FAQs

Residential Property

Yes, you can still use your Help to Buy ISA to get the bonus, even if your partner has previously owned a home. The Help to Buy ISA eligibility is based on an individual basis, not as a couple, provided you have never owned a property anywhere in the world. Note that while you can use your ISA and claim the bonus, you will likely not qualify for first-time buyer stamp duty relief because your partner has owned a home before, unless you purchase in your sole name.

Let your solicitor know you are using a Help to Buy ISA as soon as possible, ideally when instructing them or immediately after your offer is accepted. You must close the ISA and provide the closing statement to your solicitor to claim the 25% bonus. Do not simply withdraw your money, or you may lose the bonus; you must specifically request to “close” the account for a property purchase.

There are no direct fees to open or use a Help to Buy ISA, but commonly your solicitor will often charge a small additional administrative fee (usually around £50 to £100 plus VAT) to process the paperwork required to claim the bonus and request the bonus. The bonus itself cannot be used for the initial property exchange deposit, only the final completion so you will still need to find deposit funds usually amounting to 10% of the purchase price (although the savings in the ISA can be used towards this).

If you never use your Help to Buy ISA to buy a first home, you will not lose your savings, but you will miss out on the 25% government bonus which can only be used for the purchase of your first home. The money remains your own and you can withdraw it at any time for any purpose.

You can no longer open a Help to Buy ISA however, if you have an existing account, you can save up to £200 a month until November 2029.

A Help to Buy ISA is a government-backed, tax-free savings account designed to help first-time buyers purchase a home by providing a 25% bonus on savings. Although new accounts closed on 30 November 2019, existing savers can contribute up to £200 per month until November 2029 and claim a bonus of up to £3,000 until November 2030. You can save a maximum £200 per month (except the first month when you would have been permitted a £1,000 saving) and you need to have saved at least £1,600 to get a bonus (minimum £400). The maximum bonus available is £3,000, earned on savings of £12,000.

These are a Bankruptcy Search against you (required only if you are having a mortgage) and a Land Registry Search. This search gives you priority at Land Registry to complete registration of your purchase without any further entries on the title. These searches are only undertaken just before completion.

This is your moving day. Generally speaking, the keys to the property should be at the Estate Agent’s by 2pm.

Although the contract provides that the property is to be insured by the buyer from exchange, the seller must continue their insurance cover until legal completion to ensure they are fully protected in case of a claim.

The pre-contract report is prepared by your lawyer and includes copies of all relevant documents received with an explanation as to what they are and how they may affect the property. You should ensure that you read this in full and let us know if you have any issues to raise.

These will be applied for on receipt of the contract pack and generally take 2-4 weeks to be returned. These consist of a Local Authority, Drainage Environmental, and Chancel Search.

Most properties are sold with vacant possession which means the seller must have vacated on or before the latest time for completion. There must be no one remaining in occupation and the seller must, as a general rule, clear the property of all goods and rubbish except those included in the sale.

Sewer and drain searches confirm whether or not the property is on mains drains and water and also usually provides a plan showing any mains services or drains running under the property. It will show whether there is a separate charge for surface water drainage from the property.

The Local Authority Searches contain questions asked of the Local Authority about the property you are buying to include the registers of Planning and Building Regulations; Tree Preservation Orders and Public Highways. This search only relates to the property you are buying and will not, for example, show proposed development in the locality.

Environmental searches contain useful information on previous known contamination of the land, whether the property is affected by radon gas and whether it is within 250m of a flood plain.

The contract pack is sent to the buyers solicitor and will contain the Contract, Land Registry Title, Property Information Form and the Fittings and Contents form.

This document is between the Landlord and the property owner which allows the owner to occupy the property for a specific period of time. This is generally for 99, 125 or 999 years. If the term of the Lease drops too low (anywhere from 50-70 years), it will need to be extended.

Whether selling or buying this needs to be signed before completion by all parties to the transaction. Upon completion this together with any other Deeds and documents are sent to the Buyer’s lawyers. The registration or change of the title at Land Registry cannot take place without this Deed.

