How long does buying a home in England or Wales take?

How long buying a house takes

There is no fixed timetable. The time depends on the property, the chain, your lender and how quickly each person supplies what is asked for. A freehold house with no chain and no mortgage can move quickly; a leasehold flat usually takes longer, because the landlord or managing agent has to provide its own information.

Until exchange of contracts, either side can usually withdraw without legal penalty, although money already spent is not normally recoverable. That is why the date that matters is the exchange date: from then on the purchase is binding and the completion date is fixed.

Offer accepted: instructing a solicitor and ID checks

Instruct your solicitor as soon as your offer is accepted, or before. We open your file, send the client care letter and start the checks the law requires before we can act.

• Identity checks, which can be done online from Bulgaria or anywhere else.
• Source-of-funds checks: statements showing where your deposit and any other money came from.
• If a family member is helping with the deposit, their gift declaration and evidence too.
• Your mortgage application, through your broker or lender, if you have not already made it.

• Money from Bulgaria: the evidence you need

Draft contract, searches and enquiries

The seller’s solicitor sends the draft contract pack: the draft contract, the title from HM Land Registry, and the seller’s answers on the property forms (the Property Information Form and the Fittings and Contents Form, and for a leasehold property the Leasehold Information Form and the landlord’s or managing agent’s pack).

Once your checks are done we order the searches: usually the local authority search, a drainage and water search and an environmental search, with others where the location calls for them. How long the local authority search takes varies from council to council, from a few days to several weeks, occasionally longer.

We then review everything and raise written enquiries with the seller’s solicitor about anything missing, unclear or worrying, and chase the answers. This is often the longest stage.

Mortgage offer and survey

Your lender instructs its own valuation and, if it is satisfied, issues a mortgage offer. The valuation is for the lender; it is not a survey of the building. The offer has an expiry date and may carry conditions that have to be met before the money is released.

A survey is your own inspection of the building, arranged by you with a surveyor. It is not required by law, but it is how you find out about defects before you are committed. If the survey finds a problem, it is best raised before exchange, when the price or terms can still be discussed.

Report on title, signing and exchange of contracts

When the searches, enquiries and mortgage offer are satisfactory, we send you a written report on the property and its title, and the documents to sign: the contract, the mortgage deed and, where needed, the transfer deed (TR1). A paper mortgage deed has to be signed in front of a witness who is physically present; lenders usually expect an independent adult, not a family member or your partner.

At exchange, the solicitors for everyone in the chain exchange contracts and the completion date is fixed. Your deposit is sent that day, so it must be in your account and evidenced beforehand. From exchange the purchase is binding: a buyer who then fails to complete can lose the deposit and be liable for the seller’s further losses. The contract says who bears the risk if the property is damaged before completion, and it can place that risk on the buyer, so for a house we usually advise having buildings insurance in place from exchange. Your lender may require it too.

Completion day and after completion

Before completion you send us the balance shown on the completion statement, and we ask your lender for the mortgage money. On completion day we send the funds to the seller’s solicitor; once they confirm receipt, the keys are released, usually by the estate agent. The exact time on the day depends on the chain.

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (in England) or Land Transaction Tax (in Wales): we file the return and pay the tax from the money you send us. In England the return is due within 14 days of completion, and in Wales within 30 days after completion. Your quote shows whether tax is likely to be due.
• Registration at HM Land Registry: we apply to register you as the owner, and your lender’s mortgage. Some applications are completed within days; others can take many months. Your position is protected meanwhile: the official search made just before completion gives a priority period, and once the application reaches the Land Registry within that period, your rights are protected however long it takes to process.
• We send you confirmation once the register shows you as owner.

What causes delays, and how to avoid them

The buyer controls more than people expect: reply to questions the same week, sign and return documents promptly, and tell us early about anything unusual, such as a gifted deposit, a buyer who will not live in the home, or a plan to rent it out.

• Source-of-funds evidence that arrives late or is incomplete. Send it in the first week.
• Money moved at the last moment, or through someone else’s account. Transfer it early, in your own name.
• A slow local authority search, or a slow leasehold management pack. These are ordered as early as possible and chased.
• A mortgage offer delayed by a down-valuation or by the lender’s questions. Answer your broker quickly.
• Missing paperwork on the seller’s side, such as building regulations certificates, sometimes dealt with by indemnity insurance.
• The chain: every sale and purchase in it has to be ready before anyone can exchange. A seller waiting for probate, or a seller further up who has not yet found a home to move to, holds everyone up.