It is advisable to apply for a decision in principle from a mortgage lender and find a solicitor before you make an offer. In order to submit an offer, please do so by visiting our submit an offer page and select the property you wish to offer on.
Every transaction is different, and your position and the seller’s position needs to be taken into consideration before this question can be answered accurately. If the seller has already vacated the property and you have already secured a mortgage, exchange of contracts and completion can happen within an 8 week period.
However, if you need a mortgage and the seller is still in the property, the process will take slightly longer. You should expect up to 12 weeks to complete a purchase in this situation.
However, if you need a mortgage and the seller is still in the property, the process will take slightly longer. You should expect up to 12 weeks to complete a purchase in this situation.
When buying, selling or remortgaging you will need to pay conveyancing fees. Conveyancing fees cover the legal costs – the amount paid to the solicitor for handling the legal transfer of ownership, and the disbursements incurred – the amount paid to third parties for services such as surveys and searches. Fees differ depending a number of variables, including the value of the property, whether you are buying or selling, the local authority in which the property is located and if the property is leasehold or freehold. We can help by contacting several local solicitors. Please contact us for assistance.
When you buy a property in the UK over a certain price you have to pay land taxes.
Until 7th July 2020, in England, buyers didn't pay stamp duty on the first £125,000 and first time buyers up to £300,000. On 8th July 2020 the Government announced a stamp duty holiday to support the economy through the COVID-19 crisis which raised the threshold to £500,000. This change lasts until 31st March 2021.
Use our stamp duty calculator to get an idea of how much your land taxes will be on your purchase.
Until 7th July 2020, in England, buyers didn't pay stamp duty on the first £125,000 and first time buyers up to £300,000. On 8th July 2020 the Government announced a stamp duty holiday to support the economy through the COVID-19 crisis which raised the threshold to £500,000. This change lasts until 31st March 2021.
Use our stamp duty calculator to get an idea of how much your land taxes will be on your purchase.
As part of the conveyancing process, your chosen solicitor will carry out a full set of searches on the property you are purchasing and provide you with a comprehensive report to help you understand the results. Searches are designed to reveal any potential problems or issues with the property and the surrounding area, enabling you to make an informed decision on the current state of the property and to provide important information that would potentially influence the future use of the property. Several searches are conducted including a local authority search, an environmental search and a drainage search.
After the sale is agreed, the seller’s solicitor will draft a contract. Your solicitor will confirm the details of the property and perform searches. At the same time, your mortgage lender will need to conduct a mortgage valuation and send you a mortgage offer. Once all of this is complete, you will be ready to sign.
A list of fixtures and fittings will be agreed between the solicitors prior to the contract being signed. This clarifies what they intend to remove and what they are prepared to include in the house price. In some instances they may offer items for sale for the purchaser to consider, and some contents can be offered for inclusion as part of the negotiation of the purchase price.
The best time to sell your house will depend on your location, property type and circumstances, plus the state of the housing market. When the market is ‘hot’ and demand outstrips supply, homes sell quickly - especially if they are competitively priced. If the market is ‘cold’ and supply is plentiful, homes take longer to sell…and some do not sell at all. In most cases, the spring and Autumn months are the best time to consider selling your home.
There are many factors governing this. At VitalSpace, we will ensure that we present your home in the best possible light, which helps us to achieve quick property sales. Once the sale is agreed and the chain is complete, it typically then takes 10 -12 weeks with Prospect to get to Completion/Moving day.
It is of course advisable to obtain probate at the earliest opportunity to avoid any potential delay with the sale of the property but it is very much possible to instruct an estate agent to commence marketing. The Probate Registry is relatively straightforward and in most cases, you can run the sale of the property alongside the application for the grant of probate as both the conveyancing process and probate application take around the same period of time. You are however unable to exchange contracts until the Grant is obtained but we certainly recommend the marketing of the property for sale at the earliest opportunity.
An EPC is the only legal requirement when marketing your property. This must be ordered at the point the property goes live on the market. It provides information about a property’s energy usage and typical energy costs, alongside recommendations about how to reduce energy use and save money. It gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most effective) to G (least efficient). EPCs are valid for 10 years. VitalSpace will ensure an EPC is in place for all our clients.
