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With a Help to Buy Equity Loan the Government lends you up to 20% (40% if you’re in London) of the cost of home, meaning you only need a deposit of 5%. You then borrow the rest of the purchase amount as a mortgage. To be eligible for a Help to Buy...
It is estimated that at least 5.2 million homes and businesses in the UK are at risk from flooding but it is not always easy for a buyer to determine if a particular property is at risk. There are a number of ways your solicitor or conveyancer will...
The current SDLT regime means that whenever you purchase a residential property over the value of £125,000, or if you are a first-time buyer then over £300,000, you are liable to pay SDLT as a % of the value of the property. Purchasing a...
Shared ownership is a good way to get a stake in a property when you can’t afford or can’t borrow enough to buy outright. The schemes allow eligible buyers to buy a stake (usually between 25% and 75%) in a property, whilst paying rent on the...
A train of transactions occurs when there are multiple transactions that are all linked and all need to conclude on the same day. Unless you are a first time buyer, it is likely that when you go to buy a new property, you will need to sell your old...
When purchasing a new build, buyers are regularly faced with exchanging contracts and committing to the purchase before the property has been built. This is known as purchasing “off plan”. Reservation Agreements: A reservation...
The recently enacted Coronavirus Act 2020 has provided that a right of forfeiture under a commercial/business tenancy for non-payment of rent may not be enforced during the relevant period. This relevant period is currently 26 March to 30 June 2020 which...
The impact of the coronavirus on a buyer who wishes to purchase a property using a mortgage will largely depend upon the progress and stage of the transaction. If you already have a mortgage offer and the transaction is likely to go ahead then the...
If contracts have not yet been exchanged, then parties may agree to incorporate a suitable clause into the contract to deal with any ongoing risks caused by the coronavirus. If contracts have already been exchanged and a completion date has been...
A covenant is a rule which states what can and cannot be done on the land. They are usually created in a deed between two parties, with one party agreeing to restrict the use of its land in a certain way for the benefit of another’s land. For...
A Transfer of Equity is when one or more person is added or removed from the title of a property. This can either be to transfer the property from sole name into joint names, from joint names to a sole name, or to add additional persons to the property...
A mortgage is a loan that is secured over your home and there can be serious consequences if you cannot afford to repay the loan. If a payment is missed you must immediately inform your lender and it is likely that you will be charged a fee plus interest on...
Pre-completion searches must be carried out usually around seven days before the day of completion and is the responsibility of the buyer’s solicitor. The purpose of the search is to ensure that nothing has changed since exchanging contracts and to...
The completion day is agreed in advance between the seller and the buyer but usually this date is within 7 and 28 days after exchange of contracts . On completion day, the money is transferred from buyer to seller and the buyer can pick up the keys to...
If you are buying or selling a property, the transaction is not legally binding until contracts have been exchanged. Before exchange can take place, the buyer and the seller will be required to each sign a copy of the contract, agree a completion date and...
Exchange of contracts is the point where the beneficial interest in the property transfers to the buyer. Between exchange of contracts and completion, the property will be held on trust so that the legal ownership remains with the seller but the beneficial...
It is not advised to exchange contracts on a property without doing the necessary property searches . Although the cost of searches can be expensive, it will be more costly to purchase a property that is defective. Once you have exchanged contracts...
When purchasing a property, the mantra is ‘buyers beware’ meaning that it is the buyers responsibility to undertake searches to discover any defects in the property. It is not the sellers obligation to disclose this information - the onus is on...
The system of the Land Registry is underpinned by three principles: (1) the insurance principle; (2) the curtain principle and; (3) the mirror principle. The mirror principle represents the idea that the Register of Title should reflect all the...
From 1990, the entire of the United Kingdom is an area of compulsory registration. This means that any dispositions of land that qualify for registration must be registered at the Land Registry on a central register. The majority of property in...
