What happens after my mortgage offer is issued?

We’ll send you an offer once we’ve finished processing your mortgage application. The offer means we’re happy to lend you the amount our mortgage adviser discussed with you at your appointment. We’ll also have completed our final checks on your finances, such as verifying your income and running a full credit check, and valuing the property you want to buy.

Last chance for changes

We’ll send a copy of the offer to your solicitor or conveyancer, so you can both check the details. It’s really important to let us know if anything has changed at this stage, such as changes to

• Your income or employment status
• The purchase price of the property 

Accepting your mortgage offer

Your solicitor or conveyancer will let you know if you need to do anything before signing and returning the mortgage offer to us. In many cases, you can sign your documents securely online – if so, we’ll include the details of how to do that with your offer.

Completing your purchase

After you’ve accepted our mortgage offer, your solicitor can start the final phase of buying your property. That means they’ll agree a date to exchange contracts with the seller. The contracts set out your agreement – what’s included in the purchase price, as well as any terms and conditions you and the seller are agreeing to. Your solicitor can answer any questions you have about exchanging contracts (in Scotland, the process is called an ‘exchange of missives’).

 If you’re buying in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, this is the point at which you legally commit to buying the property. In Scotland, you’re committed once the respective solicitors reach ‘conclusion of missives’. Your solicitor will agree a completion date with you, which is usually the day you’ll get the keys. To make sure that happens smoothly, make sure you have

• The money for the deposit, if you’re providing one
• The money to pay your solicitor or conveyancer
• Any additional fees they tell you about, such as Stamp Duty

What if the seller tries gazumping the price?

If the seller attempts to increase the purchase price or tells you that they’re ready to accept a higher offer, we can’t give you advice you on what you should do – you should speak to your solicitor about that. But if you want to understand your mortgage options before responding, please contact your mortgage adviser.

Make sure you’re covered

Your mortgage adviser will have already spoken to you about arranging buildings, content and life insurance – your buildings cover needs to start on your completion date. If you haven’t already arranged home contents and life insurance, you should consider that now. 

Start preparing to move

We’ve compiled a list of things to starting thinking about when you’re preparing to move home.