Why is my house not selling? It’s a common frustration for buyers who are waiting for offers to roll in, but there could be a simple, fixable reason. This guide will explain some of the reasons holding buyers back right now – and the changes you can make to encourage a sale.
Average mortgage rates have come down after hitting a 15-year high in 2023, with the average 2-year fixed rate mortgage now hovering in the 4% to 5% range. But buyers are still value-conscious, and have a wide selection of homes to choose from in today’s property market.
According to data from HMRC, 96,710 UK residential housing transactions were recorded in July 2026. This is 1% lower than July 2025, but a significant increase of around 20,000 more transactions than the mid-2023 slump.
This is good news for sellers, but there is still evidence that properties are staying on the market for longer. An average UK home could now take 40 days to 8 weeks to find a buyer, and it could take longer in London. Even in East London areas where properties are historically quick to sell, such as Newbury Park and Collier Row, properties are taking longer to sell than in previous years.
If you are considering selling your property, or you already have your property on the market but it is not selling, reviewing these potential reasons and following our tips could help you to achieve your sale.
Buying and selling at the same time?
Here are 10 things that could go wrong, and often do go wrong, and what, if anything, you can do to avoid them.
Buying and selling at the same time?
Here are 10 things that could go wrong, and often do go wrong, and what, if anything, you can do to avoid them.
One of the most common reasons that houses don’t sell is that the asking price is too high, so give this some thought. Often, estate agents over-value homes to secure the business but this can be counter-productive.
Not only will a high price put people off, but it will also rule you out of some searches on property portals – if someone is looking in the £500,000 to £600,000 bracket and your home is priced at £625,000, for example. In addition, if your home is overvalued, mortgage lenders may raise issues, putting the whole sale in danger. For more accurate insights, compare current asking prices with achieved prices for your street via Land Registry, Rightmove or Zoopla’s sold price data. With houses taking longer to sell at the moment, accurate pricing is more important than it was just a few years ago.
Tip: Before you commission an estate agent, always have a clear idea of the right asking price by doing plenty of online research, looking at homes like yours for sale in your local area, and those which have sold.
Always get three quotes from estate agents before you choose one, and don’t be swayed by a high valuation. If you think your home is overpriced, talk to your agent, or consider relisting the property elsewhere – check your contract to see if you are tied in with your agent.
It’s often said that buyers make up their mind about a property based on their first look at its exterior, so give the outside of your home an honest appraisal. Does the door need a lick of paint, is the garden tidy? What about the condition of the roof and windows? A tired front door or overgrown front garden are common kerb appeal complains that can sour viewings.
Want to feel prepared before you sell? Learn how to sell my house quickly and how to find a buyer for my house.
Tip: This problem is easy enough to fix. Think about repainting your door and investing in some window boxes and planters. Try moving the wheelie bins out of view and, at the very least, cleaning the windows. Make sure your garden is neat and tidy by mowing the grass, getting rid of weeds and brushing up any leaves etc.
When your property is advertised on portals such as Rightmove, prospective buyers will base a lot of their judgement on the photos of your property, so high-quality photos are essential. They need to present your property in the best possible way, using angles that make rooms look spacious and using optimal lighting. Highlight the best features of your home and try not to include the less attractive spaces. As well as professional property photos, portals like Rightmove and Zoopla now expect floor plans as standard, and listings without them see noticeably fewer clicks.
Tip: Hire professional photographers who are experts in property photography. Declutter your property before the photographer comes and make sure blinds are up, curtains are open, and windows are clean. Ensure that your rooms are clean and tidy and if possible, remove bulky items such as children’s toys, and remove washing baskets and toiletries in your bathroom.
Today’s buyers filter by must-haves when they search online on Rightmove or Zoopla, and homes that don’t match their criteria simply won’t appear in the results.
The growing use of AI-assisted property search tools that summarise listings means that complete, accurately worded listing details matter as much as good photos – or once again, the prospective buyer won’t see your listing.
If your home gets a lot of viewings but no follow-up interest or subsequent offers, then this may be something to do with the way it is presented in viewings. Is the house kept tidy? Have you deep-cleaned your home, with particular attention to the kitchen and bathroom? Can you do anything to improve the way it looks to viewers?
