Completion Day: What Happens and What to Expect in Northern Ireland

Completion day is the day you become the legal owner of your new home. Money moves, keys change hands, and the conveyancing process ends. For most buyers, it is a straightforward and anticlimactic day: you wait for a phone call, then you collect your keys. For some, it is complicated by delays, chain issues, or timing problems that nobody anticipated.

Understanding what is happening and why helps you prepare.

What completion day involves

On completion day, your solicitor transfers the remaining balance of the purchase price to the seller's solicitor. This is the full amount minus any deposit already paid at exchange. The transfer is made by bank transfer (CHAPS) between solicitors.

The seller's solicitor confirms receipt of funds to your solicitor. Once confirmed, the seller's agent or the seller themselves releases the keys. Your solicitor then receives the title documents and arranges for the title to be registered in your name at the Land Registers of Northern Ireland (LRNI).

The timing on the day

Keys are typically released around midday, though this varies and is not guaranteed. The timing depends on when funds are confirmed as cleared at the seller's solicitor's end. CHAPS transfers clear the same day if submitted in the morning; the practical window for keys to be released is usually between late morning and early afternoon.

Do not arrange removal vans for 9am on completion day unless you have confirmed with your solicitor that the timing works. If you are in a chain, you are dependent on funds moving through multiple transactions before yours can complete. A chain of three properties means three sets of funds moving in sequence, and each step depends on the previous one completing.

If you are in a chain

A completion day in a chain is more vulnerable to delay than a chain-free transaction. If the property at the bottom of your chain has a late start to the day (delayed funds, a banking issue, a last-minute query), the delay moves up through every property in the chain.

Plan for this. Have the removal van available for the afternoon rather than assuming a morning key collection. Have a contingency plan for where you will go if completion slips to late afternoon. In the event of a very serious delay, completions can technically move to the following day, though this is genuinely rare and carries penalty implications.

What you need to do before completion day

Buildings insurance. Your building should be insured from the point of exchange of contracts, not completion. If the property is damaged between exchange and completion, it is your asset at risk. Arrange cover immediately after exchange.

Confirm utilities. Contact gas, electricity, and water providers to transfer accounts into your name from completion day. Take meter readings on the day you collect the keys.

Change of address. Banks, HMRC, DVLA, electoral roll, employer, and any subscription services should all be updated. DVLA is a legal requirement within a specific timeframe.

Redirect mail. Royal Mail's redirection service gives you a buffer while you update everything else.

Final check of the property. Most sellers allow a pre-completion inspection, usually the day before or the morning of completion. Use this to confirm the property is in the condition it was when you agreed the purchase: fixtures and fittings that were included in the sale are still there, nothing has been damaged, and the sellers have vacated as agreed.

What to do when you get the keys

Check the property is empty and in the agreed condition before the removal van arrives. If anything is significantly wrong, contact your solicitor immediately, before moving in. Issues discovered after completion are harder to resolve than issues flagged at or before the point of handover.

Locate the fuse box, the stopcock for the water supply, and the gas meter. Get familiar with the boiler controls. These are the first practical tasks, not the romantic unpacking.

After completion

Your solicitor will register the title transfer at the LRNI. This takes several weeks after completion. You will receive confirmation from your solicitor when registration is complete and your name is on the register. Your solicitor will also submit any SDLT return to HMRC on your behalf.

Keep all the completion documentation, including the title documents, mortgage deed, and SDLT confirmation, in a secure place. You will need them if you sell or remortgage in the future.

---

Buying in the Newtownabbey, Antrim, or north Antrim area? We guide buyers through every stage from offer to completion. Get in touch.