All you need to know about completion day
Completion day is the day on which everyone is expected to pay the balance of the purchase monies and also to move and gain possession of the property they are buying.
As the transfer of the balance of monies can only take place on a day when banks are open and willing to undertake the funds transfer, this means that completion (and therefore the moving date) must take place on a working day and cannot take place at a weekend or on a bank holiday or public holiday.
There are two parts to completion:
- Legal completion: involving the transfer of funds and receipt by Seller’s conveyancer; and
- Practical completion: checking the property has vacant possession and is empty, and collection of keys by you.
On the day of completion, monies are transmitted throughout the chain by means of direct credit transfer from one Solicitor’s Bank to another. Once a Solicitor has instructed the Bank to transfer the funds, the matter is entirely in the hands of the Bank and the Solicitor has no control over when the funds are actually sent or when they are received. It is not until the funds are received that the keys will be released, and that the transaction is considered “completed”.
In most cases, the system works very well but there are occasions when problems arise with the banking system and the transmission of funds is delayed. This will have a knock-on effect throughout the chain. We must stress that once we have released funds into the system, we are totally reliant on the Banking System.
Once the Sellers Solicitors are in receipt of the funds, they will call us to formally complete the transaction. This can take up to 3 or 4 hours depending on the banking systems.
The Sellers Solicitors will also at that stage confirm completion to the Estate Agents and give them authority to release the keys to you.
You can then collect the keys from the Estate Agents.
The matter is then complete and you are now the legal owner of your new home.
For more information or to speak to a member of our team, call us on 01745 536030.
