The Great Britain

The Great Britain is filled with a wide variaty of different landscapes. And containes 960 kilometers of beautiful coastlines. England, Scottland, Wales and Northen Irland are all unique countries with differant cultures, tradition and manners. We at City & Country Homes offers experiance in helping costumers find homes in Great Britain.

England is the largest country in Great Britain, London being the capital and also the largest city in Europe. The country offers some of the worlds most popular turists attractions. England is divided into nine regions, each region has their own personality, history and culture. From the many hills of Cotswold, the charming villages of Cornish to the lively and busy city of London and the dramatic scenery of the coastlines in the North East.

Buying houses and flats in England and Great Britain

The supply of houses in England and Great Britain contains mostly of Victorian style houses or townhouses, houses in Georgian- and Edwardian styles. There are a more wider range of flats, from older styles like the typical Victorian townhouses to ultra  modern flats in the big city of London. We at City & Country Homes have alot of experiance with helping costumers buy houses and flats in England and Great Britain.

There are two types of ownerships in England, ”Freehold” and ”Leasehold”. By freeholding a flat or a house the costumer will be owning the property, house or flat. With leaseholding, which is more common in the citys, the costumer agrees to a leasing contract which allows the costumer to reside in lodgement durring an agreed timeframe. The length of the leasing could vary, but the most common lenght of a lease is about 99 years. Eventually these types of contracts will be far less common and cease to exist within a matter of years.  For example, if you have a 99-year lease with 20 years to left on the lease, you could sell it at any time but it could also be hard to find a buyer if the lease contains less then 20 years left. Extending a lease is also possible but it could be very expensive.

It is important to check the ”Leasehold” contract before a purchese. If you decide to buy a property with a leasehold agreement, you have to make sure that you know what you sign on to before you make an agreenment or you might face problems with the lease. Therefor you should make sure before hand that the seller is extending the time of the lease and or sort out any issue of reparations with the arrendator of the building. This could also mean that the disposal could take longer then expected, but could make it easier to handle before moving in.

Leasehold contracts are often written in legal jargon and sometimes help from a legal aid could be fitting if necessary. To make sure that there are no unreasonable terms in the agreenment.

The first step in buying real astete is to hire a surveyor to inspect the property. If the inspectation report are not in terms with the agreement, you will be able to terminate the contract. If you decide on proceed with the purches, but the inspection report suggest reperations to the property with quotation on what needs to be fixed, you as a buyer should keep that into consideration so that you will have an estimated idea on the reparation costs. If the property requires alot of work, you as a buyer could renegotiate a new price with the seller. A surveyor fee usually runs between 500 to 1000 punds.

After your attorney has viewed over the leaseing agreement you will be asked to sign a buyers contract that is legaly binding you to your purches. Along with the buying contract, a deposite of 5% to 10% of the buying price is required.

A deed of transfer documents the transfer agreement and is signed by both parties (the buyer and the seller). An admittence date is negotiated and you will then be in escrow. After escrow you will be able to move in.

Possible fees

Attorney commissions, between 0,5% -1% of the sellingprice. Stamp duty  on Leisure estates 0 (up tp 120 000 punds)- 4%( over 500 000 pounds) on the selling price and regular estates 0 (up to 125 000 pounds) – 7% (over 2 million pounds) on the sellingprice. Deed directory between 0,04%- 0,15% on the sellingprice. Also simular to Italy, a commission fee with value added tax of 17,5% is required.

Other fees required by property owners.

An annual fee of rent for a leasehold site is a requirement for the owner of the property. The estate tax goes under the name of Council Tax and is estimated around 1 200 pounds a year.