Selling an inherited house: a step-by-step guide

If you've inherited a house in England or Wales, selling it usually follows the same path: the executor gets a grant of probate, the estate's taxes are worked out, and the house is sold by whichever route suits the family. You can start preparing the sale early, but contracts can't be exchanged until the grant of probate arrives. This guide takes you through each step, the taxes and bills to watch, and the honest pros and cons of each way to sell.

It's general information for England and Wales. Every estate is different, so speak to a solicitor or probate specialist about yours.

Who can sell an inherited house?

Only the person with legal authority over the estate can sell the house:

• If there's a will, the executors named in it apply for a grant of probate.
• If there's no will, the next of kin (usually the husband, wife, civil partner or children) apply for letters of administration, and become the administrators.

Both are called a "grant" and both give the same power to sell. Until it's issued, nobody can legally sell the house, even if everyone agrees.

There's one big exception. If the house was owned jointly as joint tenants (common for couples), it passes automatically to the surviving owner. They can sell it without probate, usually by sending the death certificate to HM Land Registry. If it was owned as tenants in common, the share of the person who died goes through their estate as normal.

Step by step: from inheriting to selling

1. Secure the house. Lock up, check the boiler and water (drain the system in winter if it'll be empty), redirect post and tell the insurer the owner has died.
2. Value the house. You need its value at the date of death for Inheritance Tax and for working out any Capital Gains Tax later. Get at least one professional valuation and keep it.
3. Deal with Inheritance Tax. Report the estate to HMRC and pay any tax due (see below).
4. Apply for the grant. Apply for probate or letters of administration through GOV.UK. If the estate is worth more than £5,000, the application fee is £526 (the fee from 13 July 2026). There's no fee for estates of £5,000 or less.
5. Get ready to sell. While you wait for the grant, get valuations and choose how you'll sell. GOV.UK advises not putting the house on the market until you have probate. Some executors market it earlier and tell buyers the sale is subject to probate, but that risks delays, and it's best avoided if anyone might challenge the will.
6. Exchange and complete. Once the grant is issued, your solicitor can exchange contracts and complete.
7. Pay off debts and share out the money. The sale proceeds go to the estate, which pays the debts, taxes and costs before the beneficiaries get their shares.

How long does it take?

GOV.UK says you'll usually get probate within 12 weeks of submitting your application, but it can take longer if the probate registry needs more information. Before that, valuing the estate and dealing with Inheritance Tax can take weeks or months.

Once the grant is through, a normal sale through an estate agent often takes several more months to complete, especially if your buyer is in a chain or needs a mortgage. A cash sale to an investor or a cash buying company can complete much faster, sometimes in a few weeks, because there's no mortgage or chain to wait for.

The taxes to know about

Inheritance Tax

Inheritance Tax is worked out on the whole estate, not just the house. In the 2026 to 2027 tax year:

What	Amount
Standard tax-free threshold	£325,000
Threshold when the home goes to children or grandchildren	Can rise to £500,000
Rate on the value above the threshold	40%
When it's due	By the end of the sixth month after the death

You often need to pay at least some of the Inheritance Tax before the grant of probate is issued. Tax on a house can usually be paid in 10 yearly instalments, but interest is normally charged, and if the house is sold, all the tax still owed becomes due straight away. Many families pay from the deceased's bank accounts, or borrow against the estate, and repay when the house sells.

Capital Gains Tax

You don't pay Capital Gains Tax on the value of the house when you inherit it. Tax is only due on any rise in value between the date of death and the sale, after costs such as estate agent and legal fees.

• If the executors sell the house during the administration of the estate, they can use the £3,000 annual exempt amount for the tax year of the death and the following two tax years. Any gain above that is taxed at 24% for personal representatives.
• If the house is passed to a beneficiary first and they sell it later, they pay any tax at their own rate (18% or 24% in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, depending on their income) on the rise in value from the probate value.

Any Capital Gains Tax on a UK home must normally be reported and paid within 60 days of completion. If a house is sold for less than its probate value, there's no gain, and an executor may be able to claim a loss.

You can estimate the tax with our Capital Gains Tax calculator, and read more in Capital Gains Tax on inherited property.

The costs of keeping an empty house

An inherited house often sits empty for months, and the bills come out of the estate:

• Council tax. By law, an empty home is exempt from council tax while you wait for probate, and then for up to six months after the grant in England, or up to 12 months in Wales (since April 2026), as long as the house hasn't been sold or transferred to a beneficiary. Tell the council about the death so it applies the exemption. After that, the full charge applies, and councils can add a premium once a home has been empty for a year, though in England not for up to 12 months after probate is granted. See council tax on empty homes.
• Insurance. Standard home insurance often stops covering an empty house after 30 to 60 days. Tell the insurer about the death and ask about unoccupied property cover.
• Utilities and upkeep. Standing charges, keeping the heating on low, gardening and any repairs all add up.
• The mortgage, if there is one. The lender still needs paying, so tell them about the death early. Many lenders give the family time to sell.

Our empty house costs calculator adds these up month by month, which helps when you're weighing a quick sale against a longer one.

Your options for selling

There's no single best way to sell an inherited house. It depends on how quickly the estate needs the money, the condition of the house, and how much time and energy the executors have.

Route	Price	Speed	Good for
Estate agent	Usually the highest, at full open-market value if a buyer agrees	Often several months after the grant	Houses in decent condition, when there's no rush
Auction	Can be good for unusual or run-down homes, but there are fees and the price isn't certain	Weeks once listed	Homes that need lots of work, or where a fixed timescale matters
Cash buying company	Usually below market value	Can complete in weeks	Estates that need a quick, certain sale, or houses that are hard to sell
A family member buys it	Agreed between you, ideally based on a professional valuation	Depends on their finances	Keeping the house in the family

When an estate agent is likely to be better: if the house is in reasonable condition, the estate can cover the bills while it sells, and the beneficiaries want the highest price, the open market usually gets more.

When a quick cash sale can make sense: if the house needs a lot of work, the costs of keeping it empty are mounting, the executors live far away, or the beneficiaries want certainty and a clean break. You trade some of the price for speed and less hassle. Our cash offer vs estate agent calculator helps you compare the two with your own numbers.

If you'd like to see what a cash offer looks like, we buy homes across England and Wales, make an offer within 24 hours, pay the legal fees, and the executors choose the completion date. Our offer is below market value and we explain how we worked it out, and there's no obligation to accept.

Clearing the house

Most buyers want an empty house, so the contents need sorting before completion:

• Make a list of anything valuable or mentioned in the will before anything is moved.
• Let the beneficiaries choose what they want, and keep a record.
• Sell, donate or recycle the rest. House clearance firms can help, but get quotes and check what they'll take.
• Keep receipts. Clearance costs are paid from the estate.

Some cash buyers will take a house with its contents, which can save a lot of time when the family is far away.

A checklist for executors

• Death certificate copies (several, for banks, Land Registry and the insurer)
• A valuation of the house at the date of death
• Inheritance Tax reported to HMRC and any tax paid
• Grant of probate or letters of administration
• Insurance updated for an empty house
• Council told, and any exemption applied for
• The mortgage lender told, if there's a mortgage
• Utilities and post sorted
• Contents cleared, with a record of what went where
• A solicitor instructed for the sale
• Capital Gains Tax checked and, if due, reported within 60 days of completion

If you're also dealing with the rest of the estate, our guide to selling a house in probate goes into the probate process in more detail.