Is Moving to Scotland from England Complicated?

5 September 2024

Moving house is one of the most stressful events that most people go through in their lives, and it’s not made any easier by the fact that if you are moving from England to Scotland, you are going to be faced with an entirely different conveyancing system to what you are used to in England.

So, with that in mind, just how hard can it be to get the moving process going if you are looking to move from England to Scotland, and what speedbumps might you encounter on the way?

Is It Hard to View Houses in Scotland If I’m Moving from England?

 

The main problem here is the sheer amount of time that you are going to have to dedicate to travelling up to Scotland from wherever it is you are based in England. In most cases, making the drive is going to be easier and potentially cheaper than other options, though in some cases a train or even a flight could be a good option.

Booking to see a property is a fairly easy process, and is much the same as you might expect from a viewing in England. What might be worth doing though is arranging a few viewings around the same time, so you can maximise your time in Scotland, and the number of properties to consider purchasing.

Obviously, the housing market in Scotland is in a similar condition to that of England’s, and things are likely to move fast once the wheels are in motion. It’s worth bearing that in mind as you go through the house-buying process, as acting quickly could be the difference between buying the property you want, and losing out.

With all that being said, how complicated does it get after the viewings have been and gone, and you are looking to make an offer?

Is Conveyancing in Scotland Complicated?

For a full list on the differences in conveyancing you can read our blog here, but the bottom line is that whilst the process in Scotland is quite different to the that of England, that doesn’t mean it’s any more complicated. In fact, some would argue it’s simpler, and much quicker.

We would advise that before you enter into the home-buying process in Scotland properly you speak to an estate agent about the normal process followed, as you won’t be the first to move from England to Scotland, and nor will you be the last, so they might have some useful advice on how you should approach the process, the steps you should take, and when you should take them.

One key difference between English and Scottish conveyancing is the surveying of the property. In England, as the purchaser, you are expected to pay for and arrange the survey of the property, whereas in Scotland the survey is ready and waiting for you when you go to see the property.

This means that by the time you submit an offer to buy a property, you and your mortgage provider are already aware of and happy to proceed with any discovered defects in the property, so things move much faster.

Once the sale has been agreed on, there is no easy way for either party to back out either. This means that once it has all been agreed on, you can’t get gazumped (a common problem in England) without incurring some real penalties, making the conveyancing pretty straightforward and much less stressful than it can be in England, with the threat of being gazumped hanging over your head until the last moment.

How is Surveying Different in Scotland to England?

As mentioned before, the homebuyers survey will be ready for you at the viewing stage. As the purchaser, you won’t need to worry about arranging any surveys on behalf of your mortgage lender, as all the findings will be ready for you in a homebuyers report.

If you are interested in some of the other main differences on how conveyancing in Scotland is different to conveyancing in the UK, you can read our dedicated blog post here.

What if I’m Part of a Chain in England?

Firstly, having an offer accepted in Scotland is much more binding than it is in England. Once an offer is accepted, you will have to incur penalties in order to back out of the sale, but at the same time so will the seller, plus you won’t have to deal with the possibility of being gazumped.

Of course in many cases, your solicitor will make sure to include a clause in the missives being exchanged that make clear that the purchasing of the Scottish property is contingent on the sale of your property in England. Sometimes it’s advised that the best method is to avoid making an offer on a Scottish property until your own sale has exchanged contracts.

This is because one of the key differences between Scottish and English conveyancing is the speed at which the different sales move. In England for example, the whole process is a fair bit slower, with the sellers having to request and organise a survey themselves, rather than having it readily available to them on first viewing.

So, with the fact that English sales move slower, some general advice many get given is to wait until they are at the point of exchanging in the UK to put in an offer on a property in Scotland, as the timelines may well match up better.

It’s always best to talk to the estate agents and conveyancers involved, as they are going to have a much better handle on the situation, but in this situation considering the binding nature of an agreed sale in Scotland, timing may well be everything.

Will Scottish Home Sellers Know I’m English?

Whilst you might meet the seller when viewing the property and give away the fact your English on meeting them, there is no other way for the seller to know your identity in the home buying process.

Because the way in which offers are submitted in Scotland is based on a blind bid system, the sellers are not going to be aware whose offer they are accepting unless it’s disclosed in an accompanying document.

This means that unless you tell the sellers directly you are going to be putting in a specific bid amount (“look out for the bid of £XXXXX.79” for example), the owners of the property aren’t going to know whose bid is whose – and the only factor that should be in play is the actual amount being bid.

So, if you are worried that the seller knowing that you are English could potentially trip you up, or cause the seller to be put off because of the differences in conveyancing, you can rest assured that it shouldn’t play a role.

Is It Complicated to Move From Scotland to England?

In short, no, there are no major complications outside of physical logistics that might make a move more difficult than a standard house move in England. You can expect the Scottish conveyancing to be far more streamlined than the English one, and as long as you are prepared the whole process can be quite stress-free.

If you are looking to move to Scotland from England, and you want to make sure that the process goes as smoothly as possible, then you can rely on Timberwise to provide accurate and reliable property care surveys on any property you are selling or buying.

We have locations throughout both England and Scotland, and we can help you identify and remedy problems like damp, woodworm, and timber rot before they become a problem in the property chain of sale.

Just call 0800 288 8660, or fill in one of our online contact forms for more information.

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