Guide to Buying

Reviewing the Home Information Pack and Initiating the Purchase

Your Property Lawyer will obtain specific information regarding the property that you are buying. The Sellers’ solicitors will draft and forward a contract together with general information provided in the Home Information Pack (HIP), which you may have already seen.

So what is the HIP?

The HIP is a bundle of useful documents prepared by the seller and their lawyer to provide buyers and prospective buyers with the information they need to make a well informed offer on the property.

Compulsory documents include:

• An Index
• An Energy Performance Certificate
• A Sale Statement
• Standard Searches including a Local Authority Search, and a Drainage and Water Search and Office Copies
• Evidence of Title

In the case of a leasehold property further information will be required, including:

• A copy of the lease
• Any regulations or rules that apply to the property that aren’t mentioned in the lease and any proposed amendments to same
• Statements or summaries of service charges covering the previous 36 months
• Where appropriate, the most recent requests for payment of service charges, ground rent, insurance against damage for the building in which the property is situated, and insurance in respect of personal injury caused by or within the building during the 12-month period before marketing began
• The name and address of the current or proposed lessor, and details of any managing agent that has been appointed or proposed by the lessor to manage the property
• A summary of any works being undertaken or proposed that will affect the property or the building in which it's situated

Thereafter, optional documents include:

• A Home Condition Report
• A Legal Summary
• Home contents and Home use forms
• Other documents, which can include additional searches such as Mining Searches, Ground Stability Searches, Environmental Searches as well as guarantees and warranties for work carried out on their home

Your conveyancer may choose to raise additional enquiries based on the original HIP provided, together with any points that you may have detailed as being of particular concern.

Your solicitor may have undertake further searches and enquiries of the local council depending upon the date of those provided in the HIP and your lenders specific requirements, and other authorities where relevant. Charges will normally be made for these services by the providing authority.

If appropriate, you will need to have arranged a mortgage offer either through a financial advisor or directly with a bank or building society (Shortly we will be able to advise you on the products that are available to you and provide you with competitive quotes to meet your requirements). Your solicitors may report to you as to the legal affects of your mortgage and ensure that the written offer reflects the agreement that you originally made.

Once all of the necessary information regarding the search results and your mortgage offer have been received, your property lawyer will arrange a meeting with you, or report to you by post, to discuss the findings in relation to the property. If you are satisfied at this point, it is commonplace for your solicitor to ask you to sign the contract and pay your deposit (traditionally 10% of the property purchase price, although a lower deposit can be negotiated).

Exchange of Contracts

Your solicitor will then contact the related parties in the chain to agree a completion date that is acceptable to everyone. This date is usually about 2 weeks after exchange of contracts. Once all parties have agreed a date, contracts are exchanged and you become legally bound to buy the property at the agreed price.

Your property lawyer will request that your mortgage lender provide the money advance to be transferred to the sellers’ solicitors on the completion date. Your property lawyer will prepare the documents required to transfer the property into your name and prepare the mortgage documents.

Your solicitor should tell you of any balance required by yourself due to complete the purchase, including legal fees and disbursements.

Completion and Beyond

On the day of completion, your solicitor will pay over to the sellers solicitors the balance of the purchase price. Once the money has been acknowledge as having been received, the Sellers’ solicitors will release the keys to the property and you will be able to collect them from the estate agents and move in.

After completion, your property lawyer will arrange for the change of ownership and any new mortgage to be registered at the Land Registry and pay any due Stamp Duty Land Tax.