The House Buying Process
Solicitors and property lawyers
You will need to appoint a solicitor or property lawyer to deal with the conveyancing and legal formalities of the property transfer.
Some solicitors will charge their fee as a percentage of the value of the property and others as a fixed fee. Ask for quotes and seek personal recommendations. Some solicitors that specialise in conveyancing offer an online service.
Following the acceptance of a formal offer, the solicitor will make any pre-sale enquiries between you and the vendor and take you through the exchange and completion of the sale.
Before the point of exchange, your solicitor will carry out one or more ‘local searches'. You may want to supplement this search by researching what's going on in the surrounding area yourself. For instance, you can ask the local planning department if any applications have been made to build new properties adjacent or relevant to your prospective purchase. You can also ask other people in the neighbourhood what it's like to live there and what's going on in the area.
Usually about a week prior to ‘moving in day', normally known as the ‘completion date', you will exchange contracts with the vendor. You will need the mortgage offer to be in place by the time contracts are exchanged.
At the point of completion, your name will be registered with the Land Registry and you will have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax. The solicitor will arrange this for you. At this stage, you will also pay any telegraphic transfer fees for transferring money from one account to another
You should aim to move into the house on a date convenient for yourself, the vendor and any other parties in the chain above.
To ask about the legal aspects of purchasing a house, joint or shared ownership or to ask for a quote for legal services, click here .
Useful websites
www.sfla.org.uk
www.lawsociety.org.uk
www.solicitors-online.org.uk
www.landreg.gov.uk
www.conveyancer.org.uk
www.sspc.co.uk
www.espc.com
Note: The law and buying and selling procedures are different in Scotland, where the 'offers over' and 'fixed price' systems can be confusing. Generally speaking, solicitors become involved in the buying process at an earlier stage than in England and it is sensible to make contact with a solicitor before you start serious house-hunting. Making an offer in Scotland is a more formal step than in England and can lead to your making a legal commitment to buy at an earlier stage. |
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