Sell your probate house fast — without the clearing, repairs or waiting.
Inherited a house you don't want, can't afford to keep empty, or need to sell to settle the estate? We buy probate properties for cash, exactly as they stand, and we can clear them. One offer, a date that fits the grant of probate, and a clear guide to the inheritance tax on the house — anywhere in England.
Clear, list via an agent
As it stands, to us
Grief, paperwork and a house that costs money every month it sits empty.
Selling an inherited house is rarely just a sale. The executor is usually a family member dealing with a bereavement, a grant of probate that can take weeks or months, a house full of belongings, a tax bill to settle and siblings or beneficiaries who need to agree. Meanwhile the house costs money to hold. A buyer who can wait for the grant, take it as it stands and complete without a chain takes most of that pressure away.
Waiting for the grant of probate
The executor usually can't complete a sale until the grant is in. Applications can take weeks or months depending on the estate and how busy the probate registry is, and an offer on a mortgage-dependent sale can lapse in the meantime.
An empty house that still costs money
Insurance for an unoccupied property, heating to avoid damp and frozen pipes, utilities and, once any exemption ends, council tax. Most estates carry these costs for months before the house is sold.
Clearing a lifetime of belongings
Sorting, dividing and removing contents takes weeks and often falls on one person. A house left cluttered or tired also sells for less and takes longer on the open market.
Several beneficiaries, one decision
Siblings or relatives who want different things, live far away, or can't agree on a price or an agent. A quick, certain sale gives everyone the same number and a date.
Is there inheritance tax to pay, and how does selling the house fit in?
Most estates pay no inheritance tax at all. Where there is a bill, the house is often the biggest asset, so the sale and the tax tend to be linked. This is a plain-English summary, not tax advice — thresholds and reliefs change, so check the current figures on gov.uk and take advice from a solicitor or probate adviser before you act.
The tax-free allowance
Each person has a nil-rate band of £325,000. An estate under that, or passing to a spouse or civil partner, generally owes no inheritance tax. Anything above the allowances is taxed at 40%.
The extra home allowance
A residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 can apply when the home passes to children or grandchildren, which can lift the combined allowance to £500,000. It reduces for larger estates, and unused allowances can pass between spouses.
The probate value sets the bill
Tax is worked out on the value of the house at the date of death, not on what it later sells for. A quick cash sale doesn't change the inheritance tax bill by itself — see loss on sale relief below.
The six-month deadline
Inheritance tax is due six months after the end of the month of death, and interest builds up on anything unpaid after that. If the money is in the house, selling it promptly can release the cash to settle the bill.
Loss on sale relief
If a house is sold within four years of death for less than its probate value, the inheritance tax can sometimes be recalculated using the lower price. That can recover part of a discount taken for a fast sale. Ask your solicitor whether it applies.
Capital gains tax
If the house sells for more than its probate value, the gain may be taxable, and a residential sale is generally reported to HMRC within 60 days. A sale at or below the probate value usually creates no gain. Confirm with an adviser.
We take the house as it is, and work to the grant of probate.
Selling a probate property to us is a normal sale with a few extra moving parts. Here's what happens to each piece, so you know what you're agreeing to before we make an offer.
The grant of probate
You can usually agree an offer and get solicitors working while the grant is being obtained, then complete within days of it arriving. The sale can't complete until the grant is in, and we don't ask you to hurry it.
The contents
Take what the family wants and leave the rest. We can clear the house, so you're not paying for a clearance firm or spending weekends sorting a lifetime of belongings.
The condition
Damp, a dated kitchen, an old boiler, a garden left to grow. We buy it as it is and the cost of putting it right is priced into our offer, not billed to the estate.
The date
Completion on a date that suits the executors and fits the grant, often within days of it arriving. If you need more time to sort the contents, tell us.
The solicitors
We instruct and pay for solicitors on our side and cover yours, so the estate isn't paying legal fees on the sale. Your own probate solicitor can stay in charge of the estate.
The tax bill
Funds from the sale can be used to settle any inheritance tax due, and we can work to a date that helps you meet the deadline. We don't give tax advice, so confirm the detail with your adviser.
From first message to completion, at the executor's pace
The same four steps we use for every purchase, with the grant of probate setting the date.
Tell us about the house and the estate
Postcode, type, condition and where probate has got to. The form takes a minute; WhatsApp works too.
Get a firm cash offer
We look at the house and the timetable and come back with a figure you can rely on — usually within the hour. No obligation, and no pressure while you grieve.
Agree the date
We work to your timetable and the grant. Solicitors are instructed and paid by us, and you can take the time you need to clear the contents.
Complete
Once the grant is in, funds are with the estate within days, ready to settle any tax and divide among the beneficiaries.
