We’ve put together an easy to follow guide to what you need to know when buying a new home, including some of the hidden costs you may need to budget for.
1. How to sell your existing home.
If you’re an existing homeowner, you may need to sell that property before you can buy a new Redrow home. An estate agent is likely to charge you a percentage of the sale price to help you secure a buyer. Make sure to check what the estate agent’s fees cover. In some cases, photography and/or videography or listing your property on a portal such as Rightmove or Zoopla may be an additional cost. We can help to manage that process and cover the agent’s fees with our Help to Sell scheme. In some cases, you may even be able to part exchange your current property for a new Redrow home.
2. How to get a mortgage for a new home.
When you’re looking to take out a mortgage for a new home, the mortgage loan type and mortgage interest rates are important. Before you set your budget and start looking for a new home, remember to ask your financial advisor about, and factor in, arrangement fees, booking fees, broker fees, and valuation fees – some of which are linked to the size of the mortgage or the property value. Your lender will take into account things like your energy bills and any management fees (charged to ensure that shared facilities within your new neighbourhood are well maintained) when assessing mortgage affordability. We've put together a guide to everything you need to know about mortgages including how to calculate mortgage repayments and the impact of mortgage interest rates.
3. Instructing a solicitor to buy a new house.
A conveyancing solicitor is required to manage the legal and financial aspects of buying a new home, such as contracts, funding and searches. Your solicitor will check that we’re building your Redrow home in line with planning permission and building control requirements. They’ll also check things like if roads and sewers within the development will be adopted by the council and water authority or will be privately maintained. Your solicitor will liaise with your mortgage lender to ensure the funds have been approved and will be available when required. Once you’ve completed the purchase of your new Redrow home, they’ll confirm your ownership is recorded at the Land Registry.
The sales team can recommend local solicitors to help the purchase of your new home go smoothly. Discover our financial guide to buying a house.
4. Options and choices in a new home.
Dependent on the build stage of your Redrow home when you reserve you will be able to select from dozens of interior options and upgrades for your new home, from kitchen cabinets and worktops to flooring, tiles and many more. You’ll be able to make your selections via My Redrow or in the Redrow app. Some specification choices vary between locations, but we’ve put together a guide to what’s included as standard and what’s an extra in your new Redrow home.
5. What happens when you exchange contracts on a new home.
Exchanging contracts means you’re entering into a legal agreement to buy a new Redrow home. We'll usually aim to exchange contracts within 42 days of your reservation taking place. Your solicitor will manage the exchange of contracts on your behalf.
You will need to have building insurance in place from the date of completion.
Upon exchange of contracts is when you will pay your deposit, via your solicitor. The deposit is usually a percentage of the purchase price, which can vary depending on the value of your home and your mortgage loan to value (LTV).
6. What is Stamp Duty and when does it need to be paid?
Stamp Duty or to use its full title, Stamp Duty and Land Tax, (SDLT) is payable on most property purchases in England. It must be paid within 14 days of completion to HMRC. The equivalent if you’re buying a home in Wales is Land Transaction Tax (LTT) and is payable to The Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) within 30 days of completion.
The rate of tax you’ll pay will vary depending on if you’re a first time buyer, are buying an additional property or if you’re not a UK resident.
The Stamp Duty threshold for residential properties in England is £250,000. For first time buyers in England, the Stamp Duty threshold is £425,000. If you buy a property for less than the threshold, there's no SDLT to pay.
We’ve put together an easy to follow guide with everything you need to know about Stamp Duty including a Stamp Duty calculator.
If you’re buying a home in Wales and the property is your main residence and it’s priced below £225,000 you won’t need to pay any Land Transaction Tax. You can work out how much Land Transaction Tax you’ll have to pay on your new home using our calculator.
7. When will I be able to view my new Redrow home?
We know you’ll be eager to see your new home as it’s being built. We want to share that excitement and show you what goes into building your Redrow home. It’s why we offer hard hat tours so that you can have a behind the scenes tour of your home before it’s finished.
Hard hat tours usually take place at the “first fix” stage, when roof is on, the property is water-tight and the stairs, internal stud walls, electric cables and back boxes, and all plumbing pipework are in place.
We’ll also give you a home preview once your home is finished, around two weeks before you move in. We’ll demonstrate how all of the fittings and appliances work, helping you familiarise yourself with your new home - read out guide on buying within a property chain.
8. What happens on completion day?
Completion day is when you take legal ownership of your new Redrow home. On completion day the deeds to your new Redrow home will be passed to your solicitor. They’ll transfer the final purchase price, less the reservation fee and exchange deposit. You’ll be given the keys to your very own new Redrow home and be able to move straight in and start enjoying a better way to live.
9. Your Home File.
All our homeowners receive a tailored Home File via My Redrow and the Redrow app. It’s full of useful information about your new home with handy suggestions of what to do in the early days of living there. We also provide contact details should you need assistance, instruction manuals for your appliances and tips on using your heating and hot water system. Your Home File will also include details of your home’s warranty, local authority and utility companies. Discover our guide on new home warranties.
10. Homeowner Support.
Our customer service team will give you a call a couple of weeks after you’ve moved in to see if there’s anything we can help with. You can also contact them at any time should you need some assistance or log queries via the Homeowner Support section of My Redrow, where you’ll also find 100+ ‘how to’ videos to help our homeowners enjoy living in their new homes.
To help make moving simple, we’ve put together an easy to follow step by step guide to buying a home. To start your new home journey download the Redrow app or explore where we’re building.
