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Missed completion · notice to complete · what it pays

Late completion: what actually happens — and what it pays you

If completion day comes and the money doesn’t, the law is calmer than the phone calls: interest starts running at the contract rate, a notice to complete puts ten working days on the clock, and at the end of it the deposit is in play. Here’s the machinery, what the numbers come to on your sale, and why we volunteered a harsher rule for ourselves.

Base + 4%the usual contract rate of interest a late party owes, per day, under the Standard Conditions of Sale (5th edition) — your contract states yours
10 working dayswhat a notice to complete gives the defaulting side — and it makes time of the essence for both of you
10%the deposit a buyer stands to lose if they still fail to complete after the notice expires — the heaviest consequence in the standard machinery

The machinery, in the order it fires

Late completion only means anything after exchange — before that there is no completion date to be late against, which is the open market’s quiet catch. From the missed day itself, interest accrues daily at the contract rate without anyone doing anything. If the delay looks like more than a banking hiccup, your solicitor serves a notice to complete: ten working days, time now of the essence, binding both sides. If the buyer still doesn’t complete, you may rescind the contract and keep their 10% deposit, resell, and pursue any further losses; if it’s the seller who fails, the buyer recovers their deposit and can claim their costs. It works — slowly, adversarially, and only against a counterparty who actually defaulted, months after you first needed certainty.

What lateness pays on your numbers

Your price, your contract rate — what a late buyer would owe you per day, against what we owe you.

Mechanics per the Standard Conditions of Sale, 5th edition (Witan Solicitors’ guide); the contract rate is commonly 4% above the Bank of England base rate, and some contracts apply it to the price less the deposit. Your own contract governs.

The questions people ask when a completion slips

What happens if the buyer doesn't complete on the day?
From the moment completion is missed, interest runs at the contract rate — under the Standard Conditions of Sale, usually 4% above the Bank of England base rate. Your solicitor can serve a notice to complete, which gives the buyer ten working days and makes time of the essence. If they still fail, you can rescind the contract, keep the 10% deposit, and resell — while claiming losses beyond the deposit if you have them.
What happens if the seller is late completing?
The same machinery in reverse: the buyer can claim interest at the contract rate for each day's delay, serve a notice to complete after which you must perform within ten working days, and ultimately rescind and recover their deposit plus costs. Seller-side lateness is rarer, but it's the mirror image, not a free pass.
Does late completion actually cost the late party much?
The daily interest is real but modest — on a £250,000 sale at 8%, about £55 a day. The true costs sit around it: a removal van cancelled on the day, a chain collapsing behind you, bridging or storage, and weeks of re-selling if it dies. The interest compensates for none of that unless you litigate for it.
Is a notice to complete always worth serving?
Not immediately. It's a one-way door: it makes time of the essence for both sides, so if your own position wobbles inside those ten working days, you're bound too. Solicitors often advise a short grace period for a funds-transfer hiccup, and the notice for a buyer who has genuinely stopped performing. It's your solicitor's call to make with you — that's not something to improvise.
How is your £500 a day different from contract-rate interest?
Three ways. It's more than double the typical interest on an average house. It's automatic — a payment we owe you under the contract, not a claim you pursue. And it exists at all only because we put your completion date in the contract from day one — the open market's remedy only exists after exchange, months in, and only if the other side defaults. Capped, and subject to contract, and stated before you commit.

Sources: Witan Solicitors, late completion · MoneyHelper. England & Wales, Standard Conditions of Sale (5th edition); your contract may differ. General information, not legal advice — if a completion has already failed, speak to your solicitor first. Last reviewed September 2026.

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This page is part of the completion-date guide. The full picture — every route to a fixed date, compared honestly — is on can you guarantee a completion date?

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