What happens on completion day when buying a home?

When buying a new home, particularly as a first-time buyer, you’ll hear lots of terms and phrases that you might be unfamiliar with – but you’ll absolutely need to know about completion day, which is the final, vital step in your home-buying journey. We talk you through what happens on completion day, what you’ll need to do to prepare, and how to handle any potential hiccups that could happen before you get the keys to your new home.

What is completion day?

As a home buyer, completion day is the most exciting day of all – because it’s the day when the property legally becomes yours, and you can collect your keys and start moving in.

At the point of completion the ownership of the house is transferred from the seller to the buyer. It’s the culmination of many steps in the home-buying process, and before completion can go ahead, your solicitor must carry out a number of tasks which we’ll outline below.

The date of completion needs to work for the buyer and seller, and so both parties will agree a date, via their solicitors, in advance so that everyone can ensure things are legally and financially in place for completion to go ahead.

The steps leading up to completion day

The timeline from reserving your new-build home, or having an offer accepted on an existing property, to moving in is typically a few months long. While the exact steps in the house-buying process can vary depending on your individual circumstances, here are the ones you can expect to happen before you arrive at completion day:

• Instructing a solicitor: you can’t purchase a home without a solicitor to handle all of the legal aspects for you, so find one that you trust and is experienced in property, or a specialist in conveyancing, and ‘instruct’ them to work for you. You may need to pay an upfront fee for their services, with the remainder due when your purchase is complete.
• Mortgage application and valuation: whether or not you choose to work with an independent mortgage advisor, you’ll need to make your formal mortgage application. Your lender will carry out a mortgage valuation to ensure that the property is worth the amount of money that you want to borrow from them.
• Draft contracts, property details, and searches: your solicitor will work with the seller’s solicitor to draw up a draft contract, and to confirm the details of the property and what is included in the sale. Your solicitor will also perform Land Registry and local authority searches, checking for local planning proposals and flood risks, among many other things.
• Mortgage offer: you’ll receive your mortgage offer from your lender, which will also outline any terms and conditions of your mortgage, which will be checked by your solicitor.
• Buildings insurance: it is typically a condition of getting a mortgage that you have buildings insurance in place on your new home when you exchange contracts, as mortgage lenders want to safeguard their investment in the property.
• Sign contracts and agree dates for exchange and completion: your solicitor will let you know when it’s time to sign your contracts, and you can mutually agree dates for exchange and completion with the seller’s solicitor.
• Exchange of contracts: the penultimate step before a property purchase can be completed, you’ll exchange contracts with your seller via your respective solicitors, making the transaction legally binding. The deposit is paid to the seller’s solicitor, and a date is agreed for legal completion to take place – usually at least a week later.
• Pay your solicitor or conveyancer: you’ll typically pay the outstanding solicitor fees when the purchase of your home is complete, and expect to receive the final bill shortly before this.

What happens on completion day?

On completion day, your solicitor will transfer the money for the property that you’re buying to the seller’s solicitor. If you’re also selling a property, your buyer’s solicitor will transfer the money for their purchase to your solicitor – this will happen first if you’re relying on the funds from the sale of your house to make your onward purchase.

Once your seller’s solicitor confirms that they have received the money for your purchase, the house is officially yours and you can collect your keys, typically from the estate agent if you’re buying a second-hand home, or your new build development sales office. Congratulations, now you can start moving in!

Bear in mind that completion day will always take place on a weekday and during usual business hours, although the exact time of completion will depend on where you are in the chain. The higher up you are in the chain, the later in the day you’re likely to complete, but you’ll usually need to be out of your current home (if applicable) by 1pm so that you can hand in your keys to your buyer’s estate agent.

The role of your solicitor or conveyancer

Even if you’re a cash buyer who doesn’t require a mortgage on your new home, instructing a conveyancing solicitor to take care of the legal side of purchasing your property, conducting all of the necessary searches, and transferring the ownership will ensure you don’t get any nasty surprises further down the line.

