The Buying Process

What happens after you reserve your new home

Once you’ve reserved your new home with Southern Housing, you’ll be introduced to your Sales Progressor. They’ll be your main point of contact throughout the buying journey, helping you move smoothly from reservation to exchange of contracts.

Your Sales Progressor will:

Guide you through the key stages of the home buying process 🏡🏢
Keep in regular contact with you, your solicitor, and our legal team 📧📞
Help ensure you stay on track to meet your exchange deadline ✅🤝

If you’ve chosen a solicitor from our recommended panel, we’ll be able to work closely with them to keep things moving. These solicitors are experts in Shared Ownership conveyancing, understand the development you're buying on, and may already be progressing enquiries for other buyers on the same site.

If you decide to use a solicitor who isn’t on our panel, please be aware that we won’t be able to liaise with them directly or follow up on your behalf if delays occur. This can slow down the process, especially if they’re unfamiliar with Shared Ownership.

The same applies to mortgage advice. If you choose one of our panel financial advisors, we can stay in the loop with your mortgage application, chase updates when needed, and help make sure your mortgage offer is in place on time.

We know that sometimes delays can happen during the buying process, and they’re not always within your control. If you need a little more time to reach exchange, we may be able to offer an extension in exceptional circumstances. Just ask your solicitor to get in touch with ours to make the request.

Costs of buying your new home

When buying your new home with Southern Housing, it’s important to be aware of the upfront costs involved – beyond your deposit. These costs are a standard part of the home buying process and help ensure everything is legally and financially in place.

Here’s a breakdown of the costs to expect when buying your home with Shared Ownership:

Reservation fee: A £500 fee payable to reserve your chosen property. This amount is later deducted from your final completion payment via your solicitor.
Solicitor fees: Legal fees for managing the conveyancing process. These vary depending on your chosen solicitor.
Mortgage arrangement fees: Costs charged by your lender to arrange your mortgage.
Valuation fee: A fee for the valuation of your new home, required by your mortgage lender.
Rent in advance: You’ll need to pay rent and service charges from the day you move in, to the end of that month, plus one additional month. This payment is collected by your solicitor before completion and is paid to Southern Housing on the day you complete.

In addition, your solicitor will collect the following charges on our behalf at completion:

Engrossment of Lease and Counterpart – £150.00
Mortgage approval – £90.00
Notice of mortgage – £60.00

These costs will be explained to you in more detail by your solicitor during the purchase process.

Step-by-step guide from reservation to completion for your new home

There are a few important steps to complete before you get the keys to your new home. We’ve broken it down into clear stages to help you understand what to expect and when.

Here’s what the Shared Ownership home buying process looks like after you reserve:

1) Choose and instruct your solicitor 📝

Completing any initial paperwork
Supplying ID documents
Paying a deposit on account

2) Apply for your mortgage 💷

Submit your mortgage application as early as possible. Your lender will arrange a property valuation, and the valuer will contact us directly to arrange this.

3) The Memorandum of Sale is issued 📄

We’ll send a Memorandum of Sale to your solicitor and ours. This document includes important details about the sale – it’s vital that your mortgage offer matches the information on it (e.g. deposit amount and mortgage term).

We’ll also send you a Direct Debit form to set up your rent account for when you move in.

4) Legal documents are sent to your solicitor 📧

Our solicitors will send a contract pack to your solicitor within two working days of issuing the Memorandum of Sale.

5) Legal checks and searches begin 🔍

Contract pack review
Local authority and environmental searches
Initial legal enquiries

6) Solicitor-to-solicitor communication 💬

Our solicitors will respond to any legal enquiries and review your mortgage offer for approval. Your solicitor will send you a mortgage deed to sign and return.

7) You receive a legal report 📑

The contract pack
Results of searches
Answers to enquiries
Details of your mortgage offer

8) Signing contracts and paying your deposit ✍️

Sign and return your contracts promptly
Pay your purchase deposit to your solicitor
Give them written authority to exchange contracts (they cannot do this without your permission)

9) Exchange of contracts 🤝

Once everything is agreed, your solicitor will exchange contracts with ours. At this point, both sides are legally committed to the sale.

If your home is still being built, we’ll agree that completion will take place on notice (i.e. when the home is finished).

10) Completion statement and getting ready for the big day 📋

Your solicitor will prepare a completion statement
They will request the mortgage funds from your lender
The statement will also include rent and service charges in advance, due on the day of completion

This part ties up all the loose ends – so you're ready to get the keys and step into your new home.

11) Completion day – today’s the day! 🎉

On the day of completion, your solicitor will transfer the final funds to our solicitors. Once that’s done and everything's in place…

12) Collect your keys – woohoo! 🔑

Once our solicitor confirms receipt of the funds, we’ll be there to meet you at your new front door and hand over the keys to your brand-new home.

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for – the boxes are packed, the kettle’s ready, and you’re about to walk into the next chapter of your life with Southern Housing. Whether it’s your first home or your next step, we’ll be right here to congratulate you and support you. (Quacksley included).

What happens on completion day? 🤷‍♀️

We can only confirm your home completion once our solicitors have received the completion funds in full. As soon as that’s confirmed, your Sales Executive will give you a call to arrange a convenient time to meet you at your new home and hand over the keys.

When you arrive at the property, your Sales Executive will:

- Give you a tour of your new build home
- - Show you how to use the appliances
  - - Record your utility meter readings with you
    - - Let you know about any reported defects that are due to be completed by the developer
      You’ll also get your Home User Guide (HUG), including:
      - Warranty information for your appliances
      - Post-completion contact details
      - Helpful guidance about your new home and the wider development
      It’s all designed to help you feel informed, supported, and confident as you settle into your new Southern Housing home.
      
      Now that you're home, find out what happens next in the post-completion process.