Whether you are planning to buy your first home or next home, buying a property can take up a lot of
time and is an unfamiliar process. It is also a big decision, not just because of the large amount of money involved, but of course moving to a new home
is also a life changing experience. We have put together a collection of guides about different aspects of property buying that we hope you will find
useful and informative.
| About Estate Agents | Estate Agents provide services to people buying and selling property, however estate agents are normally paid exclusively by their client, who is the person selling the property.  |
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| About Solicitors | A solicitor is a type of lawyer. Solicitors provide expert guidance on the problems people regularly face, including buying and selling houses, drawing up wills, and dealing with relationship breakdown. |
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| About Surveyors | The main professional body for surveyors in the UK is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Members become qualified by examination and are known as Chartered Surveyors. |
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| Bridging Loans | A Bridging Loan is a temporary, short-term loan, which is secured on land or property (eg your existing home) and is therefore a type of mortgage. |
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| Buy To Let | Buying residential property to let out to tenants has become an established business for both individuals and companies, with many mortgage lenders offering products tailored for buy-to-let customers. |
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| Buy-to-Let Mortgage Advice | Buy-to-let mortgages enable you to take out a loan on one or more properties that you intend to purchase and then rent out as a business. |
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| Choosing a Mortgage | Mortgage lenders have devised many different mortgage products and there is a huge selection to choose from according to your individual requirements. |
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| Conservation Areas | A Conservation Area is designated as being of 'special architectural or historic interest', whose character or appearance is worth protecting or enhancing. Within a conservation area the local authority has extra controls over the demolition of property, minor developments and the protection of trees. |
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| Contracts & Completion | Exchanging contracts and completion of the property transaction are parts of the normal legal process and ensure that buying and selling property is carried out correctly and in accordance with the law. |
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| Conveyancing | Conveyancing is the legal process by which property ownership is transferred from the seller to the buyer. |
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| Debt Consolidation | Debt consolidation allows you repay all your existing credit card and other expensive borrowing and loans, so that all the current debts are combined together into one simple loan agreement. |
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| First Time Buyer | There is no fundamental difference between a "first time buyer mortgage" and any other mortgage, but there are specially tailored packages for first time buyers who often have difficulties in meeting the normal lending requirements. |
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| Gas & Electricity | The UK energy supply business is highly competitive and there are many gas and electricity suppliers to choose from. |
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| Glossary | Some of the technical terms that you may come across in the process of buying and selling property. |
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| Home Improvement Loan | A home improvement loan is a loan secured on your property. As the home owner, it frees you up to do whatever improvements you want on your property. |
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| Home Information Packs | The provision of a Home Information Pack (HIP) became a legal requirement for anyone who begins marketing a four bedroom home for sale in England & Wales from 1st August 2007. The government intends to extend this to all residential property as soon as possible. |
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| Home Insurance | Home insurance for buildings and contents covers you for financial loss caused by fire or other types of damage to your property. |
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| Homebuy | The government scheme Homebuy helps existing tenants of local authorities and housing associations to buy their own home on the open market. |
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| House Price Indexes | House Price Indexes are useful for keeping track of house prices and essential for anyone thinking of buying or selling their home, but there are many ways of measuring house prices and this can sometimes lead to confusion, so we have summarised the main UK House Price Indexes that are currently available. |
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| Income Protection | Income Protection insurance provides cover for redundancy or in case you have an accident or illness that prevents you from working. |
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| Joint Ownership | If you are buying a house jointly with someone else then you have to decide whether you will own the property as 'joint tenants' or 'tenants-in-common'. |
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| Life Insurance | Life Insurance is used to provide cover for the benefit of a person's spouse, partner or family in the event of their early death. |
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| Listed Buildings | When buildings are 'listed' they are placed on statutory lists of buildings of 'special architectural or historic interest' and owners may need to get special permission if they wish to carry out any alterations. |
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| Mortgage Advice | A professional mortgage adviser can guide you through the application process and help you to choose the right mortgage product to suit your personal circumstances, now and for the future. |
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| Mortgage Protection | Mortgage protection insurance can provide cover for your mortgage payments either in the form of income protection for temporary loss of earnings, or in the event of your early death or severe critical illness. |
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| Moving Checklist | If you are lucky you will have a gap of around one month between exchange of contracts and completion of the sale, which should give you just enough time to make all the arrangements. Here are some suggestions for making a checklist of things you need to do. |
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| Property Auctions | The main benefit of selling at auction is that you know precisely how much money you will receive and the exact date you will get it. It is also a public event, so if you need to ensure that the sale is conducted openly then an auction may be the best way to achieve this. |
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| Property Law | Under UK law, the ownership of real property can only be transferred from one person to another by means of a 'conveyance' and this legal process is referred to as 'conveyancing'. |
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| Stamp Duty Land Tax | Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax levied by the government that you have to pay when you buy any property in the UK. |
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| Tree Preservation Orders | A Tree Preservation Order provides protection for those trees specified in the order and makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot or wilfully damage or destroy a tree, without official consent. |
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