If you’re used to buying in Scotland, a few things to bear in mind when buying in england...estate agents are separate to solicitors and can be a total nightmare. If you get a good one they can make the whole process go smoothly, keep chains together (will get into that in a second!) and generally make everything work. If you get a bad one, they will make everything infuriating and can cause all sorts of issues.
The process is basically the same between the two systems but with the major difference that the point at which the parties are legally bound is significantly different. Up the road, you conclude your missives then set your date of entry for 4-6 weeks later and the concluding part is done as quickly as possible. Once you’ve concluded that’s you bound (remedies are available to both parties if the other sides fails to carry out their obligations). Down south, you do all the to-ing and fro-ing (ie concluding) then when everyone is ready you exchange contracts with an agreed completion date (date of entry) which is usually 1-2 weeks later than exchange. Until you have exchanged, no-one is legally bound so you could have your offer accepted, spend 6-8 weeks getting surveys/mortgages/legal work done assuming you will be moving “toward the end of X month” then find that your seller has changed their mind or someone further down the chain can’t get finance etc and no-one is moving and you’re back to square one without a house. You also won’t have a definite moving date until you’ve exchanged so you may have 1 week to get packed, arrange removals etc. You may find it difficult to tie-in a Scottish sale and an English purchase (there will no doubt be someone along soon to say they’ve done it several times without an issue!)because of the time differences in the system added to the fact you won’t have a definite moving in date until a week before you’re due to move. A lot of uncertainty!
Find out if there’s a chain. You might have a first time buyer living in rented accommodation (good, but may need to give 4 weeks notice which may cause problems further up the chain), buying from Mr Flat Owner, who’s buying from Mr & Mrs Getting Divorced who are buying two separate properties, who are buying a new build. This is where your estate agent comes in. You need to have someone who can regularly check on progress and make sure that what everyone has said their circumstances are is actually the case. You’d be amazed how often someone doesn’t actually have finance in place, or they decide they aren’t going to move into rented accommodation and want to buy somewhere and have started looking (add 12 weeks to your timeline). If you’ve got a long chain there can be all sorts of problems. On completion day (moving day) bottom of the chain have to get their money to next up the chain, who then has to wait for it to clear before they can pass it on etc. If someone’s funds are delayed you can run out of time on completion day to get money to the top of the chain which means someone may not be able to move.
You need to have 10% of the purchase price available in cash as a deposit. This needs to be held by your solicitor/conveyancer before they can exchange. Once you have exchanged, should you fail to complete then the seller is entitled to keep your deposit.
The onus is on you as purchaser to ask questions. The standard conditions used in Scotland cover things like central heating being operable, in England it’s on you to have it checked by an engineer if you want to know for sure if it’s working properly. You will get a Property Information Form which details most things about the property and is completed by the seller. The information it contains can be relied upon by you. If the seller fails to mention something you are entitled to a remedy, but you’d have to pursue it through court which may not be worth it. Caveat emptor! We found our conveyancer was very much reactive rather than explaining things eg when we asked about say, access they’d say “You’ll need to check and make sure you’re happy” (they were a bit shit!).
Be careful who you use to do the conveyancing work. Solicitors generally look more expensive but bulk conveyancer will have lots of charges that aren’t always obvious. You can have solicitors, licensed conveyancers or legally unqualified case handlers who are “supervised” by a qualified solicitor (somewhere within in company). You can get brilliant people in each and also terrible conveyancers. The bulk conveyancing companies tend to be target driven, have “standard” ways of doing conveyancing and your case handler may not be experienced enough to pick up timebombs that will cause you problems when you come to sell! Don’t go for the cheapest quote or web reviews as these tend to be 5 or 1 *. Ask for recommendations from the estate agent and anyone else you may know locally.
Think those are the major differences...oh and DON’T buy a leaseold property!!!