FTB - help regarding exchange

misslander69

We are in the process of buying a new build property off plan. We originally put the offer in approx 8 weeks ago and we were told the property would be built by 24th October.

Now we have been told its not likely to be built until end of December and they want a 10% exchange paid up front before they will start building. Can they legally do this?

We have been informed that they are asking for money up front because they have had a problem with mortgage companies with other plots as they are on an affordable housing scheme for key workers.

When we placed the offer we were not told about any deposit that would need to be paid infact we were told the opposite, that they would start building the house as soon as they had finished the one they were working on.

Any advice or help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Cannon_Fodder

Walk away very quickly.

In two months their timescales have slipped two months. By December those timescales could slip another 4 months...meantime they've got your deposit and earn interest on it, instead of you...

If prices resume dropping through the autumn and winter, as fairly widely expected, when you see a better deal you would be tied in or risk losing the deposit.

If they continue to have problems filling the other properties, the next thing will be that they have decided to sell them off for Social Housing who, despite the necessary job they do, will devalue the area's house prices overnight.

Richard_Webster

We are in the process of buying a new build property off plan.

If you have looked at this forum at all over the last few months you will have seen that this is the one thing that nobody should do - or certainly not unless they negotiate a very big discount on top of the discount that the builder says he will give (which isn't a discount at all but is usually still 10-25% over the real value of a similar completed property!)