Selling in England and buying in Scotland - any tips?

ccbrowning

Hi

We were planning on doing this earlier in the year, but then COVID happened so we put a lot of things on pause (as have many others, of course). However, we're now starting up our plans again.  Are there any major caveats around selling in England and buying in Scotland? I understand the system is a bit different up there, but I'm more interested in if it complicates my chain at all? Or, is it better to sell, rent for a bit whilst looking, and then buy the next home?

Thanks and hope you are all doing well.

DoaM

We did this 23+ years ago. Whether it was extreme caution, or whether it was the right thing to do, I don't know .... but we made sure that our house in England was sold (Completion date agreed) before we made an offer in Scotland. (Up here an accepted offer is binding on both parties whereas in England this only happens at Exchange of contracts. So if a buyer in England withdraws their offer before Exchange but you've made an offer in Scotland and had it accepted then you could be between a rock and a hard place.

As I said, whether this is 100% correct I don't know, but this was the cautious approach we took. Fortunately we were able to stay with the Outlaws up here for a few weeks before our (new build) home was ready.

[Deleted User]

ccbrowning said:

Hi

We were planning on doing this earlier in the year, but then COVID happened so we put a lot of things on pause (as have many others, of course). However, we're now starting up our plans again.  Are there any major caveats around selling in England and buying in Scotland? I understand the system is a bit different up there, but I'm more interested in if it complicates my chain at all? Or, is it better to sell, rent for a bit whilst looking, and then buy the next home?

Thanks and hope you are all doing well.

The house purchase in Scotland wouldn't really be part of your chain at all.  Do you have sufficient funds to purchase the property in Scotland, possibly paying the Additional Dwelling Supplement too, without completing the sale of your property in England?

ccbrowning

Lover_of_Lycra said:

ccbrowning said:

<snip>

The house purchase in Scotland wouldn't really be part of your chain at all.  Do you have sufficient funds to purchase the property in Scotland, possibly paying the Additional Dwelling Supplement too, without completing the sale of your property in England?

We have enough for maybe 12% down, but most of the money we have is tied up in our current house that is being sold. Thats why I was curious if renting is going to make it easier, as much as I abhor doing this and depending on the market it means we could maybe lose money whilst waiting, etc., plus we have a dog and that always seems to be a blocker.

[Deleted User]

ccbrowning said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

ccbrowning said:

<snip>

The house purchase in Scotland wouldn't really be part of your chain at all.  Do you have sufficient funds to purchase the property in Scotland, possibly paying the Additional Dwelling Supplement too, without completing the sale of your property in England?

We have enough for maybe 12% down, but most of the money we have is tied up in our current house that is being sold. Thats why I was curious if renting is going to make it easier, as much as I abhor doing this and depending on the market it means we could maybe lose money whilst waiting, etc.

I wouldn't want to try and tie up a house purchase in Scotland where the process tends to be a lot more efficient with a house sale in England so I'd rent.  The Private Rental Tenancies in Scotland don't have a fixed term so it's not as if you'd be tied into a 6 month contract when you were ready to purchase somewhere in Scotland.

davidmcn

DoaM said:

Up here an accepted offer is binding on both parties whereas in England this only happens at Exchange of contracts. So if a buyer in England withdraws their offer before Exchange but you've made an offer in Scotland and had it accepted then you could be between a rock and a hard place.

It's not quite as drastic as that (though commonly misunderstood to be) - nothing's binding until conclusion of missives, which is a fair bit down the line, and you can control not being committed until you have your sale tied up (or a mortgage offer etc). It does however tend to happen at an earlier stage than would be the case in England, and in general the whole process tends to be faster, so expect Scottish sellers to be impatient if you're waiting for an English chain to progress. Though obviously cross-border moves do happen and solicitors shouldn't be too baffled about how to handle it.

theartfullodger

PRT allows you to give notice after 28 days, perfect for your circumstances.

Tips?  Buy midge cream.  Avon skin so soft is bought in bulk by forestry workers

ccbrowning

Lover_of_Lycra said:

ccbrowning said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

ccbrowning said:

<snip>

The house purchase in Scotland wouldn't really be part of your chain at all.  Do you have sufficient funds to purchase the property in Scotland, possibly paying the Additional Dwelling Supplement too, without completing the sale of your property in England?

We have enough for maybe 12% down, but most of the money we have is tied up in our current house that is being sold. Thats why I was curious if renting is going to make it easier, as much as I abhor doing this and depending on the market it means we could maybe lose money whilst waiting, etc.

I wouldn't want to try and tie up a house purchase in Scotland where the process tends to be a lot more efficient with a house sale in England so I'd rent.  The Private Rental Tenancies in Scotland don't have a fixed term so it's not as if you'd be tied into a 6 month contract when you were ready to purchase somewhere in Scotland.

Ahh, thanks - i was looking at rentals and I mostly see "Letting Type: Long Term" on the listingsand this was throwing me off!

ccbrowning

theartfullodger said:

PRT allows you to give notice after 27 days, perfect for your circumstances.

Tips?  Buy midge cream.  Avon 

well, way back in the day I came from the States and mosquitos were a thing. However, houses had screen mesh covers for windows and all. Is this a thing in Scotland? We don't have them down here in England... So we just need to find someone that doesn't mind dogs.lol

DoaM

If you're planning to move to the Highlands or Argyle area the midges are a thing to be aware of. Most other places (central and coastal - east or west) tend to be OK. When I've stayed in places in the Highlands and Argyle I've never noticed mesh on the doors or windows.

As well as Avon, the other favoured option is Smidge.

ProDave

You will need TWO solicitors, one to handle the English sale and a Scottish one to handle the Scottish purchase.  They need to communicate well.

We solved the issue when we moved by buying a building plot which we were able to do in advance of selling the English house, and then moved into a static caravan on the site while we built the house.

The other option is to rent a house up here for 6 months to give you chance to fins and buy the Scottish house.