Firstly, it is important to appoint a fully-qualified, experienced conveyancing solicitor who has extensive knowledge of leasehold when purchasing a leasehold property as they will have the knowledge and experience to deal with your transaction.
Leasehold properties vary and different legislation can apply to different apartments and housing in light of recently introduced legislation.

ID checks

The first thing your solicitor will ask for is proof of ID to verify your name and address. This is necessary to satisfy regulatory and anti-money laundering requirements.

Source of wealth and proof of funds

Solicitors are regulated and need to know how you are funding the purchase and where the funds are coming from, so will ask questions about this and seek evidence of where the funds are now and where they have come from.

Seller’s solicitor

Next we will contact your seller’s solicitor to let them know that we are acting for you and to request a copy of the draft contract and other important documents.

Searches and Enquiries

Once received, your solicitor will examine these documents, order your searches and go back to the other party’s solicitor with any questions that they might have.

Landlord/management company pack

The seller is obliged to obtain and supply an information pack from the landlord or management company and this will reveal any major works due to be carried out, whether there are any ground rent or service charge arrears and so on. The management pack and information from the landlord is also vital in determining whether the property benefits from changes in recent government legislation or not.

Mortgage

If you need a mortgage, you now need to ensure this is in place. When your mortgage is approved your mortgage lender will send a copy of the mortgage offer to us so that we can go through their conditions to make sure they are complied with. The mortgage lender has a set of rules and the solicitor has to adhere to these rules meaning sometimes matters relating to the property need to be referred to the mortgage lender for their approval before the purchase can proceed.

Valuation and survey

Your lender will arrange a mortgage valuation, which is for their purposes only, to make sure the property is worth the same or more than the sum you are borrowing. It is always a good idea to carry out a survey of your own to ensure you have a complete picture of the condition of the property that you are purchasing. We also recommend having safety checks carried out on gas and electrical installations and fire risk assessments and investigations into any possible inflammable external surfaces used in the construction of the property.

Signing the contract papers

Once all questions have been answered and search results, management and landlord information and mortgage offer received, we will invite you to sign the contract papers, either in the office or from home depending on what suits you best. We will also provide a comprehensive report outlining all pertinent points that you need to be aware of before you commit to buy.

Exchange of contracts

Once you have signed your papers and a completion (moving date) is agreed we will seek your authority to exchange contracts and legally commit you to your purchase. Exchanging contracts is done via a telephone conversation between the seller and buyer’s solicitor and you pay a 10% deposit (this is 10% of the purchase price you are paying) when the contracts are exchanged.

Mortgage draw down

Next we request your mortgage advance from your lender to ensure we receive it in time for you to complete your purchase. We usually ensure it arrives the day before you are due to complete.

Completion

On the completion date we send the purchase monies to the seller’s solicitor and when they acknowledge receipt, your purchase is complete. The solicitor acting for the seller will authorise the estate agent to release the keys to you, so that you can make arrangements to collect them and begin the process of moving in. The solicitor will then notify the management company and/or landlord of your purchase so they can update their records.

Land registration

Your solicitor will submit an application to the Land Registry and answer any questions they may have. This registration process can take Land Registry some time to complete but the updated title will be forwarded to you once it is received by your solicitor.