We advise you to instruct a solicitor once your property is on the market before your buyer is found. This will allow your solicitor time to prepare all legal documents, in preparation for your sale and will help shorten the process between agreeing a sale and completion.
Once you have accepted an offer, VitalSpace have a dedicated sales progression team in place to help you throughout the sales process. You are also advised to keep in contact with your Solicitor on the progress of your sale and any purchase that you are also making. Our clients can also benefit from access to myProperty , our client login facility. This will also guide you through the sale progress.
We will market your property until it is sold, or until you ask us to take it off the market. At VItalSpace, we offer maximum flexibility to our clients with no contract tie in period or withdrawal fees.
A house sale or purchase becomes legally binding at exchange of contracts. The solicitor for both parties will hold signed contracts – if either party fails to honour the obligations, this will constitute breach of contract.
The sale of any property is governed by four principal factors - namely the price, the property market, the property itself and the agent. Assuming that all of these factors are in order, your property should sell. However, in the unlikely event that your property does not sell, or if your circumstances changes and you decide to withdraw your property from the market, VitalSpace work on a ‘No Sale/No Fee’ basis.
We take our customer's privacy and trust very seriously. All of our data is stored on secure servers with the latest and highest levels of encryption. We do not pass any information onto third parties and we will not share your information with potential buyers or sellers without your permission.
We comply fully with the Data Protection Act and follow GDPR best practices. You can find information about how we store and use your data in our privacy policy.
At VitalSpace, we take the quality of service very seriously. That's why we are proud to be members of the Property Ombudsman for Estate Agents in the UK. This allows us to ensure complete peace of mind and to focus on maintaining our excellent service levels.
We comply fully with the Data Protection Act and follow GDPR best practices. You can find information about how we store and use your data in our privacy policy.
At VitalSpace, we take the quality of service very seriously. That's why we are proud to be members of the Property Ombudsman for Estate Agents in the UK. This allows us to ensure complete peace of mind and to focus on maintaining our excellent service levels.
In order to be considered for a VitalSpace rental property, please kindly complete our new tenancy application form. Once your application has been accepted by our landlord, in order to prevent any further viewings, prospective tenants are required to pay a holding deposit.
The holding deposit is paid as soon as the tenant has agreed the offer, and it shows that the landlord that the tenant is serious about rent the property. The holding deposit is equal to one week’s rent. As soon as an offer is agreed and the holding deposit has been paid, we remove the property from our website, Rightmove and OnTheMarket.
When the tenancy agreement is signed, the holding deposit will be allocated against the first rental payment.
The holding deposit payment can be paid using a debit card via our online payment system.
When the tenancy agreement is signed, the holding deposit will be allocated against the first rental payment.
The holding deposit payment can be paid using a debit card via our online payment system.
If a guarantor is required to support your application a guarantor will need to be referenced and will also be named on the Tenancy Agreement and will be required to sign the Tenancy Agreement. If a guarantor cannot be provided, the tenant can choose to pay rent in advance; however this is subject to the landlord’s approval. The guarantor will need to complete an application form.
Tenants are responsible for all items in a rented property. Therefore, tenants should arrange suitable contents insurance which will cover items belonging to you and the landlord. VitalSpace work alongside a range of insurance firms who can arrange cover on your behalf at a very competitive rate. Please speak to your agent to arrange this cover.
After your offer has been accepted, you will need to pay your security deposit and your first month’s rent. Your security deposit is payable at the point of signing your Tenancy Agreement.
The amount you’ll need for a deposit will depend on the level of rent you’ll be paying. Your deposit will be the equivalent one month's rent + £100.00
We are also able to offer a Zero Deposit Scheme, which would mean that instead of providing a regular deposit you can pay a nominal monthly fee for liability insurance. This will cover an insurance policy which protects the property in the same way as a regular deposit. Not all properties are eligible for this scheme so please check with a member of the team before proceeding.
We are also able to offer a Zero Deposit Scheme, which would mean that instead of providing a regular deposit you can pay a nominal monthly fee for liability insurance. This will cover an insurance policy which protects the property in the same way as a regular deposit. Not all properties are eligible for this scheme so please check with a member of the team before proceeding.