Again, this could be as simple as giving rooms a fresh coat of paint or removing bulky items and putting them into storage. If there are any minor repairs that could be putting viewers off, get them completed. The longer your property sits on the market, the more people will wonder why it is not selling.
Tip: Speak to your estate agent to discuss why your home isn’t selling and ask if they have any suggestions of improvements you can make to impress potential buyers and help to achieve your house sale. You could even ask your friends and family to walk around the house and give you an honest opinion on what they may change. You might want to consider using a professional home staging service to prepare your property before viewings.
Clearing the clutter is essential to depersonalising the space, helping prospective buyers imagine it as their home. Even items such as family photos can put buyers off, as they find it harder to imagine themselves living in the property. Bulky items can make rooms seem cramped, so you could remove some unnecessary furniture or any other items that clutter rooms.
Tip: Decluttering means more than just removing a few photos and paperwork. Shift every unnecessary item from all surfaces and if any room is jam-packed with furniture, think about putting it in storage. The minimalist approach is best, giving viewers a better idea of where they can fit their own furniture into the home.
Make sure that you and your agent are maximising the property’s exposure. Your property needs to be on Rightmove and Zoopla as well as your estate agent’s social media channels and in their high street window if they have one. Some estate agents post virtual tours of properties on their social media that increase interest, and additional marketing techniques like video walkthroughs can help you stand out in today’s market.
Tip: Do your own promotion on local forums such as Nextdoor as well as Facebook and WhatsApp groups. Getting friends to share your property on social media can help to find a buyer and people are often happier to buy a property if it has been shared by someone in their network of friends.
Check all advertising and property details stringently to ensure the agent has highlighted all of the key benefits of the property. Do the photos really do the place justice? Is the lighting good and does it look clean, airy and spacious? Treat floorplans as a key feature, not an afterthought, as they’re now almost essential.
Tip: Read the property listing to make sure it’s upbeat, positive and a true reflection of your home. If there are important qualities that come with your home, like parking, a good-sized garden and an outstanding school nearby, make sure these are included. Nobody knows your home better than you, so give your input to the agent.
Certain times of year are traditionally quieter, and if the market for your property is cool right now, think about whether to hold on and relist it at a later date. Spring is the strongest window to list your property, and March in particular – but August and the run-up to Christmas remain the quietest.
Tip: Traditionally, spring is the best time to sell, as demand fluctuates through the seasons. If things are slow, delaying could give you time to put right any issues with the house and spruce it up to ensure it’s ready to attract buyers.
Transaction volumes and local demand may be improving, but individual homes can still underperform – particularly when buyers have so much choice. Overpricing is often the problem, since buyers can simply opt for a better-priced alternative.
9 The Location Is A Hard Sell
Even if your property itself is exactly what a buyer is looking for, the area might be a put-off. In this situation, the price must be in line with the local market and the listing should focus on the positives of the area, such as good transport links.
Tip: Make sure your agent has priced the property in fitting with the location. The property listing should focus on the positives, while emphasising that the buyer will be getting good value for their money. If security is a potential concern, install a burglar alarm and make sure there is secure fencing and other security measures.
If you’re in a long chain, this may be deterring buyers who want to move quickly. Buyers may worry that a long chain could lead to their purchase falling through. If you can be flexible about the sale process, this could help to sell your home faster.
Want to feel prepared before you sell? Read about avoiding key survey problems and our tips for selling your house.
Tip: Consider whether you could sell, then move into rented accommodation while you look for your dream home. A chain-free property is a more enticing prospect. Once you’ve sold your home, you will be a cash buyer, putting you in a stronger negotiating position too.
Ask your estate agent to make sure any prospective buyers already have an ‘agreement in principle’ from their mortgage providers to show they can afford the property. This will help you avoid wasting time and accepting any offers that may fall through at a later date.
Tip: It’s worth considering all potential buyers even if they are offering a lower price than others. For example, if you’re looking to sell quickly and with less complication, it may be worth accepting a first-time buyer rather than someone in a chain who needs to sell their property first.
Legal issues such as title disputes or boundary issues could be another reason that your house is not selling. If your prospective buyers think they are going to have expensive legal issues to navigate, it could be the deciding factor for them not to put an offer in.
