buyers guide
Information for property buyers
The key to a rapid and trouble free property purchase
is that we obtain from your sellers as quickly as possible all of
the relevant information about the property that you are buying.
We will be sent property information forms, a list of items that will be
left for you and a list of those that will be taken away. We will
receive copies of the deeds to the property and a draft agreement
for the purchase. We will consider of all these and report to you
on them in detail so that you will have a clear understanding of
the property that you are going to purchase. Please remember that
you are buying the property on the basis of that information and
not anything that may have been said to you either by the sellers
or by their agents. Anything that you are relying on that has been
told to you in that way should be explained to us and we will then
check it for you to make certain that you can rely on it.
We will obtain copies of any documents relating
to work done on the property. These may be Planning Permissions,
Building Regulation Consents, Specifications, Plans or Guarantees.
If any work has been done by the people who are selling the property
to you then we can normally get fairly comprehensive information.
If the work was done before they bought this may be more difficult.
We will explain to you what information we have been able to obtain
on the property and what, if anything, may be outstanding.
The Agreement for Purchase will initially
be sent to us by the sellers' solicitors in draft form. We will
consider this and make sure that the terms are fair and as we would
expect. We will not give you the Agreement to sign until we know
that it has been agreed with the sellers' solicitors.
When we have seen all of the papers
from the sellers' solicitors we may have more questions
to ask. These may arise from the information that we have been given
or from points that have been bought up by your own Property Surveyor. Very
often he may want some of the "legal" information checked.
When we are satisfied with everything we will tell
you and we will approve the form of Agreement for Purchase.
Local Authority Searches
Searches are questions which are asked of the Local
Authority within whose area the property you are buying is situated.
All mortgage companies will insist on these property searches being carried
out. The search is a standard list of questions which deals with
the property you are buying and not with any surrounding land or
other buildings. The search will show up Planning Permissions, Road
Widening Schemes, Improvement Grants, Tree Preservation Orders and
similar matters which are specific to the property. It may well
produce information which will lead us to ask the sellers' solicitors
further questions. We may need to get copies of, for instance, Planning
Permissions or Planning Agreements.
We will report fully on the Search to you. We would
always strongly advise you to visit the Planning Office of the Local
Authority concerned. That is particularly advised if you have any concerns
about future proposals for building on open land near to the property
you are buying. Planning Departments will not usually (at least
within a reasonable timeframe) answer written enquiries on such
matters to us. Some local authorities will do so but charge additional
fees. In any event, no Local Authority is able to copy actual plans
that may relate to future developments usually for copyright reasons.
Those plans are, however, available to look at in the Council offices.
Overall planning policy for the area within which
the property is situated will be governed by a "Local Plan". Confusingly,
this is normally a fairly lengthy written document but it will also
have "plans" with it. These plans are constantly updated by local
authorities on a rolling programme.
The Local Authority Search does not deal with any
aspects of the structure of the property that you are buying. The
only exception to that would usually be where work has been done
and checked by a Building Inspector who has found it to be defective.
If for instance work has been done to the property which is defective and has not
been looked at by the Inspector then there will be no entry in the
search.
Most local authorities process their searches in
about 14 days. They are quite expensive (about £100.00) and have
a limited life (usually 3 months). Because of this the current practice
is for the searches to be carried out by the Buyers' solicitors.
You may not want to pay for the search until you know that your
Valuation or Survey is satisfactory. We would understand that but
it will lead to a delay in the sense that the 2 week period for
the search to be processed will not then start until after you tell
us to go ahead (The Government has suggested that Sellers should
be responsible for carrying out Local Authority Searches and there
is also a suggestion that the Sellers should arrange for the property
Survey. Neither of these proposals have yet been acted upon but
apart from them the information that we will receive from your Sellers
and that we will provide to you will be in line with the Government's
current recommendations).
Environment Searches
Local searches do not as a rule deal with environmental
matters. The local authorities have not been obliged to keep relevant
registers and information, particularly with regard to landfill sites,
is difficult to ascertain. With an increasing awareness of environmental
problems and with more houses being built on "brown" land particularly
in towns relevant searches may be useful in giving you as much information
as possible before your final decision to purchase the property.
Sewers and drains
Many home owners do not perhaps realise the responsibility
that they have for the repair or maintenance of drainage pipe work.
