and evidenced. A figure that is too low can save Inheritance Tax but increase CGT later, and HMRC checks in both directions. Our guide to valuing property for probate explains how to get a valuation that stands up.
The grant of probate (or letters of administration where there is no will) is the document that proves the personal representatives' authority to sell. In England and Wales you cannot exchange contracts or complete the sale without it.
Digital applications currently take roughly 5 to 12 weeks; paper applications take 20 weeks or more. Our step-by-step guide to applying for probate covers the application itself.
You can market the house, hold viewings and accept an offer before the grant is issued. You just cannot exchange or complete until it arrives. Many executors apply for probate and instruct an estate agent in the same week, so the marketing period and the probate wait run in parallel rather than one after the other. The key is honesty: tell the agent and any buyer that this is a probate sale and when you expect the grant, so nobody is surprised later.
While the sale progresses, the house will probably stand empty, and empty houses need some housekeeping:
You will need an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate, a legally required energy rating) before marketing, typically £60 to £120. Most inherited houses also need at least some clearing, roughly £300 to £1,500 for a professional house clearance depending on size. Our guide to preparing a probate house for viewings covers what is worth doing and what is not.
Estate agent commission is commonly around 1 to 1.5% plus VAT, and fixed-fee online agents exist if you would rather pay a set amount. Be upfront with the agent about the probate status and your expected grant timing, so they can set buyer expectations from day one. Our guide to instructing an estate agent as an executor explains how to choose and brief one.
One genuine advantage worth mentioning in the listing: a probate sale is chain-free upwards. You are not waiting to buy anywhere else, and buyers like that.
Once an offer is accepted, your conveyancer (the solicitor or licensed professional who handles the legal side of the sale) will ask you to complete the standard seller forms:
The conveyancing itself follows the usual pattern of enquiries, searches and contract drafting, with a few probate-specific wrinkles such as proving the personal representatives' authority. Our guide to conveyancing for a probate sale explains what to expect and what your solicitor will need from you.
Selling the home they left behind?
From the first valuation to handing over the keys, in 2 minutes Farra maps every step of the sale in the right order.
When offers arrive, weigh the buyer's position as well as the price. A chain-free buyer who understands the probate timing can be worth more than a slightly higher offer from someone in a fragile chain. Our guide to offers, chains and timing in a probate sale goes deeper on this.
Remember the one hard rule: exchange and completion cannot happen until the grant of probate is issued. If the grant is still weeks away when a buyer is ready, keep them and their solicitor informed of the expected timing. Chains collapse on surprises far more often than on delays that everyone saw coming.
On completion, the sale proceeds go to the estate, debts and fees are settled, and what remains is distributed to the beneficiaries. If the house sold for more than the probate value, there may be Capital Gains Tax to report within 60 days, which we cover below.
Around 4 to 9 months in total is realistic, though every sale is different:
The single biggest time-saver is overlap: apply for probate early and market the house while you wait, rather than treating the steps as strictly one after another.
| Cost | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Estate agent commission Fixed-fee online agents also exist | ~1–1.5% + VAT |
| Conveyancing (probate sale) | £1,000–£1,800 |
| EPC Required before marketing | £60–£120 |
| House clearance Depends on size and contents | £300–£1,500 |
For the full picture, including the costs people forget about, see our guide to the costs of selling a probate property.
There is no Capital Gains Tax on inheriting the house. If it sells for more than the probate value, CGT may be due on the growth:
Individual circumstances vary a lot here, so read our full guide to Capital Gains Tax on inherited property and check with HMRC or an accountant before completion if you think tax may be due.
You can market the house, hold viewings and accept an offer before the grant of probate is issued, but in England and Wales you cannot exchange contracts or complete the sale until you have the grant. Digital grant applications currently take roughly 5 to 12 weeks (paper 20+), so many executors market the property while they wait. The exception is a house owned as joint tenants with a surviving spouse or partner: it passes to the survivor automatically and probate is not needed to sell it.
There is no time limit. Once the grant is issued the personal representatives can sell whenever they choose. In practice, momentum pays: if the house sells for less than the probate value within 4 years of the death, the estate may be able to claim Inheritance Tax loss relief, and an empty house keeps costing money, since standard insurance restricts cover after 30 to 60 days empty and the Class F council tax exemption usually ends 6 months after the grant.
Yes. All the personal representatives must agree to the sale, and all of them sign the contract and the TR1 transfer deed. Disagreements between co-executors or siblings are a common source of delay, so it helps to agree the asking price, the agent and how offers will be decided, in writing, before marketing starts. If you cannot agree, take legal advice on the options.
The personal representatives (the executors named in the will, or the administrators if there is no will) sign the contract and the TR1 transfer deed as sellers. Alternatively they can first transfer the property to a beneficiary using form AS1 (an assent), and the beneficiary then sells as owner. The choice can affect Capital Gains Tax, so take advice before deciding.
Answer from the documents and knowledge you actually have, such as the deeds, guarantees, and paperwork found in the house. It is acceptable and normal for an executor to answer "not known" where that is the truth. Do not guess: a wrong guess creates misrepresentation risk. The TA6 6th edition, with 15 sections, is mandatory for transactions where the solicitor was instructed on or after 30 March 2026.
No, and many actively like them, because a probate sale is chain-free upwards: you are not waiting to buy another property. The main risk is a surprise over timing, so be upfront with the agent and buyer about the probate status and when you expect the grant. Chains collapse on surprises far more often than on delays everyone knew about.
Selling a home you never lived in raises questions nobody prepares you for.
Answer a few questions in under 2 minutes and Farra maps the sale from where you are now: what has to happen before you can put it on the market, the seller forms only you can complete, and how to look after the empty home while you wait.
Where they normally lived, even if they died somewhere else.
Free to check · 2 minutes · No account needed · £179 for your full Farra plan
Related guides