This is the point where the contracts are made legally binding and the agreed completion date is fixed. Once exchanged, you will not be able to withdraw from the contract.

The contract is the legal document setting out details of the property to be bought or sold; the parties involved; the agreed sale or purchase price and any special terms and conditions previously agreed.

After checking the documents within the contract pack, enquiries may be raised to deal with any outstanding issues on the property title or any of the documents supplied.

The contract which is currently in use provides for the buyer to insure the property from exchange of contracts. The insurance must (where a mortgage is taken out) be checked by your lawyer before exchange to ensure it complies with your mortgage offer conditions.

In simple terms, a property chain is a line of buyers and sellers who are all linked together because each sale depends on another.

For example:

Your buyer needs to sell their house to buy yours.
The person they’re buying from needs to buy another house.
And so on.

It becomes a “chain” because everyone has to complete on the same day for the transactions to work smoothly.

If one person pulls out, has mortgage issues, or faces delays, it can affect everyone else in the chain.

A chain-free sale means there’s no linked transaction — for example, a first-time buyer purchasing from someone moving into rented accommodation — which can make things quicker.

Instruct a conveyancer early
Do this as soon as you decide to market or event better beforehand so we can prepare paperwork in advance and identify and gaps.
Complete property forms promptly
Fill out the TA6 (Property Information Form) and TA10 (Fixtures & Contents) accurately and provide and relevant supporting documents.
Gather key documents
Have planning permissions, building regulation certificates, warranties, lease details (if leasehold), and any guarantees ready.
Check your mortgage position
Confirm your outstanding balance and any early repayment charges.
Resolve issues early
Boundary disputes, missing certificates, or short leases can delay or derail a sale if not addressed upfront or even better in advance of listing.
Be realistic on timescales
Chains, enquiries, and mortgage approvals often affect completion dates — flexibility helps.

Get your finances in order
Secure a mortgage agreement in principle and budget for extras (stamp duty, legal fees, surveys, searches).
Instruct a conveyancer early
Choose a regulated firm (e.g. authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority) as soon as your offer is accepted — or even before.
Do your due diligence
We will: Review the contract pack, order searches (local authority, drainage, environmental and chancel), check title and boundaries, raise enquiries with the seller’s solicitor
Understand the property type
Leasehold, freehold, or share of freehold all carry different obligations — especially with ground rent and service charges.
Don’t skip the survey
A lender’s valuation is not a structural survey.
Be responsive
Delays often happen because of unanswered enquiries, ID checks, source of funds documentation

There is no fixed timescale as there are often many moveable parts which one person is not in control of for example a delay in a mortgage offer being issued or search results revealing an adverse entry which needs to be resolved before matters can progress.

As soon as you have identified a property you wish to purchase. Your local solicitor will have specialist knowledge regarding properties in their local area for example where a freehold property is located on an estate which carried an obligation to make a regular financial contribution towards a freehold management company.

As soon as possible. Getting your paperwork completed, ID verified and any missing planning documents etc located in advance saves time and speeds up the process once a buyer has been found.

Yes however there will be additional cost implications associated with this, including but not limited to higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Property Litigation

Written statement setting out basic information about the tenancy and the parties’ responsibilities, while maintaining the ability to adapt and agree these terms with the new tenant.

The intention is to create a new Privately Rented Property Portal to help landlords understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance and for tenants to better understand the law and their rights. All landlords would be required to register so that tenants will have information about a landlord before agreeing to enter into a new tenancy.

The government plans to introduce a new Private Rented Sector Ombudsman which landlords ‘may’ have to join. The Ombudsman should provide a fair and binding resolution to many landlord and tenant issues in a way that is less costly, quicker and less adversarial than the current court system.

Every tenant now has the right to request to keep a pet, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. Landlords will be allowed to require pet insurance to cover any damage to the property.