This note is intended to explain sewers and drains and who might
be responsible for them in different situations. It is only a brief
guide intended to help to clarify and explain the position. It is
not intended as a definitive statement of law. There are three main
terms used to describe underground drainage pipes. The description
applicable to each will usually determine who is responsible for
the repair and maintenance of the pipe work in question:-
Drain
A drain is a pipe that carries waste water (foul
service) from just one property. This drain is the sole responsibility
of the owner of that property for its full length up to the point
where the pipe either connects to another pipe or another pipe connects
to it. At that point the drain becomes a sewer. There are two types
of sewers:-
Public Sewer
A public sewer is a pipe that is the responsibility
of the Sewerage Company for the area. In Southern Hampshire this
will be Southern Water Plc. These pipes have either been adopted
under the relevant legal procedures after they were actually constructed
or, alternatively, they are pipes which connect two or more properties
to the public drainage system and those pipes were in use for that
purpose before the 1st October 1937. Waste water from every property
connected to mains drainage will eventually flow into a public sewer
before it reaches its final treatment point. Most public sewers
run below a road, not generally below eg; private garden land. Southern
Water Plc have records of public sewers. We can obtain copies of
those records (the current fee is £38.18). The records can usually
also be inspected at Southern Water Plc's Offices and, possibly,
at the Offices of the Building Control Section of the Local Authority
within whose area the property is situated. If a pipe is a public
sewer then it will be repairable by the Sewerage Undertaker at its
own cost.
Private Sewer
This is the other type of sewer. It is a pipe which
takes foul service water from more than one property which is not
a public sewer. This will be the joint responsibility of each of
the properties that drain into it. The responsibility continues
up to the point where the private sewer including all the connections
joins a public sewer. This system means that very often people are
responsible for the repair and maintenance of drainage pipes that
are beneath land owned by someone else. It is unlikely that there
will be any accurate records of private sewers. These are laid from
time to time by builders. Where there are problems with private
sewers these need to be resolved between the owners of the properties who use them. If
agreement cannot be reached the Local Authority does have legal
powers to serve Statutory Notices on those responsible and, ultimately,
the Council can carry out any necessary remedial work and charge
those responsible for the cost.
Conclusion
It is important for you to know where your drains
and sewers run and who else may be connected to them. This is not
something which is generally speaking evident either from Title
Deeds to the property or from a standard Local Authority Search. It may involve
the carrying out of a Specialist Drains Survey or inspection of
older records at the Council's Offices. You should certainly discuss
the drainage system for the property with your Surveyor. If you
wish us to carry out any further investigation for you, you would
need to let us know specifically and we will then be able to give
you an estimate of the likely costs involved.
Surveys
Basic Valuation
If you are borrowing money from a bank or building
society to buy a property then you will usually have to pay for
valuation. The lender will not want to make a loan without knowing
that the property is adequate security. A Surveyor or Valuer will
give his opinion based around the agreed selling price. If there
are obvious problems with the structural condition the Surveyor
may note them in his Report. This valuation is not a Survey. It
should not be relied on by a buyer. Some lenders (for instance Cheltenham
& Gloucester Plc) will not even give you a copy. Generally the Valuer
is only responsible to the lender for the production of his Report
and not to the Buyer.
Report on Condition and Valuation
This is sometimes called a Homebuyer's Report.
As the name suggests it covers more than the basic valuation. The
Surveyor will complete a standard Questionnaire which is designed
to provide information about all the main parts of the property
being inspected. The information provided is usually straightforward
and easy to follow. The Surveyor is responsible to the buyer for
the Report and has liability for it.
Full Structural Survey
This type of Survey is expensive and very comprehensive.
It will be a complete narrative description of the property and
should describe in detail all aspects of it and any faults that
exist. The Surveys are obviously usual but because of their cost
are most often seen for old or particularly unusual property.
- NOTE: None of the above will cover central heating systems,
wiring, plumbing or other services. Have these checked by Specialists
if you want to be reassured. Remember that you can re-negotiate
the price or even withdraw at any time up to exchange of Contracts
but not afterwards. We are always happy to advise in general terms
on Surveys and we can help you to re-negotiate if you are having
difficulties. Surveyors will very often ask us as your legal advisers
to check points and we will always do so for you.
Co-ownership
When two or more people purchase a property together
there are two methods by which they can own it, either as "joint
tenants" or as "tenants in common". In either case, when you legally
own the property you are Trustees. The information here
relates to the way in which you hold the property as "Trustees".
