Planning on Moving to the UK? Your Complete Guide to Buying a Home from Overseas.

 

As a property finder for over 15 years and advised on over £30 million in property transactions, we thought it would be useful to break the sales process down. 

 

The below is part 2 of a practical guide covering the full journey from preparation to getting the keys. We have broken this down into two blogs (part 1 on June 11th) as we have completed a deep dive on each step, however for a bespoke service if planning to buy in the UK, feel free to get in touch.

At the bottom of the blog, we have provided some top tips to ensure you are fully prepared and common pitfalls, to ensure their aren’t any costs you haven’t accounted for also.

 

Step 1

Employ a Solicitor or conveyancer to carry out the legal side of the property transaction. Your solicitor handles: Legal checks, property searches, contract review, money transfers and Registry registration. You’ll need ID verification and anti-money-laundering checks, especially as an overseas buyer. With the work involved, this process alone can take 2 – 3 months (minimum), so keep in mind when planning your moving timeline. This is an area a good property finder will have access to a range of good conveyancers and will also manage this process on your behalf.

 

Step 2

Next up is the survey which is another area a property finder (if instructed) should arrange and manage. In the UK, surveys are separate from the mortgage valuation and their are a range of survey options. Dependent on the age of the house will depend on the survey you require as some are a lot more detailed than others but cost more. Skipping surveys can be risky, especially with older UK housing stock. In the instance a surveyor finds issues which requires expensive remedial action, the buyer can renegotiate the price to reflect this or retract their offer.

 

Step 3Moving to the UK and buying a home from overseas

Mortgage Application and Underwriting is the next step of which a mortgage adviser will normally look after. After your final offer is accepted you must submit a full mortgage application and the lender performs affordability checks. The lender will then value the property and the mortgage offer is issued. When selecting a mortgage adviser, its important to ensure you have an adviser who has access to the full mortgage market as some wont which can prove costly. For overseas income or foreign currency income, this stage can take a little longer.

 

Step 4

Property searches and legal checks will be carried out by your solicitor. Here, searches such as Local authority search, water/drainage, environmental and flood risk. They also verify: ownership, boundaries, planning permissions and lease terms.

 

Step 5Moving to the UK and buying a home from overseas

When you exchange contracts this is the major legal milestone. At exchange: you sign contracts, deposit is transferred (normally 10%), completion date becomes fixed, transaction becomes legally binding and if you pull out after exchange, you can lose your deposit.

 

Step 6

Completion Day has arrived. On completion the remaining funds are transferred and ownership changes. You receive keys from the estate agent and the mortgage begins. Your solicitor then: pays Stamp Duty and registers ownership with HM Land Registry. This registration can take a few months and dependent on your situation, you may be able to reclaim part of the stamp duty, however a good property finder should be able to advise on this.

 

Step 7

Set Up Your New UK Home. After completion you can arrange bank accounts, utilities, broadband, council Tax, home insurance and GP registration. You may also want to open a UK credit card, register on the electoral role (if eligible) and complete a UK driving licence exchange. Areas like registering for the electoral role, will help in building your credit score which is vital in the UK for future lending.

 

Top Tips / Concepts for Overseas Buyers

Freehold or Leasehold? Moving to the UK and buying a home from overseas

Freehold means you own the property land it sits on. Leasehold is common for flats/apartments and you own the right to occupy for a fixed term but may pay: service charges and ground rent. Short leases can seriously affect value and mortgage eligibility. Be sure to check this as it can impact the property value and legal purchase.

Typical Timeline

For a smooth sale, its often 4 – 6 months, however there are always hurdles with chains and probate often being common ones. After the agreed sale, mortgage preparation alone can take 1–4 weeks, surveys up to 4 weeks and depending on the complexity of the sale conveyancing can be 3 – 6 months due to waiting on information.

Costs
When moving to the UK its important to understand the cost of stamp duty as this is a sizeable tax when buying. Other areas such as currency exchange losses, not understanding leasehold, buying before knowing the area, assuming offers are binding, weak mortgage preparation and not budgeting for service charges also.

 

I hope this 2 part buying checklist helps, with part 1 available on our previous blog. 

If you feel you may need assistance with buying in the UK then please book a no obligation consultation call with Dream Move.  We can be contacted using any of the details below

 Email: Contact@dreammoverelocation.com

WhatsApp: +44 7513 282 421

Web: www.dreammoverelocation.com