Moving Home with Mersea Homes

Our Service Standards

We hope you find this information useful throughout your move.

Relevant procedures are detailed below to ensure you will feel informed every step of the way.

A copy of our Service Standards will be available in the sales centre at each development, on Mersea Homes website and sent to each purchaser who reserves a property.
Our team understand all the Service Standards and will ensure that questions raised at any stage during the purchase and afterwards are dealt with in an appropriate manner.
Our sales centre will clearly display a health and safety notice advising you of the care you need to take when going onto a construction site and living on a development where building is still taking place.
From reserving your property to moving into your new home you are likely to come across unfamiliar terminology. Our Glossary of Terms overleaf may help you with this.
If you are purchasing an apartment from Mersea Homes we will provide you with additional information. We will make you aware before exchange of contracts of the expected maintenance and ground rent payable each year, the term of your lease and any necessary leasehold information.
If you have chosen to buy your new Mersea Home using our part exchange scheme our Sales Advisor will provide you with the part exchange procedure. This guidance sheet will take you through from when you first apply for a part exchange to a moving day.
In the event of a reservation not proceeding to an un-conditional exchange of contracts, then the reservation fee will not be refunded.
A home information pack will be available on all relevant properties, on request.

For each step of the home buying process we have set procedures in place:

Reservation

Together we complete a reservation form which will document your contact details, solicitors and purchase price information. At this stage a non refundable deposit of £1,000 is payable where the purchase price is less than £300,000. Where the purchase price is in excess of £300,000 then a £2,000 non refundable deposit shall apply.
We will send a letter to you confirming your reservation and the deposit made.
We will complete a post reservation checklist with you, normally within 7 days of reservation. This will involve looking at plans of the development, house plans, room sizes, specification, heating, kitchen and bathroom layouts and legal information relevant to your property.
From reservation we work towards an exchange of contracts date, usually within 28 days of your solicitor receiving the draft contract. We will continually progress the purchase of your new home right up to exchange of contracts to ensure that this date is met.
Prior to exchange of contracts your solicitor will require a local search which is provided from Mersea Homes solicitor together with a draft contract.
Your solicitor will require a mortgage offer before exchange of contracts. This document will follow a valuation of your new home being carried out whether built or off plan.

Exchange of Contracts

Before exchange of contracts our respective solicitors will agree a completion date or a suitable notice period.
We will send a letter to you with details of what happens before completion and advising you of the completion date or notice period agreed.
For an exchange of contracts to take place your solicitor must be in receipt of a deposit. This deposit must be in the form of cleared funds. Please note that personal cheques are only cleared funds once they have taken 5 working days to clear through the banking system.

Before Completion

We will arrange for the Site Manager to demonstrate your new home to you and explain how all your appliances work, normally a few days before completion
The NHBC will have visited your property and issued a CML certificate. This means that the NHBC are happy to advise your mortgage company that the home is complete and ready to move into.

Completion and Moving in Day

Once monies have been received and the solicitors have completed the necessary paperwork legal completion has happened and we can give you the keys to your new home.
We will read your meters at your new property and notify the relevant provider.
We will provide you with a completion pack which includes a useful handbook covering details of service providers, details of all your guarantees and instructions including those for household appliances.
Your new Mersea Homes property will benefit from a 10 year NHBC guarantee. We will supply you with this guarantee in your completion pack together with an extensive booklet and DVD explaining the benefit and general terms of the NHBC policy.

Aftercare at Completion

We will write to you requesting your new contact details, most importantly your new home telephone number
We hope that there will be no problems once you have moved in, however we have an Aftercare Department to look after any issues that may arise and they will write to you shortly after completion.
We will send you a questionnaire after 3 months asking for your feedback on Mersea Homes.

Glossary of Terms

Agreement in Principle This is an offer of a mortgage subject to conditions. Before the mortgage offer is produced there will be outstanding information required such as satisfactory employer and bank references and proof of identification.

CML This is the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Mortgage lenders now require confirmation that the home has received a satisfactory final inspection by the NHBC and that the NHBC will be providing the warranty before the mortgage monies are released to the solicitor for completion.

Draft Contract Prior to the contract being signed a draft contract is prepared by Mersea Homes solicitor and sent to your solicitor for approval and amendment. Once approved this becomes the contract.

Exchange of Contracts These are two identical contracts one to be signed by each party involved. When these contracts have been signed and exchanged they become legally binding.

Freehold Generally speaking a freehold interest in land means that you own the land absolutely subject to any mortgage and any covenants affecting the land.

HIP This is a home information pack and it is a requirement to have a HIP available to prospective purchasers on all relevant properties. It contains information about searches, leasehold details (if applicable) and an energy efficiency report all about your new home. A home information pack will be available on all relevant properties, on request.

Legal Completion This occurs when the solicitors on both sides complete the transaction on behalf of you and Mersea Homes. This includes all monies received and documents handed over. At this point you become the legal owner and can receive the keys to your new home.

Lease This is a contract by which a property, usually an apartment, is conveyed to a person for a specified period. When the lease expires the property reverts to the ownership of the freeholder.

Leasehold This term usually applies to apartments and means that you buy an interest in the land for a specified number of years under the term of the Lease. At the end of the term the land reverts to the freeholder.

Local Search Mersea Homes solicitor will provide the local search to your solicitor which gives information from the local authority about where you are choosing to live.

Maintenance and Ground Rent These are two annual charges payable if you buy a leasehold apartment. The maintenance or service charge is payable to the allocated management company who take care of the communal areas. Buildings insurance is payable to the owner of the freehold as per the lease. The ground rent is also a fee payable to the owner of the freehold.

Mortgage Offer This is a formal written mortgage offer that is issued from the lender, advising you of how much you are borrowing, what your interest rate will be and how much you will repay each month. Your solicitor will also receive a copy.

NHBC This is the National House Building Council. They offer a 10 year warranty and insurance cover for your new home. This is free of charge for you. The NHBC start work as soon as the foundations are laid on your new home, ensuring that your new property complies with their standards.

Notice Period for Completion If your new home isn’t ready at exchange of contracts then Mersea Homes will offer a notice period which is normally two weeks rather than a completion date. Once your new home is ready Mersea Homes will require you to legally complete within two weeks of the notice period being served.

Off Plan This is a term used when your chosen new home is in the process of being built and there are only house plans to show you the property you are buying.

Part Exchange This is an incentive offered by Mersea Homes subject to scheme rules. It is a process where you exchange your home for a new Mersea Home at an agreed price.

Post Reservation Checklist This is where the Sales Advisor will show you detailed plans relevant to your new home, the development generally and advise you of the construction of your new property.

Reservation Form This document is completed at the time of reserving a new home by the Sales Advisor and is signed by you.

SDLT Stamp Duty Land Tax is a government tax payable by the purchaser. The amount payable is based on the purchase price of the property and it is collected from you at completion by your solicitor.

Valuation An opinion on value placed on a property from a surveyor, based on experience and knowledge of the market. This valuation will be a requirement from your lender and the comments from the valuation will be included in your mortgage offer.