BUYING A PROPERTY IN SCOTLAND
Sturrock, Armstrong & Thomson have an experienced and knowledgeable legal
team to help you through the process of buying property in Scotland. We will
give you help and guidance to find the property which suits your needs and
budget.
WHERE SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR PROPERTIES?
In Scotland, most properties are sold through the Solicitors Property Centres. In
Edinburgh, approximately 90% of properties are sold through the Edinburgh
Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC) (www.espc.com). We would recommend
that you register with the Solicitors Property Centre in the areas in which you
are looking, and with local estate agents. Other useful websites include
www.rightmove.co.uk and www.zoopla.co.uk.
HOME REPORTS
Home Reports were introduced in 2008. They are paid for by the seller. They
are generally acceptable to most purchasers and lenders. They remove the need
for every prospective purchaser to get their own survey, though some buyers
like to have their own survey carried out, and some lenders may insist upon it.
We can arrange the survey for you and discuss knowledgeably with you all
aspects of the report. Sellers advertising a property for sale must have a Home
Report. A Home Report has 3 parts which consist of a Sellers’ Survey, an
Energy Report and a Questionnaire for the property. The Home Report must be
made available to any interested purchaser and will give important information
about the property and its value.
THE BUYING PROCESS
Once you have found a desirable property, you should contact us and we will
either note your interest in the property with the selling agent or submit an Offer
on your behalf. Noting interest is a simple process. One of our solicitors will
inform the selling agents of your interest so that they can inform us if a closing
date is set. A note of interest does not oblige you to offer, but nor does it oblige
the seller to allow you to offer. If you are ready to make a formal offer at this
stage, then your solicitor will submit this on your behalf. We can advise fully
on the price to offer, taking into account the market conditions, the area
concerned, the type of property you are looking to buy and the information in
the Home Report. When a property proves popular, with two or more notes of
interest, the selling agents will usually set a closing date. Sealed written Offers
are sent to the selling agent for a set time on a set date. Each prospective buyer
has an equal chance to submit their best offer. The seller can then choose
which, if any, to accept.
THE PRICE
The introduction of Home Reports has led to changes in how properties are
marketed, as all prospective purchasers are aware of the Home Report value.
The old system of asking for “offers over” has almost disappeared, replaced by
asking for “offers around” or placing the property on the market for a fixed
price based on the Home Report value. We will assist you in trying to secure a
property for the best possible price.
THE OFFER
Once you give us instructions, we will submit an offer on your behalf.
Traditionally every conveyancer would have their own separate standard offer.
In recent years there have been moves towards standardisation, leading to the
publication of the Combined Standard Clauses, the most recent being the 2011
edition. The Combined Standard Clauses represent the considered view of
solicitors in Edinburgh, Glasgow and surrounding areas as to what should be
included in a typical property purchase for the protection of both purchaser and
seller. Of course, they will often need to be varied to fit the circumstances of an
individual transaction and we will amend them as needed when submitting your
offer. There are several elements which you will need to consider when
submitting your offer, most importantly the price and the date of entry, i.e. the
date you wish to take over the property. You should also consider which, if
any, moveable items you may wish to include in the price. We will guide you
through all these decisions.
LENDERS
If, when purchasing a property, you require a mortgage, your solicitor will
normally be acting for both you and your lender. As such, any offer made will
be subject to the Home Report being acceptable to your lender or even subject
to an independent survey if this is required by your lender.
THE MISSIVES
If your offer is acceptable, we are likely to receive a verbal confirmation first,
followed by a written acceptance. The contract between a buyer and purchaser
for a property is created by the exchange of formal letters (“missives”). As your
agent we will discuss these fully with you, before signing for you and
exchanging letters with the selling agents on your behalf, where we will add and
remove terms from the contract as needed. Once a letter concluding the bargain
is sent, you will become legally obligated to purchase the property.
THE CONVEYANCING
As your solicitor, it is our job to ensure that you receive a full title to your
desired property. We will examine title to the property and report to you on the
important terms, the extent of the property and the rights and obligations
relating to the property. We will also check documents such as Building
Warrants, Planning Consents and Guarantees for any alterations or other work
previously carried out. The selling agent will produce title, mining and local
authority searches and we will advise you if any matters of importance arise.
The Home Report (Property Questionnaire) is intended to be a comprehensive
source of practical information with regard to the property and we will assume
that you have read this but if further information is needed we will investigate
for you. We will prepare your title deed and deal with all paperwork required
by your mortgage lender, if any. We will prepare the necessary Stamp Duty
Land Tax (SDLT) return for you and submit it on your behalf, though you will
be liable to pay any Land Tax due
SIGNING
In Scotland, properties are purchased through the exchange of missives sent on
behalf of a purchaser. There is therefore no formal document for you to sign.
However, you may be required to sign Stamp Duty Land Tax forms or a
Standard Security for your lender. We will ask you to visit us so that we can
explain the legal ramifications prior to signing. However, if required we can
instead have these posted to you.
SETTLING YOUR TRANSACTION
Prior to the date of entry we will order your mortgage loan direct from your
lender, provided that we have received their written instructions in time, and
will request from you sufficient funds to cover the deposit, SDLT, Land
Registration fees and our own fees and VAT. On the date itself we will arrange
for the purchase price to be paid over to the selling agents, normally by cheque
or, if required by the contract, by electronic transfer. The selling solicitor will
send us the title deeds and the deed transferring ownership into your name, and
will make available the keys for collection by prior agreement. We will
complete your ownership by registering your title with the Land Register of
Scotland. Once the registration process is complete and the deeds are returned
to us (a process which can be as short as one month or in extreme cases as long
as five years), we will arrange for a copy to be provided to you and the originals
sent to your mortgage lender for their safe keeping until you repay the
mortgage. If you do not have a mortgage we will be happy to hold the titles on
your behalf at no cost to you.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
A seller and purchaser cannot have the same agents as this would be a conflict
of interest. Therefore, if you are interested in a property we are selling we
would not be able to act for you. We would be happy to recommend and refer
you to another agent able to help you.