How long does it take to build a house? What the builders’ own completion dates say

The short answer

There is no single figure. Builders do not publish how long one home takes to build, and the time depends on the method, the weather, the site and how fast homes are selling. What they do publish is when they expect each home to be finished. NewHomeSearch reads that date wherever a builder states it.

Of the new homes for sale in England today, 801 state a completion date: 4% of them all. 7.9% of those are ready to move into, or their stated date has passed, and the middle home still being built is due in 6 months.

When the homes for sale today will be finished

Each date is the window the builder states for the home: "Spring 2027", "Q3 2027", or "Ready now". Here are the homes for sale by how far off the end of that window is:

1. Ready, or already due7.9% of those stating one63
2. Within 3 months25.3% of those stating one203
3. 3 to 6 months26.2% of those stating one210
4. 6 to 12 months19.5% of those stating one156
5. Over a year21.1% of those stating one169

Source: NewHomeSearch listings: every new home for sale in England, read 12 November 2026.

Show the figures

When the builders expect the homes for sale to be finished

Expected	Homes
Ready, or already due	63
Within 3 months	203
3 to 6 months	210
6 to 12 months	156
Over a year	169

51.6% of the homes with a date are due within six months, and 21.1% are more than a year away: 169 homes. The furthest stated completion is 26 months from today. A home due more than a year away is being sold off plan, before it is built; our guide to buying off plan explains what to check when the wait is long.

A builder's date is an estimate, not a promise, and it can move. Ask what the contract says happens if the home is finished late, and keep your mortgage offer and moving plans flexible.

How long a development takes

A large site is built in phases over many years. In 2018 the government's independent review of build out, led by Sir Oliver Letwin, found that the median build out period on the large sites it studied was 15.5 years: about 6.5% of the site built each year.

The reason is the pace of sales, not of building. The Competition and Markets Authority's housebuilding market study found in 2024 that builders tend to build at the local absorption rate: the rate at which homes can be sold without reducing their prices. A builder releases homes as it expects to sell them, which is why a development's later phases can be years away when the first homes are sold.

That shows in what is still to come. Builders list 10,975 homes on 529 developments as coming soon: announced, but not yet released for sale.

1. South East1,770 homes77
2. North West1,549 homes77
3. East Midlands2,296 homes73
4. East of England975 homes72
5. Yorkshire and The Humber1,596 homes71
6. North East1,561 homes56
7. South West546 homes55
8. West Midlands647 homes45
9. London35 homes3

Source: NewHomeSearch listings: every new home for sale in England, read 12 November 2026.

Show the figures

Developments coming soon, by region

Region	Developments	Homes listed
South East	77	1,770
North West	77	1,549
East Midlands	73	2,296
East of England	72	975
Yorkshire and The Humber	71	1,596
North East	56	1,561
South West	55	546
West Midlands	45	647
London	3	35

Our coming soon page lists each development with what the builder has said about its release.

How long homes stay on sale

A home goes on sale at any stage, from a plot of bare ground to a finished house with the show home furniture gone. Here is how long the homes for sale today have been listed, with the share whose price has been cut since:

1. Under 3 months7,017 homes4%
2. 3 to 6 months1,407 homes21.3%
3. 6 to 12 months308 homes48.4%
4. Over a year30 homes60%

Source: NewHomeSearch listings: every new home for sale in England, read 12 November 2026.

Show the figures

Share of homes cut, by time on the market

Listed for	Homes	Below first price
Under 3 months	7,017	4%
3 to 6 months	1,407	21.3%
6 to 12 months	308	48.4%
Over a year	30	60%

4% of the homes listed for under three months have had a price cut, against 60% of those listed for over a year. Our article asking are house prices falling tracks the cuts month by month.

From reservation to the keys

Once you reserve, the time to move in is the build time left plus the legal steps. Under the New Homes Quality Code, the reservation agreement must give you at least six weeks to exchange contracts, unless you ask for an earlier date. If the home is finished, completion can follow soon after exchange: the builder serves notice, usually at least 14 days. If it is still being built, you wait until it is finished, and the builder must keep you updated on the timetable.

A mortgage offer usually lasts about six months, so a long wait can mean asking the lender to extend it. The completion planner turns the builder's stated window into a dated checklist, and our guide from reservation to completion explains each step.

Building your own home

Building a home yourself starts with planning permission. In England councils have 8 weeks to decide most applications, 13 weeks for major developments and 16 weeks where an environmental impact assessment is needed, unless a longer period is agreed. Building regulations approval, the design, the build itself and the final inspection come after. How long each takes depends on the home and the builder you hire.

How we worked it out

The homes are the new homes NewHomeSearch lists as for sale in England today, read each day from the builders' own websites and the listings portals through HomePortfolio. A home's completion date is the window its builder states, read into a first and last day; a home counts as ready when the builder says it is ready now, or when the last day of its window has passed. The months to completion run from today to the last day of the window. Coming soon homes are the homes builders list as coming soon. The build out figures are from the Letwin review's final report, the absorption finding from the Competition and Markets Authority's final report, the planning time limits from GOV.UK's planning guidance and the exchange and notice periods from the New Homes Quality Code. Every figure is worked out again from the day's listings each time the page is opened.