Since 6th April 2007, all deposits taken by VitalSpace for assured shorthold tenancies have be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme called The Dispute Service (TDS). Within fourteen days of receipt of the deposit, the TDS scheme will issue you with a certificate confirming that your deposit has been registered.
The date on which you will move in forms a part of your offer, so in theory it is up to you! However, you’ll need to wait for the current tenant – if there is one – to move out, and you’ll need to complete the referencing process before you can move in.
The date you choose will then appear on your tenancy agreement, which will be signed by both you and your landlord. You will not be able to move in before this date, even if the property is vacant.
If you have a specific date or timescale, this must be advised at the application stage. No guarantees can be given as to a move in date until all references and checks have been satisfied.
The date you choose will then appear on your tenancy agreement, which will be signed by both you and your landlord. You will not be able to move in before this date, even if the property is vacant.
If you have a specific date or timescale, this must be advised at the application stage. No guarantees can be given as to a move in date until all references and checks have been satisfied.
There is no law against pets in rental properties, but whether you are allowed one is at the landlord’s discretion. If you have a pet, you should let our team know when you register, and they will be able to give you an idea of which of our landlords are more inclined to accept you. If you find a property you like, we would always recommend making an offer. Most landlords would consider accepting a pet at their property provided they receive a good offer – for the rental amount and contract length they were looking for – and if they like your profile as a tenant.
The tenancy agreement states that you are expected to take reasonable care of the property and its contents, which includes keeping it clean, not permitting it to fall into disrepair, and not damaging anything.
As a result, if you – or any of your guests – cause damage to your property, you will be liable to pay for this.
At the end of the tenancy, when your deposit is due to be returned, your landlord may claim money from this sum in order to pay for the reasonable costs of repairing any damage you have caused. You will be able to contest this figure, in which case the The Dispute Service (TDS) will decide the allocation of the deposit.
If the cost of the damages you have caused exceeds the value of your deposit, your landlord may take you to court in order to reclaim the full cost of the repairs to the property.
As a result, if you – or any of your guests – cause damage to your property, you will be liable to pay for this.
At the end of the tenancy, when your deposit is due to be returned, your landlord may claim money from this sum in order to pay for the reasonable costs of repairing any damage you have caused. You will be able to contest this figure, in which case the The Dispute Service (TDS) will decide the allocation of the deposit.
If the cost of the damages you have caused exceeds the value of your deposit, your landlord may take you to court in order to reclaim the full cost of the repairs to the property.
If you have a mortgage on the property that you wish to let out, you’ll need to obtain the lender’s permission before you start looking for a tenant. If you fail to do so, you’ll be in breach of the terms of your contract which could lead to your lender calling in the full value of the entire mortgage.
If you have a residential mortgage, you’ll need to obtain “consent to let” from your lender. To get this, you may need to show that your circumstances have changed – for example, if you have to move at short notice for work – or you’ll need to re-mortgage so that you have a buy-to-let mortgage.
For buy-to-let mortgages, your lender may have some conditions about the type of tenant or the length of tenancy permitted at the property, so you should also check these before coming to the market.
If you have a residential mortgage, you’ll need to obtain “consent to let” from your lender. To get this, you may need to show that your circumstances have changed – for example, if you have to move at short notice for work – or you’ll need to re-mortgage so that you have a buy-to-let mortgage.
For buy-to-let mortgages, your lender may have some conditions about the type of tenant or the length of tenancy permitted at the property, so you should also check these before coming to the market.
A tenancy deposit scheme is a government-backed service which protects deposits paid by tenants renting their homes on assured shorthold tenancies. There are three approved schemes – the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme – and it is compulsory for letting agents to register with one. VitalSpace is registered with The Dispute Service (TDS).
The function of the scheme is to protect the tenant’s deposit for the duration of the tenancy. For our managed landlords, VitalSpace will register the TDS within 14 days of receiving it, and it will remain there until the tenancy comes to an end.
At the end of the tenancy, provided that the tenant has met the terms of the tenancy agreement, paid their rent and bills, and haven’t damaged the property, the deposit will be returned in full.
However, we are able to make a claim against deposit if the tenant has broken the terms of the tenancy agreement, failed to pay their rent, or otherwise damaged the property. Should this happen, the tenant can either accept the deductions or appeal.
