More Reading: Can a house sale fail after exchange? (What if either party pulls out?) Who decides completion date?

It is on this date that you are also liable to pay the Stamp Duty on the purchase price of your new home. After this date, your solicitor will notify the Land Registry of the transfer of ownership. The date of completion is when you physically own the property.

This is done between the buyers sellers solicitors. This is the last thing that happens in the house buying/selling process. It’s the point when ownership transfers to the buyer. More Reading: Can a house sale fail after exchange? (What if either party pulls out?) What is completion of contracts?Ĭompletion is when the balance of the payment for the property is passed over to the seller’s solicitor. Prior to exchanging contracts, either a buyer or a seller can pull out of the process at any time. Up to the point when you exchange contracts, the house buying process is not legally binding in English and Welsh law. For the exchange of contracts to be binding in law, there’s has to be whats referred to as ‘ consideration‘.Ĭonsideration in this case will be the ‘ exchange deposit‘, which is generally 10% of the purchase price. Once each party has signed the contracts and they have been exchanged between solicitors on either side, they are legally binding. It’s after the mortgage has been arranged where necessary, the surveys are complete if required and there is agreement to the terms of the contract. Under English & Welsh law exchange of contracts occurs after your solicitor has carried out all necessary searches. Where completion is the final step in the process. In England and Wales, exchanging contracts is the last but one step in a house purchase. In order to understand the question “ can you exchange contracts without a completion date“, it’s better to explain what ‘exchange’ and ‘completion’ are in relation to house buying. Even I was amazed when I did the calculations! What is exchange and what is completion when buying a house? Please also read this article to discover how you could save £71,475 on your next mortgage if you sell your house and rent before buying again. This is to enable the parties to get themselves ready for the moving, which has to happen on the day of completion. The time between exchange and completion can be whatever period of time the parties require and agree. Which is generally between 1 to 2 weeks after exchange. The final step in this process is the completion of the contract.

S stop before completion