How much is an annual season ticket from St Albans to St Pancras?

As at Dec 2018. The standard charge quoted on the Thameslink website for annual season ticket is £3,500.00. For a monthly season ticket is £336.00 and for a weekly season ticket is £87.50.

What are the stamp duty thresholds for buying a property?

This depends on if you are buying a property as a principle residence. The most up to date info (as Apr 16) is here https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates

How can I find out about school catchment areas?

Tricky as the rules seem to change but we use Locrating who come up with very useful info - this link will take you to their website https://locrating.com/

What are "exchange" and "completion"

The exchange means the exchange of contracts. Many years ago this meant that the buyer and sellers solicitors met and literally exchanged the contracts in identical form signed by their respective clients. Today the exchange usually just takes place over the telephone where each solicitor confirms they are in possession of a signed contract.

Exchange is a significant milestone in that the transaction becomes a legally binding contract between the seller and the buyer at that point. One of the terms of the contract at exchange will be the completion date. Referred to as completion. This is the date on which the title to the property is transferred by the selle'rs solicitor to the buyer, the buyer's solicitor transfers the agreed sale price to the seller and the buyer takes possession of the property. This is the date that the new owner of the property usually moves in.

There is usually a time period between exchange and completion and this period can vary from a few seconds if exchange and completion take place on the same day or several months, even years. The norm however is usually between 2 and 6 weeks, and it is during this period that each party is able to book removals, make arrangements for the transfer of utilities and post and of course tell friends and family, or not!