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Leasehold Purchases

How long will my house purchase take?

How long it will take from your offer being accepted until you can move in to your house will depend on a number of factors. The average process takes between 16 -20 weeks.

It can be quicker or slower, depending on the parties in the chain. For example, if you are a first-time buyer, purchasing a new build property with a mortgage in principle, much will depend upon the developer.

Stages of the process

The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential property vary according to the circumstances. However, below we have suggested some key stages that you may wish to include:

  • Take your instructions and give you initial advice
  • Check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender's solicitors if needed
  • Receive and advise on contract documents
  • Carry out searches
  • Obtain further planning documentation if required
  • Make any necessary enquiries of seller's solicitor
  • Give you advice on all documents and information received
  • Go through conditions of mortgage offer with you
  • Send final contract to you for signature
  • Agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
  • Exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
  • Arrange for all monies needed to be received from lender and you
  • Complete purchase
  • Deal with payment of Stamp Duty/Land Tax
  • Deal with application for registration at Land Registry

How much will it cost?

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you wish to buy is in Wales.

If we assume you are buying a freehold property in Market Weighton with no mortgage for £150,000.00 the fees would be estimated as follows:

Our costs

  • Legal fee £750.00 plus VAT

Disbursements

  • Estimated Search fees £200.00 inc VAT
  • HM Land Registry fee – based upon purchase price and the fee charged by HM Land Registry.  This figure can be obtained from the HM Land Registry website:
  • Electronic money transfer fee estimated at £15.00 per transaction
  • Pre Completion Searches estimated at £10.00
  • Notice of Transfer Fee - as defined by the lease estimated between £500.00 and 200.00.
  • Notice of Charge Fee (if the property has a mortgage)  - estimated between £50.00 and £200.00.
  • Deed of Covenant Fee – this fee will be provided by the management company for the property and is difficult to estimate but you can assume the fee will be between £150.00 and £300.00.
  • Certificate of Compliance – again, difficult to estimate but can assume between £150.00 and £300.00

Estimated total: £750.00 plus VAT plus Disbursements.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees, Search Fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

On leasehold properties some of the above estimated fees can be significantly greater.  The lease document will show the appropriate fees and we will not know these until we hold a copy of the lease document.

Please also remember with a leasehold property there is likely to be an obligation to pay ground rent and a service charge per annum for as long as you own the property.

Please understand there may well be additional disbursements that we cannot predict.  If there are other fees to pay we will inform you.

Stamp Duty or Land Tax (on purchase)

This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC's website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority's website.