Housebuying In The UK: The Basics
Those who are buying a house are apt to wonder why the process often seems to take so long. The answer is that many different legal areas (land deeds, contracts, planning, insurance etc) as well as multiple interested parties (buyer, seller, lenders, legal representatives, government, local council etc) need to dealt with.
All of these stages and interests take up time – and paperwork! Probably the best advice that can be given to first-buyers who wish the process to be as smooth as possible is to place their affairs in the hands of genuine professional property lawyers with extensive local knowledge.
A good local solicitor will have the contacts on the ground, as well as the legal expertise, to ensure swift completion. Once you have secured the mortgage the solicitor will contact your lender, preparing and legal-checking all contracts, supervising the mortgage transfer and dealing with necessary local authority checks. Your role will be to secure adequate insurance for the property, arrange a survey and find a removals company if required. Again, a practised local solicitor will usually be able to advise on these services, or arrange directly on your behalf.
Once all applicable documentation is checked and signed, contracts are exchanged. At this point your mortgage advance will be released by your lender, who will receive a title certificate, final checks and searches will be made and a deposit lodged with the sellers’s representatives. Your insurance cover should be activated at this point and you should confirm removals arrangements.
Your solicitor will prepare a financial statement and you can arrange with the estate agent to collect the keys, subject to date of completion. The balance of the mortgage will be transferred to your solicitor by your lender , with the appropriate monies then being advanced to the seller’s solicitor, who returns title deeds.
Any surplus funds agreed with your lender are released to yourselves. All being well, you now collect the keys and move in, with your solicitor tying up loose ends such as paying stamp duties and registering ownership with the Land Registry.
All done: you’re a homeowner.
Filed under Blog by 
