So, what happens when you buy a flat or apartment?
We never keep our clients in the dark and by updating you frequently, you will know exactly where you are up to at all times. We explain everything thoroughly to you. Our residential property solicitors are the expert - we do not expect you to be, so we will never confuse you with legal jargon. Take a look at the steps to buying a flat below. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0845 567 5000 or just click on "Please Contact Me Now".
1. The starting point
Once you have made your offer, and the seller has accepted it, please let us have the estate agent's details. Our property solicitor will contact them to request details of the property, the seller, and the seller's solicitors.
We will then contact the seller's solicitors and we will ask them to send us a pack of information. This pack contains a range of forms that the seller will have completed which will tell you what fixtures and fittings are staying at the property and whether any works have been carried out at the property.
2. Checking the details for you.
We check through the information closely. If any information is missing from the documents they have supplied to us, we will ask them to provide these.
3. Special features where you are buying a flat
We will ask the seller's solicitors to provide full information about the service charge that the flat-owners have to pay to the management company, about buildings insurance arrangements that have been put in place by the management company, and about the financial state of the management company itself.
Whereas when you buy a house you usually buy it lock, stock and barrel, when you are buying a flat you usually just buy a long lease to the property. You are the long-term tenant of the property and there is actually a landlord, though it's very different to the landlord that you might pay monthly rent to if you were renting a property.
The lease is like the set of rules that govern your use of the flat. In effect this is usually the same as buying a house - provided the length of the lease is long enough. We therefore check the lease for you to make sure it is acceptable to you, and also to your mortgage company. Your mortgage company will not want to lend money to purchase the flat if the lease you get is too short or if there are provisions in the lease that will undermine the value of the security that the property gives them. We will check the length of the lease, make sure that it contains all necessary rights for your use of the flat, that it protects what is called your "quiet enjoyment” of the property, and we will advise you on any restrictions or specific obligations that are contained in it.
4. Checking whether anything in the locality affects the property
In order to make sure the area and land surrounding the flat is satisfactory, we request searches. The Local Search for example raises enquiries about planning history of the property, and other matters such as road widening, tree preservation orders and so on. The Environmental Search tells us about the premises use of the land on which the property is built, and whether there is any risk of contamination to the property. The Drainage Search tells us whether the property is connected to the mains drains and water supply. Depending on which area of the country your flat is situated in, there are other searches we would carry out for you. Your residential property lawyer will explain these in full.
5. Getting your money together
Whilst all of this is going on, you need to check that you have enough money to pay the deposit and to purchase the flat, and that you have submitted your mortgage application, if you are buying the flat with the help of a loan. If you would like a price comparison or you simply need advice on mortgages, we work very closely with a number if Independent Financial Advisors who are always here to help.
6. Time to give you an overview
Your property lawyer will update you at each step of the buying process. However, when we have all the necessary information and all of our enquiries have been answered by the seller's solicitors, we will send you a full report on the property. We will advise you on whether or not you should proceed with buying the flat because we know how big the decision is.
7. Getting ready for later
You and your seller can walk away at any point until the process is legally-binding. In order to get ready for this stage ("exchange of contracts”) we will send out the contract for you to sign and return to us and we will ask you to send in your deposit monies. Usually, the deposit amount is between 5% and 10% of the purchase price and this will be agreed between yourself and the seller, through us and the seller's solicitors.
8. When do you want to move in?
The "completion date” is the day that is agreed on when you will actually pick up the keys from the estate agents and move into the flat. Our residential property solicitors will discuss dates with you and your sellers to see when the best and most convenient day for everyone is.
9. Making the deal legally-binding - exchange of contracts
Once the completion date has been agreed and everything is ready to go, we make the deal legally-binding. After this point, no one can simply walk away from the deal unless they are prepared to pay a lot of money for doing so. We send the contract that you signed with the deposit monies to the seller's solicitors. The seller's solicitors will send us the contract that their client has signed. contracts have thus been exchanged.
10. Gathering all the money in
If you are using a mortgage, we will contact your lender and ask them to send the funds to us. Our conveyancing solicitor will send you a statement showing all the money that needs to be paid to complete the process and to pay all the search fees, stamp duty and legal fees.
11. The Big Day arrives
You have packed your possessions up, you have a bottle of bubbly on ice - it is moving day! Whilst you are preparing to move and worrying about the removal men, we transfer the outstanding purchase monies to the seller's solicitors. When they receive the money, they will notify the estate agents that they can now hand over the keys to you. You are now ready to move in!
12. Final work behind the scenes
Whilst you are enjoying your new flat, we will still be busy working away to get the flat registered in your name at the Land Registry and paying any stamp duty. Our property lawyers will write to the Management Company and to the Landlord to let them know that you are now the new owner of the flat. When everything is registered, we will send all the documents relating to the property to you for you to keep safe. That is it...the buying a flat process is over and you are the proud owner of a lovely property.
We hope you have found this information useful and you have a better idea of how the process works.
As we say, we are always there for people and families who are in our PURPLE LEGAL scheme. We invite you to join PURPLE LEGAL now. By joining PURPLE LEGAL, you can have all your legal enquiries answered free of charge by simply booking a SolicitorSlot for a time and date that suits you. Alternatively if you wish to speak to us now, please click on "Please Contact Me Now” or call us on 0845 567 5000. We look forward to always being there for you.
