The Housebuying Process In The UK: How It Happens, What to Do

Those who are buying a house are apt to wonder why the process often seems to take so long. The answer is that all sorts of interested parties (buyer, seller, lender, solicitors, local and national government agencies etc) are involved and several different areas of the law (contract, land law, insurance, tax, planning) are covered.

All of this takes time – and paperwork! Perhaps the best advice you can give a first-time buyers who want matters to progress with minimum fuss is to engage the services of proper professional property lawyers with local experience.

A decent local solicitor will have both the legal knowledge and the range of contacts to bring the process to a swift and satisfactory conclusion. Once you have been granted finance by your lender, the solicitor will prepare and fine-check title deeds and contracts, deal with local authority checks and handle your mortgage transfer. Meanwhile you will arrange for a survey, buy insurance and appoint a removals company. Again, a knowledgeable local solicitor will doubtless be able to assist with some or all of these duties.

Once all applicable documentation is checked and signed, contracts are exchanged. At this point your lender will release a mortgage advance, a deposit will be lodged with the seller's solicitors and final checks will be conducted. Your insurance cover should be activated at this point and you should confirm removals arrangements.

Your solicitor will present you with a full financial statement and you contact the estate agent to arrange, subject to completion, collection of the keys. 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. You receive any surplus funds you are due to receive from your lender. 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.

And that’s it: you’re now a homeowner.

Tagged with: buying a house • conveyancing solicitors • house • property lawyers • Real Estate

Filed under: Foreclosure Properties

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