Our Residential Property team has published a number of client
information sheets that help to answer a lot of the frequent
questions asked of us by our clients. Click on the links below
to view/download the sheets in full.
buying or selling a residential property
- How
long does it take?
Buying a home can be a lengthy process and you should be aware of
potential causes of delay. If a chain of transactions is not
involved (ie your buyer does not have a dependent sale, and your
seller is not linking in the purchase of another property) it
takes, on average, about four to five weeks to get to the exchange
of contracts stage.
- Do
I need a survey?
It is a general rule when you buy a property that any problems with
that property after you buy will be your problems! It is up to you
to satisfy yourself about the structure and condition of the
property before you buy. It is unlikely that you will have a
comeback against the seller if there are problems.
- Deposits
When agreeing to buy a house or other property it is customary to
pay a deposit on exchange of contracts. The deposit is
traditionally 10% of the purchase price, but this is often open to
negotiation and quite often nowadays the deposit is 5% of the
price.
- Release of
keys
Where an empty property is being sold the buyer will often enquire
whether he might be allowed to have a key so as to gain access
prior to completion. This may arise for a variety of reasons,
either because he wishes to carry out repairs, alterations or
painting; to move some of his furniture in or just to clean prior
to moving in.
- Identity
procedures – government regulations mean you must prove who
you are
The UK is a major international financial and legal centre with a
high reputation for honesty and integrity. Unfortunately that is
why professional and financial businesses like banks and solicitors
firms are attractive to money launders – criminals who sometimes
try and hide stolen money by turning it into legitimate
income.
-
Arranging your own buildings insurance
cover
Nearly all lenders instruct solicitors to follow the requirements
and provisions of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) handbook
when dealing with the completion of mortgage advances. These
written instructions fall into two separate parts; part 1 sets out
general requirements common to all lenders, whilst part 2 sets
out each individual lender’s own particular requirements.
- Buying
together
If two or more people buy a house or land together they can do so
in one or two ways. The alternatives are technically known as
‘joint tenancy’ and ‘tenancy in common’. In order to decide which
alternative would be appropriate to any particular case a number of
points need to be borne in mind.
- Stamp duty
land tax (SDLT)
From 1 December 2003, stamp duty was abolished and a new tax called
stamp duty land tax (SDLT) was introduced which affects all land
transactions. Stamp duty has been payable according to the document
by which the sale (or lease) was effected and solicitors acting for
the buyer (or lessee) would have completed the necessary forms on
their behalf. Under the new regime, on completion of a land
transaction, the person responsible for paying the duty (normally
the buyer or the lessee) will be required to complete and sign a
Land Transaction Return. This form must be signed by you, the tax
payer.
other residential property services
-
Rights affecting property land
It is usually the case that if there are rights affecting a
property, the rights in question will be shown on the property’s
title. Such ‘express’ rights are, therefore, readily identifiable
and a buyer of the property will be aware of them.
