The legal side of buying a UK home

In India, a property deal often runs on direct negotiation and relatively informal paperwork. In the UK, a solicitor or licensed conveyancer manages the whole legal transfer, and you will rarely deal with the seller directly.

What your solicitor does

• Searches. They check the local authority’s records for planning decisions, road schemes and restrictions on the property, along with environmental and drainage risks.
• The contract. They review the contract and the title, raise questions with the seller’s solicitor and explain the terms to you before you sign.
• Exchange and completion. At exchange you become legally committed and usually pay the deposit; at completion the rest of the money moves, through your solicitor, and the property becomes yours.
• Money. They hold and transfer the funds and coordinate with your mortgage lender. If the deposit is coming from India, have it in a UK account well before exchange. Our guides to NRE and NRO accounts and repatriation explain the rules.

Costs to budget for

Besides the solicitor’s fee and the search fees, the largest cost is usually stamp duty land tax in England and Northern Ireland (Scotland and Wales have their own taxes). From April 2025, no stamp duty is due on the first £125,000 of the price. First-time buyers pay nothing on the first £300,000 of a home costing up to £500,000. If you are not UK resident when you buy, a surcharge of 2% applies on top. If you already own a home anywhere, a flat in India included, the 5% higher-rates surcharge usually applies as well. Your solicitor will confirm the exact figure.

Survey first, then exchange

Arrange a survey while your solicitor does the searches, so its findings are in before you exchange contracts. After exchange, pulling out usually means losing your deposit.

Expect it to take time

Searches, questions and chains of linked sales mean delays are common, so build slack into moving dates rather than planning around a fixed completion date. Ask your solicitor to explain any term you do not understand; that is part of what you are paying for.

Once the purchase is complete, update your will to cover the new property. For UK NRIs, NRIWallah works with (affiliate link. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.), whose Habito Plus service combines the mortgage and the legal work. This is a partner link; see how we make money.