‘Habito Plus’ takes care of every aspect of home buying from the point at which an offer on a property is accepted to the new owner collecting the keys to their new home.

The service includes conducting a survey, all the legal work, including property searches, drawing up the contracts, and transferring the money to the seller, which creates a frictionless experience for home buyers, says Habito.

Next time buyers looking to sell and buy simultaneously can also consolidate both their sale and purchase paperwork and timelines into one place. This means less hassle managing multiple legal teams and minimal time-consuming admin and documentation.

Research carried out by YouGov on behalf of Habito found that two in five home buyers said they were resigned to a long and drawn-out home buying process – this equates to around 265,000 of the homes bought in 2019.

An additional survey from OnePoll for Habito, found that even once their offer had been accepted, a third (32%) said they still couldn’t relax and 28% said they had anxiety because they couldn’t trust anyone in the process – including the estate agent, seller or surveyor. Fewer than one in 10 buyers claim the process is easy and straightforward.

Daniel Hegarty, founder and CEO of Habito, said “Our research tells us that people find the process of financing and buying a home hellish. And yet getting the mortgage sorted is only part of it: there’s still a mountain to climb before you get the keys.

“There are 60,000 new home buyers each month in the UK and we know that conveyancing, searches and surveys are a source of frustration and uncertainty for the majority.

“Over the past year, we’ve been looking at ways in which Habito can not only continue to reinvent the mortgage process but also dramatically improve the home buying experience. We’re delighted to be bringing to the market an innovative service that truly puts the buyer first.”

Habito customers will now be able to apply for their mortgage while a dedicated Habito Plus case manager will be a consistent point of contact with full visibility of the whole home buying process from point of offer.

They will coordinate Habito’s team of in-house experts and panel of accredited conveyancing and chartered surveying partners to deliver all the paperwork and necessary steps up to completion. Moreover, Habito’s deep integrations with its selected partners dramatically reduce the burden of form-filling, meaning less of the customer’s time is spent on duplication and admin.

The cost is paid in two parts – an initial fee of £999 payable once the mortgage application has been submitted and the remainder paid upon completion. Pricing starts at £2,000 for buying and £2,700 for selling and buying and is fully inclusive of all legal costs and fees, land registry fee, personal local searches and a HomeBuyer Report (HBR).

All disbursements are fixed from the outset and should the property purchase fall through, the initial fee paid can be used for the next property.

Habito Plus is available for property purchases in England and Wales only and is currently not available for homebuyers looking to use a government scheme such as Help to Buy or purchase a new build property.

The launch of Habito Plus marks another advancement of the business’ expansion beyond its mortgage brokerage. In October 2019, Habito launched Habito Go, a buying-agent service for first-time buyers.

In July 2019, Habito made its lending debut with a range of buy-to-let mortgages.