Solicitors work on your behalf to handle many important aspects of buying a home, including:

• drawing up, negotiating and exchanging contracts;
• performing Land Registry searches and registering you as the property owner;
• reviewing your mortgage offer and collecting and transferring money for the purchase;
• filing your stamp duty land tax return with the government and making any payment due, within 14 days from completion.

Your solicitor or conveyancer will also provide you with legal guidance throughout the crucial stages of your home-buying journey, which may prove invaluable should you hit any unexpected bumps in the road.

What you need to do on completion day

If you’re selling as well as buying on completion day, you’ll need to be completely packed up and moved out of your current property as early as possible – but usually by no later than 1pm – so that you can hand in the keys to your estate agent for your buyer. You’ll need to arrange in advance for your moving company to arrive in plenty of time for you to get all of your belongings out of the house.

You won’t need to pay anything yourself on completion day, as the financial aspects are being handled by your solicitor, who will ensure that your seller’s solicitor receives the purchase funds as soon as possible so you can collect your keys.

What are some issues that can happen on completion day?

It’s reassuringly rare for things to go wrong on completion day, as conveyancing solicitors are experts in the process and can usually anticipate and mitigate any potential problems. However, whilst uncommon, issues can arise and so it’s wise to be aware of what these might be.

On completion day, the funds to purchase the property must be released by the buyer and/or mortgage lender, to the buyer’s solicitor in a timely manner, so that the payment can be processed promptly and transferred to the solicitor’s bank account by the end of the business day.

If you’re in a chain, those at the bottom of the chain should aim to complete as early as possible in the day so that those above have plenty of time to complete on their own purchases, as large sums of money are being moved around from buyers to sellers and banks need time to process each payment.

If the money for a purchase isn’t received by the seller’s solicitor by the end of the day, the buyer can’t complete until the next working day – which can have a knock-on effect on anyone above them in the chain. If you’re the buyer, you won’t be able to get the keys to your new home as soon as you thought, which can be really stressful if all of your belongings are in a removal van, and if you’re unable to move out of your current home you could be subject to a fine.

There isn’t much you can do if delays happen, but your solicitor will endeavour to keep you updated throughout the day for your peace of mind. It’s worth noting that of the advantages of buying a new-build home is that you won’t have anyone above you in the chain, so you won’t be delayed on completion day by somebody else waiting to sell.

What happens after completion day?

After you’ve completed on the purchase of your new home, you’ll have your keys and can move in – but don’t forget about these important things you’ll also need to do:

• Take meter readings at your new home and submit them to the suppliers
• Update your address details with your utility suppliers, insurance companies, bank(s), and the government, including HMRC and the DVLA, plus the your local authority and the electoral roll
• Set up a temporary mail redirection with the Royal Mail to ensure all important post comes to your new address – and you have time to update it!

Your solicitor will still have work to do following completion day too, as they’ll need to file your stamp duty land tax (SDLT) return and make any necessary stamp duty payment to the government on your behalf. They’ll also register your property in your name with the Land Registry.

Tips to help your completion day go smoothly

We have a few tips and useful pointers that will help your completion day run smoothly, and with as little stress as possible.

• Keep your phone on, charged, and with you at all times so you can quickly answer any calls from your solicitor.
• Book your removals company in plenty of time ahead of completion day and make sure you’re clear on when they’re going to arrive, and whether you’re expected to pack anything yourself.
• If you’re moving on completion day and you have children and/or pets, make a plan for someone you trust to take care of them on the day to ease the stress on everyone.
• Eat a good breakfast, stay hydrated, and have plenty of filling snacks at hand to keep your energy levels up throughout the day. Completion day can be exhausting and with so much happening, you might forget to eat.
• Pack a moving day box with all of the essentials you’ll need straight away in your new home, such as your kettle and mugs, toilet roll, and a change of clothes. Keep this box with you at all times and don’t let the removals team take it!

We have lots more useful information to help you along your new home journey, including a guide to understanding some of the most confusing house-buying terminology, and the questions you should ask when searching for your ‘forever home’. When you’re ready to start the search for your perfect new build property, visit Bellway to find your nearest development of brand-new homes by an HBF 5 star housebuilder.

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