Other costs to consider when buying your home

Mortgage

If you are not paying cash for your property, you will need a mortgage. We are unable to recommend a mortgage company to you but the Financial Services Authority (FSA) give out free information on the different types of mortgages available. You can telephone the FSA helpline on 0845 606 1234 or click on the link to their website below.
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer/consumer_publications/mortgage_pack.html

If your property is a Leasehold Flat, more information is available from The Leasehold Advisory Service on 0845 345 1993, alternatively you can go to their website www.lease-advice.org.

One off costs

Legal
You should employ a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to assist you with the legal side of buying your home. Always ask them for an estimate of how much they will charge you for their services.

Surveyor
Although the Council’s Valuation Officer values your property, we always recommend that following receipt of your section 125 offer notice, you have your own survey done. In some cases your mortgage lender will arrange for a survey to be done – you will be charged for this.
If you are arranging your own survey and want advice, you can call the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors on 0870 333 1600 or use the link below to their website address.
http://www.ricsfirms.com/

Insurance
You will need to take out buildings insurance this is needed to cover the cost of rebuilding your home if it destroyed by fire or some other incident. For flats the insurance is usually arranged for the whole block by the landlord (Bury MBC), this will make up part of your service charge.

Life assurance is needed to pay off your mortgage if you die before your mortgage is paid.
In many cases mortgage payment protection insurance will give you the security of knowing your mortgage payments are met if you were to lose your income due to unemployment or ill health.

Repairs and maintenance
You will be responsible for all of the costs of repairs and maintenance once you buy your home. If the property is a flat and therefore a leasehold property, you will have to pay your landlord (Bury MBC) service charges to cover repairs/maintenance/grass cutting/communal lighting.

Remember!

If you can’t keep up the repayments on your mortgage, and your home is repossessed by the mortgage company, the Council does not have to give you another tenancy.

If you become unemployed you would not usually receive Income Support for
9 months, and this payment may not cover the full amount of your mortgage payments