House swaps are one way of moving home without the hassles that a chain can bring. House swaps sometimes also mean saving on estate agent fees, although things such as conveyancing should be followed as per a standard house sale.

Property Values
If you are considering a house swap, there are several points to consider. The first is that the two homes should be of approximately equal value. You should both have your homes independently valued to ensure you know what sort of price your home is worth. If you are moving to a house which has a significantly different price, you will have to come to an agreement over payments to ensure that neither person is left out of pocket.

Estate Agents
You will also need to check if either of you have marketing the property with an estate agent. If you found the house through an estate agent, an estate agent’s fee will probably need to be paid. If either party has advertised the house via an estate agent but the house swap was not found via the estate agent, read the small print on the contract with the estate agent to ensure that fees do not have to be paid to the agent. If neither party has advertised the property with an estate agent, there will probably be no estate agent fees to pay.

Contracts
Once you have both verbally agreed a deal, you will need to complete the standard forms associated with a house sale and you will probably use a lawyer for the majority of the work. Your lawyer should carry out the required searches etc to ensure the house sale is legal.

A contract for the exchange of the two properties can either be two documents – one for each house – or just a single document including the terms for both transaction. If you have two documents, ensure that they are mutually dependent – that is, it is clear that either both transactions go through to completion, or neither do.

After completion, you must send a Land Transaction too the Revenue and Customs Stamp Taxes Office. This will show the details of the value of the property you have bought. You may be required to pay stamp duty on your property.

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