The function of the scheme is to protect the tenant’s deposit for the duration of the tenancy. For our managed landlords, VitalSpace will register the TDS within 14 days of receiving it, and it will remain there until the tenancy comes to an end.
At the end of the tenancy, provided that the tenant has met the terms of the tenancy agreement, paid their rent and bills, and haven’t damaged the property, the deposit will be returned in full.
However, we are able to make a claim against deposit if the tenant has broken the terms of the tenancy agreement, failed to pay their rent, or otherwise damaged the property. Should this happen, the tenant can either accept the deductions or appeal.
An inventory is not a legal requirement when you let out your property. However, we would strongly recommend that you have an inventory completed before the start of every tenancy, to record the condition of the property and its contents before your new tenants move in, as this is used as the primary source of evidence in any disputes about damages to the property if you wish to make any claims on the tenant’s deposit at the end of the tenancy.
You will be responsible for providing your tenants with a safe property free from health hazards.
You will need to ensure that the electrical system, and any appliances you are providing, are safe. An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is required by law. The EICR must be carried out by an experienced qualified electrician or approved contractor once every five years.
If there is any gas supplied to the property, you will also need to instruct a Gas Safe registered engineer to complete an annual gas safety check on every gas appliance and flue within the property.
You will also need to ensure that the property is as safe as possible from fire risks, by providing fire safe furniture, a smoke alarm on every floor and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a solid-fuel-burning appliance. If your property is a House in Multiple Occupation, you’ll also need to provide fire extinguishers, and each room will need its own fire alarm.
You will need to ensure that the electrical system, and any appliances you are providing, are safe. An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is required by law. The EICR must be carried out by an experienced qualified electrician or approved contractor once every five years.
If there is any gas supplied to the property, you will also need to instruct a Gas Safe registered engineer to complete an annual gas safety check on every gas appliance and flue within the property.
You will also need to ensure that the property is as safe as possible from fire risks, by providing fire safe furniture, a smoke alarm on every floor and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a solid-fuel-burning appliance. If your property is a House in Multiple Occupation, you’ll also need to provide fire extinguishers, and each room will need its own fire alarm.
The tenancy agreement states that the tenant is expected to take reasonable care of the property and its contents, which includes keeping it clean, not permitting it to fall into disrepair, and not damaging anything.
As a result, if your tenant – or any guest on the premises – causes damage to your property, the tenant will be liable to pay for this.
At the end of the tenancy, when the tenant’s deposit is due to be returned, you may claim money from this sum in order to pay for the reasonable costs of repairing any damage caused by the tenant. Please note that the tenant is able to contest this figure, in which case you will need to provide evidence of the damage they have caused. It is therefore strongly recommended that you have an inventory produced before the start of every new tenancy, so that you have a record of the condition of your property and its contents before your tenants moved in.
If the tenants used our Nil Deposit scheme, you will be able to claim for damages up to the value of six weeks’ rent – one week’s rent more than a traditional deposit – if you have evidence of the damages caused.
If the cost of the damages caused by the tenant exceeds the value of the deposit – or the maximum amount you can claim from the Nil Deposit scheme – you can take your tenant to court in order to reclaim the full cost of the repairs to your property. Again, an inventory will greatly assist you in proving the scale of damage caused.
As a result, if your tenant – or any guest on the premises – causes damage to your property, the tenant will be liable to pay for this.
At the end of the tenancy, when the tenant’s deposit is due to be returned, you may claim money from this sum in order to pay for the reasonable costs of repairing any damage caused by the tenant. Please note that the tenant is able to contest this figure, in which case you will need to provide evidence of the damage they have caused. It is therefore strongly recommended that you have an inventory produced before the start of every new tenancy, so that you have a record of the condition of your property and its contents before your tenants moved in.
If the tenants used our Nil Deposit scheme, you will be able to claim for damages up to the value of six weeks’ rent – one week’s rent more than a traditional deposit – if you have evidence of the damages caused.
If the cost of the damages caused by the tenant exceeds the value of the deposit – or the maximum amount you can claim from the Nil Deposit scheme – you can take your tenant to court in order to reclaim the full cost of the repairs to your property. Again, an inventory will greatly assist you in proving the scale of damage caused.
