For years, selling a house in Chester meant a municipal pre-sale inspection. In June 2025 the city took that requirement off the books entirely, one of the few municipalities in the region to move in that direction. The catch is the name: Chester Township and Upland Borough share the postal area and kept their inspections, so the first question for any Chester seller is which municipality actually holds the parcel.
What the city repealed
The ordinance is short and direct. Ordinance No. 2 of 2025 repealed Article 1715, Pre-sale Inspection of Residential Properties and Units, in its entirety, with council finding the article no longer reasonable and necessary. The Suburban Realtors Alliance confirmed the change took effect as of June 26, 2025. What survives:
- Rental registration and inspection: rental properties register with the city and cycle through systematic inspections under the rental licensing program.
- Commercial U&O: commercial properties still apply for use and occupancy permits.
- Construction COs: newly built or renovated buildings still need a certificate of occupancy after final inspection.
City or township: check the parcel
Chester Township is a separate municipality, and per the Suburban Realtors Alliance it requires a use and occupancy inspection for property transfers, with an application that collects sewer lateral information and an inspection that verifies the lateral along with safety and habitability basics. Neighboring Upland Borough runs its own $100 resale certificate. Same zip code, three rulebooks; the county parcel record settles it in thirty seconds.
What still applies
With the municipal inspection gone, a city sale runs on the standard Pennsylvania paper trail: the seller disclosure, the buyer’s inspection, and tax and utility certifications at settlement. Two files are worth cleaning before listing: the rental registration record, if the property was ever a rental, and the permit history, since open construction permits still block occupancy paperwork. Both are one call to Licenses and Inspections.
The Pennsylvania money
Chester City’s realty transfer tax is one of the items to price precisely, city rates differ from the standard suburban 2%, so have your agent or closing company quote the current combined rate for your settlement sheet rather than assuming. Pennsylvania withholds nothing at settlement, and at Chester price points the federal exclusion, $250,000 single, $500,000 married, covers essentially every longtime owner. The home-sale tax guide and the cost-to-sell guide cover the rest, and estate sellers should read the guide to selling a parent’s house.
Getting started
The Chester order: confirm the parcel, city, township, or Upland, then a free valuation priced to the block, the rental and permit files cleared, and the house prepared for FHA-financed buyers who inspect hard. The Delaware County downsizing guide maps where sellers here land next, and the complete downsizing guide handles everything after the sign goes up.