They say that fashion can be bought, but style is priceless. As Sophie Robinson kicks off New Homes Week 2019 with top tips on how to style your new home, we take a look at what needs to be done to ensure that purchasers can move in and start enjoying those fabulous furnishings without any delay.
The provision of white goods/ kitchen appliances, furniture and furnishings is often used as an incentive to encourage the purchase of a new home. Historically this made it difficult for lenders to accurately value new homes.
Disclosure of incentives
Since 2008, where mortgage finance is involved, sellers of new homes and newly converted or refurbished homes must complete a disclosure of incentives form to provide lenders with details of all incentives given to home buyers. The form was updated in February 2018 to capture information on the method of construction involved and whether the property is freehold (ownership) or leasehold.
Lenders will generally refuse to release the mortgage funds if they have not first approved a disclosure of incentives form. That can be the case even where there are no incentives on offer.
Generally the disclosure form will be completed by the housebuilder's agents and will be passed to the valuer and solicitors acting on behalf of the lender. If the prospective purchaser changes their mind about the extras before the sale is complete, the form must be updated to reflect the changes as the valuation may alter. So it really is a question of keeping up with the latest style.
To ensure that new homes and stylish interiors can be enjoyed without any delay, make sure the disclosure incentives form is correctly completed as soon as possible. After all, a happy homebuyer never goes out of style.
Tomorrow we will be looking at Help to Buy issues.
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