Sold STC (Subject to Contract)

A property marked Sold STC or SSTC has a buyer whose offer has been accepted, but the sale is still informal — nothing is legally binding. Around a quarter of UK open-market sales collapse between this point and completion, which is why the “subject to contract” caveat matters.

The stages from offer to completion

1. Offer made — buyer submits a figure to the agent.
2. Offer accepted — seller agrees verbally or by email.
3. Sold STC (SSTC) — the agreement is recorded; the property is usually marked as such on property portals.
4. Memorandum of sale issued — the agent formally notifies both solicitors. See memorandum of sale.
5. Conveyancing — legal work, searches, surveys, mortgage application, document exchange.
6. Exchange of contracts — the sale becomes legally binding.
7. Completion — ownership transfers, keys handed over, funds settled.

Steps 3–6 typically take 8–14 weeks on the open market. This is the window in which roughly 25% of sales fall through.

Why sales fall through after SSTC

• Buyer’s mortgage falls through — affordability reassessment, down-valuation, change of circumstances.
• Survey reveals problems — subsidence, damp, knotweed, unauthorised building work.
• The chain collapses — a link further up or down the chain pulls out.
• Legal issues surface — title defects, disputes, missing consents for extensions.
• Buyer or seller simply changes their mind — legal and not uncommon.
• Gazumping or gazundering — late renegotiation that one party refuses.

Can you still view or offer on an SSTC property?

Technically, yes. Legally, the property is not committed until exchange. Some sellers instruct agents to keep accepting viewings “in reserve” in case the primary sale collapses. Others mark their listings firmly SSTC and stop all activity.

If you’re a serious buyer and a property you wanted has gone SSTC, there’s no harm in expressing interest to the agent. Around one in four of those sales will fall through — and you’ll be first in the queue.

How long from SSTC to completion?

On the open market: 8–14 weeks in a typical transaction. Leasehold sales with complicated management packs can take 16 weeks or more. Probate sales often take longer because the probate timeline adds to the conveyancing timeline.

In a direct cash sale, from acceptance to exchange can be as little as 24 hours, and full completion within 7 days. The “SSTC” stage is essentially skipped or compressed into a single day. That’s the structural advantage of selling to a principal cash buyer.

Related

• Under offer — earlier stage, offer being considered but not accepted.
• Exchange of contracts — the moment SSTC becomes a legally binding sale.
• Memorandum of sale — the paperwork that marks the SSTC stage.