When the money transfers, your solicitor confirms receipt and the seller release the keys to the buyer.

5.00 pm is the normally the cut off time for most solicitors to be able to complete because the CHAPS banking system closes down and the ability to do the transfer will be on hold until the next banking day.

CHAPS is a sterling same-day system that is used to settle high-value wholesale payments as well as time-critical, lower-value payments like buying or paying a deposit on a property.

Responsibility for the CHAPS system transferred to the Bank of England in November 2017.

CHAPS is one of the largest high-value payment systems in the world, providing efficient, settlement risk-free and irrevocable payments. There are over 30 direct participants and over five thousand financial institutions that make CHAPS payments through one of the direct participants. 

Direct participants in CHAPS include the traditional high-street banks and a number of international and custody banks. Many more financial institutions access the system indirectly and make their payments via direct participants. This is known as agency or correspondent banking.

Financial institutions and some of the largest businesses use CHAPS to settle money market and foreign exchange transactions 

CHAPS is commonly used by solicitors and conveyancers to complete housing and other property transactions

Individuals may use CHAPS to buy high-value items such as a car or pay a deposit for a house.

Payment obligations between direct participants are settled individually on a gross basis in RTGS on the same day that they are submitted. The transfer of funds is irrevocable between the direct participants.

Operating hours: - The CHAPS system opens at 6am each working day. Participants must be open to receive by 8am and must send by 10am. CHAPS closes at 6pm for bank-to-bank payments.

Customer payments must be submitted at the absolute latest by 5.40pm. 

Timings: - CHAPS payments can only be processed on working days.

If a CHAPS payment is instructed in a branch before 3pm, it should arrive by 5.30pm the same day.

If a CHAPS payment is instructed after 3pm on a working day, it should arrive by 5.30pm the next working day.

Solicitors do not dictate to you what day you move on and they don't tell you when you can move.

This is where most problems happen and this is why we say take control of your removal.

You normally collect your keys from the selling estate agent after you complete, however you sometimes collect them directly from the sellers. You should speak to the estate agent to find out if they hold all the keys to the property and if not, confirm where the seller will be so you can collect the keys after they have been released.

Most sellers want to complete quickly and are organised and ready for their removal and relocation.

Unfortunately some clients are not organised and they leave everything to the last minute to pack and move out of the property. It is to your advantage to try and find out how they are moving out of their house because this will give you an idea of how long it should take. If they are doing it themselves with just a normal van it will take multiple trips and could put you in a position where you may have to pay overtime rates through no fault of your own.

Inform your solicitor of the possible costs involved so he can do what needs to be done to cover the overtime costs involved.

It is much better if you have a time added to your contract so everyone in the chain know exactly when and at what time you are expected to be moving out of your house or leaving it as vacant possession.

When buying or selling a property, ‘vacant possession’ means that the property is empty on the day of completion. Therefore the sellers or tenants have moved out and removed all of their belongings, only leaving the agreed contracted items.  

Having the moving and exchange time put into the contract covers you if things go wrong and you end up having to pay costs for something that was not your fault.

You have the option to make arrangements with your buyer and seller if you are involved in a chain or not. The best way to cover everyone involved in the chain is to make a legal agreement through your solicitor allowing all parties to complete one day then  move in the following day. All you need to do the following day is hand over the keys to the people moving in to your house or the estate agent. This takes away the stress of waiting for solicitors to complete because the contracted completion should have happen and you should have loaded your vehicles ready to move the day before. All you need to do is collect the keys in the morning which makes everything straightforward and gives you the whole day to move into your new house. We load everything the day before the move and leave you with the basics you need for the last night in the house or you can stay overnight in a hotel. if you stay at home we will return the following morning to load whats left in the house then transport it to your new home. The people in your new house if they agreed to the next day key exchange are in the same position so no one should be waiting for anything which gives everyone the rest of the day to move in to their property.

The way to exchange keys is: - sign and complete everything on day 1 then exchange keys on the morning of day 2.

This gives you the time to resolve any problems that may arise and it also gives you time to move out without the stress of having to be out at a certain time. This situation of having to be out at a fixed time can cause untold problems for the removals companies on the day of the move, because anything can happen especially with the Uk weather forecasts. 

P&M Movers work directly with our clients to make sure they are ready and prepared for their upcoming removal.

Even when using the best high priced removals companies in the moving sector some jobs simply take longer than others due to things being difficult to move or problems with access and the conditions on the day. 

When P&M Movers have a long distance relocation or a large removal job we usually work with our clients planning for a two day removal. We travel the day before after loading the vehicles then stay overnight close to the property so we are on site first thing in the morning waiting to unload the vehicles. 

Doing moves this way lowers the stress levels and gives the client the rest of the day resolve any problems if they occur.