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Legal completion and collecting your keys

The day you’ve been waiting for. Once you’ve legally completed, it’s time to collect the keys to your brand-new Story home. Here’s our guide to what happens at this exciting stage in buying your new home.

What is legal completion?

Legal completion needs to take place before you can begin the process of moving into a new home. Legal completion (also known as the Date of Entry in Scotland) happens when Story Homes has received the full payment for your new property from your conveyancer. It is only at this point that the transactional arrangement is said be legally completed.

 

 

Customer collecting keys to their new Story home

What happens once you have legally completed?

Upon legal completion, your Sales Executive will arrange an appointment for you to meet with themselves and the Site Manager. It is during this appointment that your home will be formally handed over to you and you get the keys.

Whilst the timing of your legal completion is out of our control, this normally takes place around early to mid-afternoon.

At the appointment with your Sales Executive and Site Manager, meter readings will be taken and utilities will become the responsibility of the homeowner from this point on. We recommend that homeowners contact their utility provider within two weeks of moving into a new home to arrange payments. You will also need to contact the local council to register for payment of Council Tax as well as requesting your household waste bins, green garden bins and recycling bags/boxes.

Story Homes Welcome Hamper

All of our developments come complete with a phone and broadband connection, and we aim to ensure that this is available for all of our plots as soon as we possibly can. However, please note that the activation of the connection is dependent on the provider, not Story Homes, and if you find that this is not active at the point of handover you should contact them directly.

Moving into your new home

Moving into a new home can be a very busy experience but it’s important that you set aside some time to carefully check over everything and make sure that you are happy with your new home. We will ask you to sign a handover form which will confirm that you accept that the property is in good order at the time of you taking ownership.

Sales Executive and customer in a Story home looking at the bi-fold doors

We will also ask you to check the below.

  • You have been given all the correct keys for your locks
  • You can open, close and lock all doors and windows
  • Review your choices, upgrades and optional extras
  • Meter readings have been noted down with your Sales Executive
  • You have all relevant certificates, guarantees and instruction books

During this time, we will be happy to go over anything that you may have forgotten from your home demonstration, or that you are unsure about.

 

Site Manager showing customers how to operate the induction hob in their new Story home

What happens next in your customer journey with Story Homes?

Head to the next step in our Buying Guide to find out here.

Please note that any other damages identified in your home must be reported within seven days of legal completion or they will not be covered by your warranty.

Please note that whilst our Sales Executives will do whatever they can to assist you in the home buying process, they are not legally qualified and are not authorised to give advice on the legal issues or aspects arising from it.

Although Story Homes has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information contained on this page, we reserve the right to amend and update the information without prior notification. The information contained herein is for guidance only and its accuracy is not guaranteed. They do not constitute a contract, part of a contract or warranty.

All images are representative of a typical Story Homes interior/exterior and are for illustrative purposes only.