What is the “settlement date” and what happens then?

If you are buying or selling a house in Scotland, when does it all finally happen?

The “settlement date” is the date on which the purchaser will pay over the price for the property they are buying and the day that the seller will release the keys to the purchaser.

This is also known as the “date of entry”.

It will be a date that both parties have agreed upon when going through the legal process of making an Offer and subsequently concluding missives.

From the purchaser’s perspective, they will have transferred their deposit to their solicitor at least the day before.

The purchaser’s solicitor will have received the funds from the mortgage lender and any other relevant funds, for example, First Home Fund monies, the Forces Help to Buy payment or the Help to Buy ISA bonus payment.

The full purchase price will usually be sent by bank transfer to the seller’s solicitor on the morning of settlement.

In terms of the seller, they must make a key available on the day of settlement.

Sellers can leave the rest of their keys in the property, once they have finished removing their belongings.

No key will be handed over to the purchaser until the purchase price has been received by the seller’s solicitor.

At that point, the seller’s solicitor will contact the purchaser’s solicitor to let them know that funds have been received and the key can be collected.

Then, the purchaser’s solicitor will give the purchaser a call and let them know that they can collect their keys.

Keys are usually kept either with the estate agent who marketed the property or at the seller’s solicitor’s firm, but your solicitor will tell you where to pick them up from.

Fridays are common days for settlements to take place because most people like to have the weekend to settle in and unpack. However, settlements can take place on any day of the week that is mutually convenient for both parties … as long as it’s a weekday 🙂

How we can help

We hope this post has helped you understand how “settlement date” and “date of entry” fit into the bigger picture of property purchase and sale under Scots Law in Moray.

If you have any questions about any matter arising from this article or about our house buying and selling services, generally, feel free to get in touch with us. All initial enquiries are free of charge and without obligation to take matters further.

You can call one of our Property team on 01343 544077 or you can send us a Free Online Enquiry via this website.