Help! Extra cost if not completed by certain date!

ChatwithJacqs

Hi,

I need advise please.....we need to complete by the 4th Feb......we're all ready to exchange except 1st in chain. (only 4 in chain). We were told by the owner of the house we want to buy that he will incur charges (he's a builder) if the house is not completed by a certain date. We have told our buyers and they have told their buyers of the importance of this date. As the hold up is not with us how much right do we have to say to the people below us they have to pay (£500).

How do i negotiate this?

Thanks

alanobrien

ChatwithJacqs wrote:

Hi,

I need advise please.....we need to complete by the 4th Feb......we're all ready to exchange except 1st in chain. (only 4 in chain). We were told by the owner of the house we want to buy that he will incur charges (he's a builder) if the house is not completed by a certain date. We have told our buyers and they have told their buyers of the importance of this date. As the hold up is not with us how much right do we have to say to the people below us they have to pay (£500).
How do i negotiate this?

Thanks

Remember there is no commitment to buy in england until contracts are exchanged so tread carefully.

All you can really do is insist that the date is met by all in the chain
and preferably get them to agree in writing.

It could also be the builder is using this charge as leverage to move the chain along to completion if so its a dangerous game given the fragile nature of the process.

Sub_2

I spent years working as an estate agent, and my first question to you would be, where is your agent? They should be explaining this kind of situation to you, and protecting you from it.

So many estate agents nowadays act simply as a glorified shop window, and it's a disgrace. They do !!!!!! all to justify their (often very high) fees. They should be guiding you through this process, explaining, reassuring and advising as you go.

It is difficult for me to offer precise help here, because I obviously don't know all the facts about your chain and the parties involved, but, it's likely that this builder is using the alleged £500 charge simply as leverage, to get things moving.

The first thing to remember is that even if this charge is genuine, and he will have to pay extra costs beyond his proposed completion target date, you are under NO obligation to pay it for him. He has no basis in law on which to pass this charge on to you, nor you on to other buyers further down the chain.

Try and relax, I know it can seem stressful, but fretting won't actually help at all in this situation, and there's probably nothing to worry about anyway.

There's every chance this guy is simply trying to apply a bit of pressure in the full knowledge that most people worry themselves to bits over the sale of their house. The correct response to this is to stay completely calm and effectively ignore him. Yes, do what you reasonably can to keep things moving towards a sensible completion date that suits *you*, but don't feel obliged to try and move heaven and earth just because this chap thinks he can pull your strings at will.

Remember that he needs this sale as much as you do, and that at this relatively late stage you are his only option as a buyer. If you don't complete the purchase, he will incur genuine and significant delays and costs finding another buyer. Remember also that he has no way of enforcing any "penalty" charges on you. If you have acted in good faith, then he has no moral or ethical reason to ask you to stump up either.

If things do happen to drift slightly past the date he has suggested and your solicitor receives a formal request for an increased completion figure, simply say no, and offer to return his contract if that is unacceptable to him.

Watch him scamper around then.

garysletters

I was about to write exactly what Sub just wrote. Very sound advice.