Solicitors, contracts and completions
So you made an offer and it’s been accepted. Now, it’s time for the next stages in your homebuying journey. The legal side can be daunting, but the good news is that this will all be handled for you by a solicitor.
Just as in every design and build stage, we believe in being thorough. This is why we’ve put together the important bits to help demystify the process and ensure any issues are handled smoothly. All you need to do is instruct a solicitor to act for you when you reserve your new Persimmon home.
Keep reading to learn what a solicitor does and their involvement in the final stages of buying a new home.
Your solicitor’s role
A solicitor is a vital cog in the homebuying journey. They’ll take care of the legal bits for you, including checking contracts, title deeds and other transaction documents, and make searches and enquiries on your behalf.
Once you’ve made an offer on your home, the next stages involve liaising with multiple parties to ensure both buyers and sellers are satisfied with the purchase. If you’re unfamiliar with the process, don’t have a lot of time, or feel overwhelmed, it’s best to hire a solicitor or legal advisor to work through these steps and ensure you can settle into your home as soon as possible.
1. Signing of contracts
When you’ve received your mortgage offer, you’ll need to contact your solicitor and make arrangements to sign the contract.
If you need to sell your existing property to buy your new home, you’ll generally be only ready to sign the contract once your buyer is in a position to proceed.
2. Exchanging contracts
On every house sale, two identical contracts are prepared - the seller signs one, and the buyer signs the other. When the contract is exchanged, these two parts are dated with the same date and then ‘swapped’, meaning you and the seller are legally committed to purchasing your home. This is known as the exchange of contracts.
In advance of the exchange of contracts, your solicitor will ask you to put their firm in funds to pay the contract deposit. This is then paid to us, or our solicitor. We’ll all do everything we can to exchange contracts within the reservation period to ensure things move along quickly.
Read our brochure for more detail around reserving a Persimmon home.
3. Completion
Your solicitor will send you a financial statement letting you know the balance of any money that you will need to pay to him/her before completing your purchase. They will also provide you with details of your new home warranty and insurance provider, the warranty and insurance certificate, the schedule and details of the cover.
On the completion day, your solicitor will transfer the balance of the purchase price to us or our solicitor by a same day bank transfer. When the money is received and the transaction document (the transfer deed or lease) is formally dated, we’ll give you the keys to your new home.
If you’d like help with buying a Persimmon home or would like us to recommend an independent solicitor, please get in touch.
Solicitor fees
As well as your deposit, there will likely be extra fees to cover the admin work we and your solicitor do. The amount you pay - and the number of fees - will vary, but we’ve provided a general idea of what this could look like when buying a Persimmon home:
- Administration fees – when you purchase a Persimmon home, you will be required to pay a small fee to cover our solicitor’s work in preparing the documentation.
- Estate Service Charge – on completion (and thereafter), you may be asked to make a payment towards estate service charges. These are costs of keeping all the common areas on a housing estate in good order. They are paid to a management company. Your solicitor will be able to advise you of what these fees are likely to be.
- Houses and apartments - if you sell your house or apartment to someone, the new owner will enter into a Deed of Covenant with the Management Company and the freehold. This is a document in which the new owner agrees to pay the Service Charge, which must be checked by us and/or the Management Company. The administration fee for doing so is £75 + VAT for the first 10 years of the term of the lease.
- Changes to flats - For flats, you’ll need permission from the management company to make any structural changes. You won’t be able to change the colour of the exterior of your flat.
- Building works on houses – You shouldn’t build any new structures on the home for the first five years of ownership without our consent (which we can’t unreasonably withhold). This excludes domestic sheds and greenhouses of a size appropriate to your property).
- Council Tax - Once you’ve bought your new home, you’ll need to pay Council Tax to the Local Authority. You just need to contact the Local Authority to register ownership and they’ll set up an account for you.
Restrictions
When buying a Persimmon home, there are a handful of restrictions and considerations to keep in mind (your solicitor should advise you of all of them):
- Selling your home - if you decide to sell your house or apartment, the new owner needs to sign a Deed of Covenant, as mentioned above.
- Letting - if you want to sub-let the whole of your apartment on a long-term basis, simply tell us the details of your tenant. This doesn't apply for Assured Short-hold Tenancy lets of less than 3 years. Note that you cannot sub-let part of your property.
- Restrictions on use - your house or apartment must be used as a private dwelling. It can’t be used for trade or business where deliveries, collections and other workers are involved. This excludes home office working.
- Changes to your home - For houses, you’re not allowed to put up any walls, fences, or other structures, or grow a hedge on the property between your home and the estate roads.
