How Long Is The Average Property Chain?
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Content Written By: Raphael Kaye - Last Updated: 09/10/2025
It’s every homebuyer’s fear: a long and messy chain that seems to go on forever. Whether you’re stepping onto the ladder for the first time or you’re already a few rungs up, it can fill you with dread—but just how common is a long chain and how can you cope with the prospect of it breaking down?
In this guide, we’ll take you through what to expect from property chains in the UK, how to sell a house with no chain and what to do if a chain starts to break.
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What is the average length of a property chain?
Chains naturally vary in complexity—thanks to the range of types of buyers, sellers, properties and estate agents in the market, no two chains are the same.
As a result of those complexities, trying to find the average length of a property chain is a tall order. In fact, through a response to a freedom-of-information (FOI) request to the ONS a number of years ago, in which someone asked for statistics on the length of property chains, we can see how difficult it is to obtain the data:
“The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not have any data on the length of property chains. The statistics ONS publishes showing the number of residential property transactions are calculated from Land Registry data on individual property transactions.”“These data do not contain any information about the relationship between properties in a chain and so, unfortunately, it is not possible to produce statistics on the length of chains.”
The amount of time it takes to sell is obviously dependent on how many properties are involved. In simple chains of up to three properties, you might expect the whole process, including mortgages, legal checks, exchanges and completions, to take around four months. In more complex chains, you could be looking at six months or more, especially if one of the sales falls through for some reason.
As you can see from some real-world examples in this Reddit thread, for instance, it’s a different experience for everyone—the variables make it almost impossible to determine how long a chain will be because you don’t know how long it’ll take for each party to find the house they want to buy.
“I’m in a four house chain and I don’t think the fourth property has been identified (let alone offered)...just trying to manage my expectations.”
That said, a long chain doesn’t necessarily mean a broken chain is inevitable—it simply means there are more moving parts with the potential to go wrong, so the risk is just higher. It’s important to remain patient, keep yourself in the loop by asking questions and stay flexible in case you need to change tack at any point.
A broken chain can still be saved with a quick house sale to a cash buyer if the vendor buying your house pulls out. Find out more about selling fast to The Property Buying Company by entering your postcode so you don’t lose out today.
How can you find out how many houses are in a property chain?
It’d be great for everyone in a chain to know how many properties are involved and how long the whole process is going to take, but it’s unfortunately one of those things you have to be mostly in the dark about if you are buying and/or selling through estate agents.
This is simply because it’s not possible to know where everyone is at every stage, whether it concerns a party’s financial security and ability to get a mortgage or their mental or emotional attachment to moving at all—people change their minds all the time, so chains are tough to map out, while broken ones are nigh on impossible to foresee.
Read more: Everything you need to know about property chains
You can give yourself a better chance of clarity, though, by following our tips:
| Keep asking questions | Your estate agent or solicitor might not have the full picture, but they’ll know something about any possible stumbling blocks you might encounter. |
| Be prepared for delays | Anything from waiting on a survey to facing renegotiations can hold up a sale, so be sure to put a backup plan in place, such as renting a house or flat. |
| Consider going chain-free | It might be a good idea to look at a new build or an empty house to avoid the prospect of a chain altogether. If you’re selling, you can break the chain by using a cash buyer company like us—get your free cash offer here. |
| Stay flexible | Try to maintain some room to manoeuvre, whether it’s your moving date or your asking price—small changes can make a big difference. |
Unfortunately, a property chain is something that most people buying and selling have to deal with via estate agents, so everyone is reliant on one another to keep everything ticking along nicely and smoothly.
How easy is it to fix a broken property chain?
If things do go wrong, there are still ways to fix a broken chain. Let’s take a quick look at some of your options:
| Option | Description | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Don’t sell and buy at the same time | Instead of taking the obvious step and getting everything out of the way at once, you might look into selling up and renting or even moving in with friends or family first. | ✔️ Flexibility ✔️ Fewer moving parts ✔️ Less stress |
| Sell your house to a cash buyer | Offloading your house to a cash buyer like us can keep your chain together if, for example, your previous buyer pulls out and you’re at risk of losing your onward purchase. | ✔️ Fast sale with no mortgage required ✔️ Any property, any condition ✔️ Money in your bank within days or weeks |
| Stay proactive with your mortgage advisor and solicitor | Reacting to the stress of a chain breaking down before exchange with phone calls to specialists could help guide you through the process and find a solution. | ✔️ Property market expertise ✔️ Shows your seller you’re still serious |
A chain breaking down doesn’t have to be the end of the road if you’ve got your eye on that special property. It can be an incredibly stressful experience, especially if you’ve already been waiting weeks for the likes of surveys and mortgage approvals, but we’re here to help you keep your dream move alive.
Get in touch today for your free cash offer and we’ll be in touch within 24 hours so you can fix that broken chain.
Frequently asked questions
Should you buy a house in a chain?
Sometimes, you’ll have no choice but to buy as part of a chain, such is the level of activity and competition in the housing market across the UK. Unless you buy a new build from a property developer and exchange your own house or you buy a property that is already vacant, you’ll more than likely have to join the chain and hope for the best.
Choosing the right buyer and asking them the right questions can help you speed things along—you might get lucky and find a buyer who doesn’t need to sell, such as a first-time buyer or a renter.
What do I do if my buyer pulls out of a sale?
It might feel like the end of the chain altogether if your buyer drops out, but you can keep a move alive even if you were only days away from exchange. The Property Buying Company can purchase your house in as little as seven days and have the money in your account quickly so you don’t let your seller down—you can get a free cash offer by sharing your postcode today.
Why does it take so long to buy a house with no chain?
Even without a chain, the process of buying a house can take weeks or months. It’s still dependent on good survey results, efficient solicitors, favourable mortgage lenders and much more, so things can still go wrong. That said, it is still a quicker process than dealing with a chain of many more moving parts.
Edit Log
09/10/2025 - Content rewritten by Raphael Kaye
09/10/2025 - Content updated in line with Editorial Guidelines (Reviewed by Mathew McCorry)
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