Joint Ownership
This is the most common form of co-ownership. It
means that if one of the owners dies, the survivor or survivors
automatically own the whole of the property irrespective of what
any will of the person who has died might say. All that needs to
be produced in future is a death certificate, showing the death
of the joint owner concerned. The survivor or survivors can then
deal with the property absolutely in their own right. It is an administratively
simple procedure and does not involve any further legal documentation.
OWNERSHIP IN COMMON
This is where each owner has a specified share
in the property. That share may be a half or whatever other division
may be agreed before the property is purchased. The specified share
can be transferred or otherwise dealt with by its owner at any time,
for example by will or sale. It does not necessarily have to be
passed to the other joint owner. There are advantages to this when
friends are purchasing together and might wish to leave their share
in the property to immediate family if they died as opposed to the
other joint owner or owners.
The principles of co-ownership are particularly
important in deciding what would happen where co-owners decide to
sell the property that they own or if they separate. It is important
that any buyers fully consider their intentions in relation to the
money that they may be providing for the purchase. It is not always
easy after the event to establish what was intended at the outset.
We can always prepare for you a separate Agreement to reflect your
wishes and any small additional cost involved now might save considerable
amounts in the future. If any decision is made to own property as
"tenants in common" (especially where purchase money is being provided
in unequal shares) we would strongly advise the preparation of an
agreement to reflect the buyers' wishes. The small additional cost
that might be involved now may well save considerably in the future.
Even if you decide to own "jointly" now either of you can change
to ownership in common at any time in the future without the consent
of the other.
You should also always consider at the time of
house purchase having a Will made. This should be regarded as essential
if you decide to buy as owners in common.
In preparing the purchase documentation we shall
do so on the basis of "joint" ownership unless you instruct us to
the contrary. You can do that at any time before we complete the
purchase for you. Please let us know if you require this service,
take a look at our Wills
page.
Deposit and Completion payments
Deposit
Before you sign the Contract to buy your property
we will have discussed with you the deposit that will need to be
paid to the Seller. Often, if you are selling as well as buying,
you will not need to make any direct payment yourself at the time
that Contracts are entered into. The deposit for the house or flat
that you buy will come from the funds we receive as the deposit
on your sale.
The deposit paid by the Buyer of the property to
the Seller is intended to act as security, to make certain that
the Buyer will go through and complete the purchase.
If you are not selling or if the deposit on your
sale does not meet the full amount required on your property purchase then
you will need to pay us the necessary amount. The figure that is
usually accepted would be between 5% and 10% of the purchase price.
If you are buying and we have to pay the deposit we do so to the
Conveyancers who are dealing with the property that you are buying
by drawing a cheque on our own Client Account. That is usually a
requirement because such a cheque cannot be stopped. To enable us
to write our cheque we must have your funds cleared in our own bank
account. That means that if you want to pay with your own cheque
we would need it no less than 4 clear working days before we have
to draw on it. We have an arrangement with our bank who will treat
any building society cheque or banker's draft as cleared for us
if we pay it in the day before we need to draw our cheque against
it.
Completion
To complete your property purchase we will have to transfer
the balance due to the Sellers' Conveyancers by electronic funds
transfer. This is normally called a "CHAPS" payment this stands
for: Clearing Houses Automated Payment System). That payment is
made from our bank account to the account of the Conveyancers who
are dealing with the property that you are buying. It is effectively
a cash payment. To the extent that the balance comes from a mortgage
company we would deal with them directly and make certain that their
money is available for us to use on the completion date.
Any balance that we need from you, again, has to
be cleared into our own account. Because we are drawing "cash" for
the electronic payment and not a cheque we have to have any cheque
or draft fully cleared. That usually means being able to pay in
at least 4 clear working days before the completion date whether
the cheque is drawn on your personal Account or is from a bank or
building society. Please remember that a bank draft is not cleared
to draw cash against until it too has gone through the banking system.
All that a draft guarantees is that it will be cleared once it has
gone through that process.
Other Methods of Payment
The alternative to a cheque is a payment using
either the BACS (Bankers Automated Clearing System) or CHAPS systems.
This can be directly from your account to ours. The BACS payment
takes 3 clear working days to be credited from your account to ours.
A CHAPS payment is cleared on the day that it is made. If you would like
to make a BACS payment can you please use the same information but
make sure that your bank know when the payment has to be with us.
