Mortage payments

erlando1

This has most likely been asked a lot on here but a lot of the things I have read seem to go around the world to answer a question. I am a first time buyer so just trying to get my head around things so any help would be appreciated.

If you sign the contracts and get the keys for a house on 31st Feb, when will the first and second mortgage payment be taken?

Also whilst I am asking questions, am I right in saying that utility bills and council tax won't be taken until you have been in the house for a month?

lonestarfan

erlando1 wrote: »

This has most likely been asked a lot on here but a lot of the things I have read seem to go around the world to answer a question. I am a first time buyer so just trying to get my head around things so any help would be appreciated.

If you sign the contracts and get the keys for a house on 31st Feb, when will the first and second mortgage payment be taken?

Also whilst I am asking questions, am I right in saying that utility bills and council tax won't be taken until you have been in the house for a month?

There is no such dates as 31 Feb. Perhaps you mean 31 Jan.
I have found with the last two mortgages I've taken that they've asked me what date I want my instalment to be paid. This indicates to me that each lender has their own way. So check your mortgage offer as it may say in there. You will also get a completion letter and it will say in there. Sometimes instalment one is higher than instalment two due to accrued interest from completion to the end of the month. Again the offer or the completion letter will specify.
Council tax will depend on when you inform them and complete the DD so the sooner you get to them the sooner you start paying which means you keep up to date. Ring them or go online. They will send you a bill. I always prefer to ring them tbh as I like to keep my affairs in order and start paying asap.
Utility bills will be the same. Go on line or phone them. They will take a bit of time to get your DD set up.

erlando1

My head is so mashed over it thinking of when money is going out that I think I am creating my own dates. Good catch though.

Thanks for that info. To be honest we haven't had a completion date yet but been told it could be as soon as end Feb. We are just trying to plan ahead but without being told a date it is hard to know when the payments would be taken. Just wondered if it was as simple as first payment 2 weeks after we move in (because the delay in waiting for the direct debit to be set up) , 2nd payment 2 weeks after that and then monthly from then.

AlexMac

In my experience of a couple of recent purchases, you can quite easily stall the Utilities and Council Tax for a couple of months by being a bit slow when they write to 'the new occupier' - useful if cashflow's a bit tight in the aftermath orf the move? British Gas seem particularly flexible, and also will adjust the DD sum (i.e not screw you by setting this so high that you build up a credit and effectively 'lend' them money) if you ask nicely. The 'Utility Warehose' who I also recently inherited had a call centre where you could apologise for delay when their chase-up letters get a bit pink. And one Council whose area I moved to took weeks to sort out an initial part-year bill anyway, 'cause they were relatively inefficient!
Yes, this maybe sounds shabby tactics, and I wouldn't screw over a small operator, like a shop or contractor, in this way, but I think big utilities are fair game- I've given them thousands in profits over my lifetime and they're never fast to refund overpayments when the shoe's on the other foot!

Elfbert

With my mortgage I was asked what date I wanted to pay - I opted for the 1st of the month. I completed my purchase around about the 20th of July, but didn't pay anything until 1st September - although obviously that was a larger payment! I guess they just aren't that efficient in managing to sort everything out within ten days, with the volume of business they have to deal with.

Thrugelmir

Elfbert wrote: »

I guess they just aren't that efficient in managing to sort everything out within ten days, with the volume of business they have to deal with.

Direct debits require 10 days notification of the payment being taken alone.