| Sally Perkins’ Step-by-Step Guide to Moving House and ConveyancingPrinter friendly
Step 1: Finding a Place
This is what most people do first (although it is equally wise to begin by looking into a mortgage application). Once you have found the perfect semi, snug attic flat or country cottage, you also need to consider details such as the quality of the structure, the dimensions of the rooms, the amenities in the surrounding area, and resale potential.
Step 2: Making an Offer
You have viewed the place a few times and you’re happy; now is the time to contact the estate agent selling the property and make an offer. There is no hard and fast rule about how much to offer, and you will have to arrive at a figure based on the demand for property in the area.
Step 3: The Mortgage Application
If you are buying on your own, or think finances might be a squeeze, you might find it easier to make a mortgage application before looking for a property. There are many hundreds of mortgages available from a broad range of sources, including the major banks and building societies.
It pays to do your homework at this stage and find out what offers are available. It is also common now for borrowers to switch lenders for a better deal part way through paying off a mortgage. Much information is available on the internet, and mortgage consumer magazines are useful. Your solicitor will also be able to help.
Step 4: Instructing a Solicitor
Solicitors are necessary when moving house because of the convoluted nature of property ownership and transfer in the UK. Your solicitor will need to know how much your house is going to cost, its location and its price, and preferably the rough age of the property and status as freehold or leasehold.
Step 5: Obtaining a Survey
A survey is a thorough examination of the structure of your property. It is obtained to satisfy you that the property is solid and to reassure your mortgage provider that their financial stake is secure. Potentially expensive problems such as dry rot, rising damp or faulty wiring can be identified or ruled out.
Although most mortgage providers will assist you in nominating a surveyor, you can also employ your own. You must remember that you cannot rely on the mortgage provider’s valuation if subsequent faults come to light, and for this reason it is a good idea to have your own survey.
However, most surveys do not uncover more mundane problems, such as defunct central heating, lack of immersion heaters in water tanks or broken ovens. These are things that you might consider having checked by an electrician or heating engineer.
Surveys can be placed into three categories. Firstly a simple valuation. Secondly, a home buyer’s report in which a qualified surveyor examines the property in detail and gives an opinion on its state. Thirdly, a comprehensive and expensive full structural survey, involving a full investigation of the structure and fixtures. This third option is usually sought when buying an old building or one of unusual construction, such as a listed building.
If the survey shows work that needs to be done, urgently or otherwise, you’ll need to take that into account when negotiating the price and deciding whether to proceed.
Step 6: Exchange of Contracts
Just as when buying clothes you part with cash in return for promises about the quality of the clothing, so buying a house revolves around a legally binding contract. Several formalities need to be observed before a contract can be signed.
A number of checks, or searches, are made to ensure the house or flat is not going to reveal any nasty surprises. The local authority carry out a Local Land Charges Search, checking that the land itself is not likely to be built on or tunnelled under in the foreseeable future.
A bankruptcy search is made to confirm your ability to enter into a loan. The Land Registry (the national organisation that records and monitors the registering of land) is also checked for anything unusual.
It is also a good idea to also carry out an Environmental Search which will tell you if the house is in an area prone to flooding, or built on site with a history of landfill or contaminated use. Further searches are of specific relevance to parts of the country where there has been mining. Your solicitor will advise you about these. Searches are also made at the relevant water authority to verify connections to the mains and the routes of publicly adopted supplies.
Each side’s solicitor will negotiate what exactly is included in the sale, such as carpets and curtains, and such details as whether there is a charge for an unwanted washing machine, or whether an alley at the side of the property is shared or not. These agreements prevent unforeseen difficulties nearer the moving date.
If each side is happy and the mortgage offer is in place, the various searches complete and the survey clear, then exchange of contracts can take place. At this point a moving date is agreed and all parties are bound to proceed. The deposit is paid and the moving (or completion) date is fixed.
Step 7: Moving Day (Completion)
Keys are collected from the estate agent on the date of completion. It is also the date on which the payment for the property (the mortgage advance) will be sent from the mortgage company to your solicitors. The completion date is normally at least seven days (and more usually two or three weeks) after the exchange of contracts, although this can vary if all the parties in the chain agree.
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