Tip: If your house has been on the market for a while and legal issues could be deterring a sale, get the issues resolved to give buyers peace of mind. While it may be costly to resolve the issues, if you want to sell as soon as possible, it could be a necessity.
Buyers are increasingly conscious of energy performance certificate (EPC) ratings and running costs, and this can influence their offers.
Try making affordable changes before listing, like swapping to LED lighting, draught-proofing, fitting a hot water cylinder jacket, or upgrading your loft insulation to 270mm as recommended by the Energy Saving Trust. Remember to get a new EPC to reflect your upgrades.
If you’re doing everything else right, the issue could be with your agent. Maybe they have too many properties on their books, and they aren’t working hard enough to promote your home to buyers. Or perhaps they aren’t giving you useful feedback to help you make the house more appealing.
Tip: Consider switching agents but check your contract as you may be bound by a notice period. You could opt to list with more than one agent, though you may pay more in commission. Research your local estate agent options and look for agents that are achieving fast properties sales.
If you are in a position to do so, the simplest suggestion would be to lower the price of the property to appeal to a wider audience.
You could also consider switching agents. Before making plans to change agents, check your contract for a tie-in period. This is the length of time an estate agent has to market your house, there can be hefty fees for early termination. Create a shortlist of the most highly-rated estate agents in your area and interview them. Ask questions like, “why do you think my house isn’t selling” and “what would you do differently”.
You could also consider selling your home through a quick sale property firm. There are pros and cons to selling a home this way, so make sure you do your research before taking this route.
A stalled sale can run up costs like continuing mortgage payments, bills, insurance, and potentially two sets of running costs if you’ve already found your next home. Common expenses include:
How long it should take for you to sell depends on many factors, but Zoopla data suggests the length of time a property stays on the market is now longer in two thirds of London boroughs. Even properties in the fastest-selling East London borough are taking 8 days longer to sell, so prepare for it to take more time.
If you are not in a position to sit and wait, then we would suggest keeping your house on the market for around 3 months before you take steps to sell quicker such as reducing the price or switching agents.
If you are having difficulties selling your home and would like some advice, talk to us. At Sandra Davidson, we monitor the East London market closely to develop the right strategies to help sellers find buyers quickly and achieve the right price. We’d be happy to chat or give your home a no-obligation market appraisal.
Reduce it enough to move into a lower portal search bracket. A home priced at £625,000 stays hidden from buyers searching up to £600,000, for example. Compare recent sold prices on your street first to get an idea of the correct pricing. Sandra Davidson can give you a no-obligation market appraisal to confirm where the right figure sits.
Start with what happens after your listing goes live. Low enquiry numbers usually signal a problem with price, photos or the listing text. If viewings take place but offers don’t follow, the cause is more likely the home’s condition on the day or a price that feels too high in person.
Usually not, so long as it is a sensible reduction. Even in Newbury Park and Collier Row, where homes once sold fast, they now have plenty of alternatives. One meaningful cut early on tends to work better than several small ones.
Potentially – but relisting an identical home rarely fools buyers, because portals and third-party property sites often show price history and earlier listing dates. Use the pause to fix presentation problems, add a floor plan and rewrite the description before the new launch.
Many sole agency contracts run for around 8 to 12 weeks. Leaving early usually means serving notice or paying the withdrawal fee set out in your contract, so read the agreement before you act. Once the tie-in ends, ensure you have spoken to other agents who may serve your property sale better.
Yes, tell your insurer as soon as the property becomes empty. Many standard home policies restrict or end cover after a set period of unoccupancy, commonly 30 days, so an unsold empty house can end up uninsured without you noticing.
Not necessarily. Spring brings the strongest buyer demand, especially March, but a well-priced home can still sell in autumn as buyers return from the summer lull. August and the weeks before Christmas are the quietest windows. You could relaunch in September or October, or plan a March relaunch and spend the extra months on improvements.
No. An agreement in principle is a lender’s early indication of what it might lend, based on basic checks, and it does not guarantee a mortgage offer – this is defined once the buyer formally applies for a mortgage, when more significant and intrusive financial checks are made.
For anyone looking to avoid a property chain, selling your house first, before buying a new home is a key consideration.
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