Cavendish Brooke can cover most areas of the UK but we specialise in sourcing luxury properties in London and the Home Counties. We have chosen to specialise here as they are the areas of the UK that we know best and those that our clients most frequently ask us for. Our typical client buying in the UK is usually a non-UK citizen based overseas and is not familiar with the UK property market or buying process in this country.

As property finders we are not tax or legal specialists, but here is a brief outline of the buying process in the UK and the things to budget for when thinking about purchasing your property here (for more detailed information, please see the end of this section):

The Buying Process

The sequence below will help you gain an insight as to how the process usually works:

1 - Appoint a solicitor to conduct the necessary searches and ensure that all the legal requirements are met. We can recommend several UK based law firms who can assist you.

2 - Arrange your mortgage, or alternative finance, if you haven't already. We can help you with this. A lender will require a survey and will insist on instructing the valuation from their own approved panel of surveyors/valuers. We would always recommend that you obtain a survey, even if you are not using a mortgage to purchase the property.

3 - Pay a deposit to secure the property and for it to be taken off the market - although this is not mandatory for every sale. Once paid, the deposit is usually non-refundable if you change your mind. The deposit will usually be 10% of the purchase price.

4 - Check and sign the preliminary sale contract (exchange contracts with the vendor). Your solicitor will guide you through this. It is usually at this stage that the deposit becomes payable and both sides are committed to the transaction.

5 - Calculate all the costs involved including estate agents fees, taxes, valuation, notary, administration and legal fees.

6 - Wait for your solicitor to complete legal investigations such as checking that the owner has the authority to sell, whether there's any outstanding debt on the property and if it has the full and correct title deeds.

7 - Arrange a date for completion with your solicitor/conveyancer and pay the balance of the purchase price to him before that date.

8 - Pay for the property and applicable taxes. It is generally a safe guide to assume an additional 10% in fees to cover purchase costs, stamp duty, etc.

9 - Title will be registered at the Land Registry and transferred into your name.

Tax and Legal

We at Cavendish Brooke International are not tax experts, however, we will be happy to introduce you to professionals who will be delighted to assist you and answer any questions you may have on this subject. The information below is offered merely as helpful notes and we strongly recommend you employ the services of professional tax advisers.

The taxes that could be due are:

• Rental Income Tax
• Capital Gains Tax
• Municipal/Local Taxes
• Inheritance Tax

The UK legal system could be very different from that in the country in which you live and it is wise not to make assumptions. To avoid complications and pitfalls, we strongly recommend that you employ Independent legal advice. We will be very happy to put you in contact with a panel of solicitors and mortgage conveyancers who are totally independent of any agents or developers.

Additional Costs

As well as agreeing a purchase price, you need to be aware of the additional costs of buying a property. These include:

• Survey fees
• Valuation fees
• Stamp Duty Land Tax. This is payable on properties costing more than £125,000 and is at least 1% of the purchase price (in a limited number of areas, designated as 'disadvantaged', it is only payable on properties costing £150,000 or more)
• Land registry fee
• Local authority search
• Fees, if any, charged by the mortgage lender or someone who arranges the mortgage, for example, a mortgage broker
• The buyer's solicitor's costs
• VAT
• Removal expenses
• Any final bills, for example, gas and electricity, from your present home which will have to be paid when you move.

You should also take into account the running expenses of the property you wish to buy. These may include:

• Heating bills
• Community charge/council tax (in England and Wales)
• Water rates (in England and Wales)
• Ground rent, if the property is leasehold
• Service charges, if the property is a leasehold flat
• Insurance costs, including life insurance, buildings and contents insurance

Freehold and Leasehold property

Properties bought in the UK will either be on a Freehold or Leasehold contract. It is important to understand this distinction and what it will mean to you. The following information is a very general guide and should not be relied upon. In order to make a fully informed decision it would be wise to discuss this with your solicitor before commencing the purchase of UK property.

Freehold is a form of land ownership where the rights to the land last forever. Those rights can be given to someone else temporarily by what is called a lease.

Leasehold is the form of ownership by the person who holds the benefit of a lease so their rights will always have a time limit on them.

An apartment will almost always be subject to a lease, a house will normally be freehold. Buying a leasehold property, instead of a freehold property, means you have ownership for a certain length of time. The lease will stipulate this period, and say who is responsible for maintaining and repairing various parts of the property. You will normally pay a small amount of ground rent to the owner of the land (the freeholder). It is generally considered unwise to buy a property with a lease that has less than 50 years remaining.

Short and long term leasehold
Leases can be created for any length of time. Normally the term "leasehold" is applied to long leases. With flats a lease is often granted for 99 years or 125 years. For commercial premises a lease is more normally granted for between 5 years and 21 years. With both houses and flats a short-term lease for 6 or 12 months might be granted. These shorter leases of residential properties are usually called tenancies.