The average time between instructing your solicitor and moving in is 10-12 weeks but many transactions proceed more quickly and some, more slowly!

To avoid the risk and cost of owning two houses people usually elect to buy and sell simultaneously. A number of linked transactions therefore arise, each dependent on the other and exchange of contracts must take place simultaneously in all transactions meaning that the speed of progress is dictated by the slowest link in the chain.

If you are selling you need to budget for estate agent’s fees and legal fees. If you are buying you need to budget for legal fees and disbursements. “Disbursements” are payments made by your solicitor to others, such as stamp duty, land registry fees and search fees. You also need to budget for lender’s valuation fees and your own survey fee.

If you are selling speak to your solicitor before you put your house on the market. If you are buying make contact before making an offer.

Do some initial research before you view properties. There are thousands of different mortgages on the market and you need time to find out which one is best for you. You can obtain a mortgage in principle from most lenders before finding a particular property.

For the best result I would use a Mortgage Broker who can look at the whole of the market for you such as https://firstinmortgages.co.uk/

Once contracts are exchanged a legally binding agreement arises and neither party can back out. Until that point either party may withdraw.

A completion date is the date on which you move into your new property and vacate the old one. The agreed completion date is written into the contract and exchange of contracts is the point at which the seller and buyer agree to commit themselves unconditionally to the transaction.

Gazumping is where a seller accepts a higher offer before contracts are exchanged with the buyer. There is little that can be done to prevent a seller from gazumping although a lock out agreement can sometimes prevent this from happening.

It is a set of standard enquiries that your solicitor raises with the local council. It relates solely to the property itself and would not, for example, reveal proposals to develop or extend neighbouring land or property. The local council charge a fee “the local search fee” which your solicitor collects from you and pays to them when the search is done.

Enquiries can be made with the local planning office to check whether planning permission has been granted.

Yes. Builder’s solicitors usually pre-package legal work and often the developer will allow you to exchange contracts conditionally upon the sale of your own property. Speak to your solicitors as soon as possible to agree a timetable for exchange.

It is possible to apportion the price between the bricks and mortar and the fixtures and fittings. There are a number of rules but the basic one is that any apportionment has to be an accurate reflection of the true price of the items involved.

Property or lease premium or transfer value                        SDLT rate

Up to £125,000                                                                                Zero
£125,001 to £250,000                                                                     2%
£250,001 to £925,000                                                                     5%
£925,001 to £1.5 million                                                                10%
Above £1.5 million                                                                           12%

You can calculate how much stamp duty will be due by using this link – www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro