Buying a home in England or Wales while you live in Bulgaria

Instructing a solicitor from abroad

Nothing in English law requires you to be in the UK to buy property here. You instruct us by signing and returning our client care letter, and from then on the work is done by email, post and video call, and we can talk it through with you in Bulgarian or in English.

Tell us at the start that you live in Bulgaria. It changes the identity checks, the evidence we ask for, how you sign, and the tax you may pay, so we plan the whole transaction around it from the start.

Identity checks and proof of your money

Your identity is checked online with a Bulgarian passport or ID card, so you do not usually need to visit an office or post originals. If you are buying with a mortgage, your lender runs its own checks as well.

Every solicitor must also check where the money for a purchase comes from. When it comes from Bulgaria, the trail is longer and each step needs a document, so gather the statements early and move the money through accounts in your own name. Our separate guide lists exactly what to prepare.

• Money from Bulgaria: the evidence you need

Signing documents from Bulgaria

Which documents you sign depends on the purchase, and the rules differ between a contract and a deed.

• The contract is not a deed and does not need a witness. You sign it and return it to us, and it can often be signed electronically.
• The transfer deed (TR1) passes ownership to you. You sign it too if, for example, you are buying with someone else, because it records how you will own the property together.
• The mortgage deed, if you have a mortgage, and any other deed must be signed in the physical presence of a witness, who then signs as well. A witness on a video call does not count, and even when a deed is signed electronically the witness must be physically with you.
• The witness should be an independent adult who is not a party to the purchase. A relative or partner is best avoided, many lenders do not accept one, and some lenders have extra requirements when a deed is signed abroad. We tell you what your lender accepts before you sign.

When a power of attorney makes sense

Most buyers in Bulgaria sign their own documents, and that is usually simplest. A power of attorney (пълномощно) helps when you will be hard to reach around exchange and completion, or when getting an acceptable witness where you live would be difficult.

• It must meet English formalities, and it is itself a deed, so you sign it in front of a witness too. A Bulgarian notarial power of attorney made for use in Bulgaria is usually not suitable: HM Land Registry accepts a foreign power only with a translation and a legal opinion from a lawyer in that country.
• If you are buying with someone else, you will hold the property together as trustees. That affects which kind of power works, and your co-buyer may not be able to act as your only attorney. We check the wording, and who can act, before you sign.
• Most lenders must agree in advance to a mortgage deed being signed by an attorney, and some refuse or insist on their own wording. Ask before you sign one.
• The attorney should be someone you trust completely: they can sign binding documents in your name.

Viewings and surveys when you cannot be there

Your solicitor checks the legal title and the searches, not the condition of the building. For that, arrange a video viewing with the agent, ask someone you trust to see the property in person, and instruct a surveyor. You do not need to attend the survey, and the report is usually sent to you by email.

The valuation your lender carries out is for the lender, not for you, and is not a survey. If the survey finds problems, tell us before exchange: until then you can still renegotiate or withdraw.

Stamp Duty for buyers living outside the UK

In England, buyers who are not UK resident for Stamp Duty purposes usually pay a surcharge on top of the normal Stamp Duty Land Tax. Whether it applies depends on how much time you have spent in the UK around the purchase, not on your nationality. If you buy with someone else and either of you is not UK resident, it can apply to the whole purchase, although married couples and civil partners have special rules. Wales has its own tax, Land Transaction Tax, with different rules and no separate surcharge for non-UK residents.

Owning a home in Bulgaria can matter too, because in both England and Wales property you own abroad counts when deciding whether the higher rates for an additional property apply. Tell us about every property you own, anywhere, and your written quote works out the tax from your answers.

• Buying from outside the UK

Completion and getting the keys

Before completion, we send you a completion statement showing the balance due. Send the balance in good time, in pounds, from an account in your own name: an international transfer can take longer than you expect, and the money must be with us before we can complete.

You do not need to be in England or Wales on completion day. Once the seller’s solicitor confirms the money has arrived, the keys are usually released by the estate agent, so arrange in advance for someone you trust to collect them. We then register you as the owner at HM Land Registry.