Selling a house at auction: methods, fees and timescales
Published 22 October 2026 · 5 min read
Selling a house at auction means fixing a sale date, publishing a legal pack and letting buyers bid against each other. In England and Wales you can use a traditional auction, where the contract binds when the hammer falls, or the modern method, where a buyer reserves the property and completes later. Auction suits sellers who need a fixed timetable or own a property ordinary buyers struggle to mortgage, and it costs more in fees than a private sale.
How selling a house at auction works
You choose an auction house, agree a guide price and a reserve, and the auctioneer markets the property with a legal pack that buyers read before bidding. The reserve is the lowest price you will accept and it stays private; the guide price is only an indication of where bidding may start.
The legal pack usually holds the title register, the property information form, local authority searches, leasehold details where relevant and the energy performance certificate. A valid EPC is needed to market a home in England and Wales, so commission one early if yours has expired. Once the pack is ready, the auction house advertises the lot for a set period while buyers arrange their own survey and finance. Nothing in the sale is conditional: no survey, no mortgage offer, no chain.
Traditional auction
In a traditional auction the property is sold in a room or online on a fixed day, and the contract becomes binding the moment the hammer falls. The buyer pays a deposit on the day and completes on the date written into the contract, which is why bidders arrive with their funding already agreed.
Modern method of auction
The modern method markets the property for a set period, and the sale is agreed when a buyer reserves it rather than when a hammer falls. The buyer exchanges at that point, pays a reservation fee to the auction house, and completes on the date set in the contract. You get a fixed end date without a live auction, and the timetable is published in the pack rather than argued over later.
What selling at auction costs the seller
The seller pays the auction house a commission on the sale price, sometimes an entry or marketing fee, and the legal costs of preparing the pack. Ask for the full schedule in writing before you sign, because fees are set by the auction house and vary; they are not fixed by law. Commission is normally deducted from the proceeds on completion, alongside your conveyancing bill and any mortgage left on the property.
The wider costs of selling match a private sale: EPC, conveyancing, removals and any early repayment charge on the mortgage. If the property is not your main home, Capital Gains Tax may be due on the gain, so take advice before you exchange. Our guide to the cost of selling a house sets out the full list.
Timescales: what the contract fixes
A traditional auction completes on the date written into the contract, so the sale finishes weeks after auction day rather than months. The modern method completes on the date agreed when the buyer reserves, which the auction house states in the pack. Neither route leaves room for a chain, so the timetable holds as long as the buyer's funding arrives.
Preparation is the slow part. Allow time for a solicitor to assemble the pack, for an EPC to be produced and for the auction house to fit the lot into its next sale, and ask for the next auction date before you commit to a method.
Choosing a guide price and reserve from real sold prices
A guide price should come from evidence of what comparable homes actually sold for, not from asking prices or from what you hope the property is worth. Sold prices for the street and postcode are the only honest starting point, and sold house prices lets you check them by area.
Cross-check the wider market with house prices by location and the house price map before you settle on a figure. If you want an indication for your own home rather than a street average, start from the house value page. HM Land Registry publishes its Price Paid Data after sales are registered, so the most recent weeks can still be missing from any average you read.
A low reserve protects the sale; a reserve set too high risks the lot being withdrawn unsold. Auctioneers will tell you what a property is likely to attract, but the reserve is your decision.
Is auction the right route for your property?
Auction works best where a property is hard to sell in the ordinary way, or where the seller needs a guaranteed date more than the highest possible price. A private sale reaches more buyers and often a higher figure, at the cost of a chain and an open-ended timetable.
Consider it where:
- the property needs more work than a mortgage lender will accept
- you need completion by a set date
- the property is empty, tenanted, or part of an estate being wound up
- a private sale has already fallen through once
Whichever route you pick, buyers see the same figures you do: your guide price sits next to the sold prices of the neighbours, and those are public.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell a house at auction if it still has a mortgage?
Yes. The mortgage is repaid from the sale proceeds on completion, and you should tell the auction house and your solicitor early so the legal pack and the completion figures are correct.
What happens if bidding does not reach my reserve?
The property is not sold. The auctioneer withdraws the lot, and you can relist it at a later auction or sell it privately instead.
Do I need to fix up a property before selling at auction?
No. Auction buyers expect to take a property as it stands and price the work into their bid, so the legal pack should disclose what you know rather than promise a finished result.
Before you set a price
See what homes like yours sold for
Related guides
- Negative equity: what it means for sellers and optionsNegative equity means your mortgage is bigger than your home's value. What it means for a seller in England and Wales, and the options that exist.
- Exchange of Contracts: When a Sale Becomes BindingExchange of contracts is the point at which a house sale in England and Wales becomes legally binding. Before it, either side can still walk away with no legal consequence. After it, the contract decides what happens, including what the deposit is for and when completion takes place.
- Cost of selling a house: every fee a seller paysEvery cost a seller in England and Wales pays: estate agent fees, conveyancing, EPC and removals, plus the charges that catch people out at completion.