What helps us make an offer
- The address and a few photos of the house
- Whether there's a will, and who the executors are
- Where the grant of probate application has got to
- The probate valuation, if you have one
- Whether the house is empty, and for how long
- Any mortgage or equity release on the property
- Your probate solicitor's contact details, if you have one
- The date you'd like to complete by
Clear and list vs. sell as it stands: a typical inherited three-bed
Take a 3-bed semi valued for probate at £180,000, left empty after the owner died and needing a clear-out and some updating — the kind of house we're asked about every week in Lincoln, Carlisle and Grimsby. There are two beneficiaries and probate has just been granted.
| 3-bed semi, probate value £180,000 | Clear, update and list | Sell as it stands to us |
|---|---|---|
| Time before it can be marketed | 4–8 weeks to clear, tidy and photograph, longer if repairs are needed | None — offer the day you ask |
| Sale price | £171,000 (95% of probate value, after a survey chip) | £147,600 cash offer (fixed) |
| Clearance & tidy-up | −£1,500 | £0 |
| Agent, conveyancing & EPC | −£6,620 | £0 — we pay both sides' solicitors |
| Insurance, heating, council tax & utilities | −£2,700 (about 6 months) | −£210 (14 days) |
| Chance it falls through | Roughly 1 in 4 once it's on the market | None — no chain, no lender |
| Time to money | 6–9 months after probate, if it completes first time | Within days of the grant |
| Net to the estate | ≈ £160,180 | ≈ £147,390 |
Worked example, not a valuation, and not tax advice. The inheritance tax bill depends on the whole estate and the probate value, not on how the house is sold, so it isn't shown. Clearing and listing can leave the estate with more — here by roughly £12,800 — if the house sells first time and the buyer's lender behaves. What it can't give you is speed or certainty: months of holding costs, a one-in-four chance of collapse and the effort of clearing and managing viewings. If a quick, certain sale matters more than the difference, selling as it stands is the better trade. Your own figures are in the comparator at the top of the page.
The towns where we're most often asked to buy inherited houses
Long-owned family homes, often unmodernised, in towns where the next buyer needs a mortgage. Each page below has the local detail: what a house there is worth and how the market behaves.
Somewhere else? We buy probate properties anywhere in England. Start from the county: Cumbria · Lincolnshire · or just send the postcode.
Selling a house in probate: what to do, in what order
If you're searching for how to sell a probate house, or how inheritance tax on a probate house works, the first thing to know is that the order of events matters more than the speed. Get the paperwork right and the sale is straightforward. Rush it and you can create tax, legal or family problems that cost far more than a few weeks.
Get the grant of probate moving first
The grant of probate, or letters of administration where there's no will, gives the executor legal authority over the estate, including the house. In most cases a sale can't complete until it's in, so apply early and keep the application moving. A probate solicitor or the government's online service can handle it. You can usually agree a buyer and get the legal work underway while you wait, then complete soon after the grant arrives.
Get a probate valuation
The house needs a value at the date of death for the estate paperwork and for any inheritance tax. An estate agent's written valuation is normally accepted for this, and for a cash sale it also gives you a baseline to compare the offer against. Keep it, because it matters for any tax relief claimed later.
Work out whether inheritance tax is due
Add up the whole estate — the house, savings, investments and other assets, less debts — and compare it with the available allowances. If it's below them, or everything goes to a spouse or civil partner, there's usually no tax to pay. If it's above, tax of 40% applies to the excess, due six months after the end of the month of death, with interest after that. The house is often where the money is, which is why timing the sale can matter.
Look after the house while you wait
An empty house needs insurance that covers it being unoccupied, heating in winter and regular checks. Standard home insurance often lapses after a month or two of vacancy, and a claim on a house that wasn't properly insured can be refused. Council tax may be exempt for a period while probate is pending, then becomes payable again, so check with the council.
What a cash buyer will and won't pay
Honestly: less than an open-market sale if everything goes perfectly. Our offers on probate houses usually land at around 80–85% of market value, with every fee paid by us and the house taken as it stands. Against that, clearing and listing costs months of holding costs, clearance, agent and legal fees, a survey chip and a one-in-four chance of collapse — which is why the net figures in the comparator at the top of this page are closer than the headline percentages suggest. If the sale price comes in below the probate value, ask your solicitor about loss on sale relief. If you'd like to see the same maths for your own house, ask for a figure; it takes a minute and costs nothing.
If beneficiaries disagree
A house left to several people is a common source of friction: one wants to keep it, another wants the money, and a third lives abroad. Executors have a duty to act in the interest of all beneficiaries, so a sale at a fair, documented price is usually the cleanest route. Share the offer and the probate valuation with everyone before you accept it. If there's a genuine dispute, take legal advice before agreeing to sell.