Landlords will no longer be able to use rent review provisions under the tenancy agreement but will have to follow the s13 statutory procedure allowing rent increases only once a year to market prices, with an increased 2 month notice period. Tenants will have the ability to challenge the rent through the First Tier Property Tribunal if they believe it to be excessive.

New grounds are going to be introduced such as when a landlord wants to sell the property or have close family members move in. There will also be a ground for persistent rent arrears to stop tenants paying off the arrears just before the possession hearing, together with provisions to make it easier to evict anti-social tenants.

At present landlords are able to serve a s21 notice giving a tenant two months’ notice to vacate the property and no fault by the tenant needs to be proven. The Bill abolishes this procedure so that any landlord wishing to evict a tenant must prove one of the grounds under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 instead. Tenants however, will be able to move out upon giving 2 months’ notice to the landlord.

All tenancies which would be assured tenancies or assured shorthold tenancies will become periodic tenancies, with a rent period not exceeding one month. Landlords will no longer be able to offer a fixed term tenancy.

Debt Recovery

There is usually nothing wrong in either party trying to engage in informal discussions prior to the instruction of legal representatives. That being said, seeking legal advice as early as possible is a sensible step to ensure that you fully understand what you are legally entitled to under the terms of any agreement (verbal or written) against which payment is being sought. In addition, a solicitor demand often encourage payment of the debt.

The Civil Procedure Rules has a Practice Direction setting out the requirements and what must be considered before a formal court action is issued against another party. Those requirements will differ depending on whether the debt is between individuals or businesses. We start by sending a Letter before Action to the debtor and often that results in payment. If settlement cannot be achieved pre-action, a court claim will be necessary. A Judgment may be entered against the debtor and various enforcement options can be considered including bailiffs, a charging order or serving a statutory demand.

In the majority of cases, a creditor will have six years under the Limitation Act 1980 to commence proceedings against the debtor for an unpaid debt. The limitation period will run from the date of the cause of action (usually, the date the debt became due). If a claim is not brought within this period, it will become statute-barred and can no longer be pursued through the civil courts.

Making a Will

Each person has their own Will, there is no such thing as a joint Will although the Wills may contain the same provisions.

The best way to leave your house to your children is with your Will. If you give the property to your children during your lifetime it can create numerous problems, one being a lifetime gift and tax implications, deliberate deprivation and capital gains. Leaving your house to your children in your Will avoids any tax implications and does not leave your occupation in the property vulnerable.

Depending on the type or how many changes you wish to make, you can give us a call and we can either make you a new Will or tweak the current Will to reflect your changes.

We often suggest reviewing or reading your Will every three years to ensure that the wishes are still the same. You should always update your Will if yours or a beneficiary’s circumstances change such as becoming disabled, winning the lottery, or a beneficiary dying before you.

At our firm, we keep the original Will in our fire safety strongroom and do not charge for this service.

Every clause in a Will is important. The residue gift is one of the most important gifts as this determines who ultimately benefits. If this is incorrectly drafted or worded wrong, it can cause significant problems and it could result in someone else benefiting.

During your lifetime you can make gifts and, if you make a gift which exceeds your annual allowances, the value of the gift can come back into your estate for tax purposes. You are allowed to gift £3,000 per year so if for example, Emily gifts £7,000 to Tim, if Emily dies within 3 years of that gift, the £4,000 will be included in Emily’s estate for tax purposes.

Your estate will be left subject to the intestacy rules. This means that there is no controlling who benefits from your estate and can of course be an estranged family member.

Whilst you do not need a solicitor to make a Will, it is strongly advisable that you do have a professional draft the Will. We can ensure that your exact wishes are carried out because we know the jargon and the correct wording. We have seen many times how a simple incorrect word or phrase can cause problems.

Contact details

Peterborough	01733 882800
Oundle	01832 273506
Huntingdon	01480 411224

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Hunt & Coombs LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership registered in England and Wales, Registration no. OC320243, VAT no. 120013160. Hunt & Coombs LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with Registration no. 443035. A list of members is available at Westpoint, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6FZ.

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