You’ve Moved In To Your Home…
…But There’s Still Post-Completion Legal Work To Do
At long last you can start enjoying your new home, and perhaps start arranging that house warming party!
Or you might want to swing into action and fix some of the issues that your surveyor flagged up.
In the meantime your solicitor still has some work to finish. Their remaining tasks include getting the transfer document stamped, so that the Land Registry can record your legal title to the property along with your lender’s mortgage charge noted against the security.
The solicitor will pay the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), not forgetting to pay themselves (in line with the agreed fees and charges). They will then send you a completion statement with a breakdown of all the fees and costs.
Any old mortgages will need to be paid off and any redemption penalties charged by the lenders paid.
With flats, the solicitor will also notify the freeholder and pay any administration charges.
After some weeks the solicitor’s completions department will send you copies of all relevant documentation, including your freshly registered title to the property.
Legal stages: post-completion
1/ Registration of the new title
Proof of ownership of your new home must be registered with the Land Registry, who will promptly publish the address and sale price of the property on the Internet, so everyone in the world can see exactly how much you paid for your house! The names of the new owner(s) will be recorded in the Proprietorship Register and details of mortgages secured against the property recorded in the Charges Register.
2/ Land Registry charge certificate
The Land Registry will send a ‘Charge Certificate’ to your solicitor to confirm that they’ve recorded the above details, and a copy is then passed to your mortgage lender. If you bought in cash and there’s no mortgage or loan secured against the property, the Land Registry will instead send your solicitor a ‘Land Certificate’.
3/ Completion statement
Now you can see where all the money’s gone. The solicitor will send a completion statement listing all costs and fees.
Our next blog – coming soon …….
Common defects surveyors look for
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