On the day that you complete a purchase we have to make our payment
out usually by no later than 10.00am. If you are going to use the
BACS or CHAPS systems please make certain that the payment is with
us on the day before we have to complete or that your bank guarantee
to you that it will be with us by 9.30am on the completion day.
If you do make a BACS or CHAPS payment please let us know and tell
us which bank the payment will come from.
Cash
We are not able to take cash payments for any sum
of over £1,000.00 because of our own security and insurance constraints.
Moving Dates
When you are buying you will want to know as soon
as possible what date will be agreed for your move. It will be your
ability to proceed that will govern the speed with which the move
can take place. You will need to have your Mortgage Offer (if one
is required), a satisfactory Local Authority Search, a satisfactory
Survey and to have agreed all of the information that has been given
to us and the Agreement for Purchase. If you are just buying and
the Seller is only selling then a date can be agreed very quickly.
Difficulties may occur where either you or your Seller or both of
you are involved in a "chain". This does tend to happen more often
than not. If there is a chain then each person in the chain also
has to be ready before you can make your own arrangements. We will
give you as much information we can about the chain. Your Agents
will also want to know about this and will make their own enquiries
on it.
Exchanging Contracts
The term "exchange of Contracts" describes the
moment in time when the Agreement for Purchase is entered into with
your Seller and becomes legally binding. The Agreement is in two
parts both identical, one part signed by the Seller and one part
by the Buyer. The exchange takes place when both parts which have
been signed are exchanged between the respective solicitors. The
actual commitment to the sale and purchase of the property takes place usually over
the telephone by agreement between the solicitors but is followed
immediately by the physical exchange of the documents, by post or
by courier. At the moment of exchange over the telephone the purchase
is certain. You are legally bound to complete and the moving date
(known as the "completion date") is fixed. Once this has happened
you can confirm your moving arrangements, and tell the service companies,
local authorities etc.
If you are obtaining a mortgage we will tell your
lender and they will send us the mortgage funds in good time for
the completion of the purchase. You may well also become responsible for the insurance
of the property from exchange of Contracts and you should make certain
that any life insurance associated with your mortgage is immediately
put into effect. We will have explained the property insurance situation
to you before Contracts are actually entered into. We will be able
to prepare a final Statement and if you need to pay us any money
we will need that from you.
Completion
Completion is the day on which you will actually
be given vacant possession of the property that you are buying and
on which you can move in. The keys to the property will be available
usually through the Estate Agents. We will complete the purchase
during the course of the morning and the Sellers will have to have
vacated by the latest time agreed in the contract. This is usually
either 1:00pm or 2:00pm and we will have confirmed this to you when
contracts are exchanged. It is always difficult to be precise as
to the actual time that the keys will be available (if before the
latest time) so it is best to work to that time rather than any
earlier.
Once completion of the property purchase has taken place we will pay any
Stamp Duty that is necessary, register your ownership of the property
at the Government Land Registry and, if you have a mortgage, send
the deeds and documents to your lender. If you do not have a mortgage
then those deeds will be available for you and we can store them
(at no cost) and provide you with a Deeds Retention Certificate.
Once that has been done our legal work has been
finished and we will close our file. We will then arrange for it
to be stored for at least 12
years.
Points to note
- Once an offer to buy a property has been accepted by the Seller
the Estate Agents will usually circulate details to the buyers,
to the sellers and to their solicitors at the same time. Those
details are usually in the form of a "Memorandum" which set out
the names, contact addresses and possibly the telephone numbers
of all parties involved.
- The Sellers' Solicitors send out a pack of information about
the property they are dealing with. The information covers a range
of points, some of which are technical and some of which relate
to practical matters such as boundary ownership, list of contents.
It should not take more than 14 days to get all of this information.
- Any mortgage application will need to be processed by the lender.
In our experience this will take 2 to 4 weeks.
- It is very important that a Buyer is completely satisfied with
the structural condition of the property being bought. Once Contracts
are entered into if any faults are found it will be too late to
change the price or withdraw from the purchase. The Seller of
a property is not usually under a duty to disclose faults but
must not hide anything that is wrong.
- As soon as the mortgage offer has been obtained and all the
information agreed the Contracts can be entered into. They are
then "exchanged". That will only happen where there is a chain,
when everybody is ready to go.
- When Contracts have been "exchanged" the date for completion of the property purchase
when the move will take place is fixed.
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