Agreeing a completion date

Chin

Hi all

Bit of help please.
We exchanged a couple of months ago with no completion date set because of tenants living in the property at the time on a AST agreement.
We've just been told vacant possesion will be served on the 5th Sep and in our contract we put in a clause saying we will complete within 5 days of vacant possesion being served. This therefore means up to the 9th Sep.

We want to complete on the 9th of Sep, however the sellers solicitors are saying no as they want to complete sooner.

In terms of our arrangements, we don't want to complete sooner than the 9th so where do we/the seller stand?

As far as I'm aware we within our contract. Or not?

GAH

Have you asked your solicitor?

chappers

If it is in the contract then there isn't much they can do, by the sounds of things they couldn't serve anotice to complete until 5 days after the property becomes vacant regardless of the date.
But as above you will have to check with your solicitor to define how tight that clause is with regards to what vacant posseion served actually means.

DVardysShadow

Stick to your guns and say 'we wil comply with the contract and complete on the 9th' or ask them to pay you say £500?

evoke

The penalties should already be part of the contract.

But, what you've done is very high risk! What if the current tenants are 'professional tenants' and one happens to be a pregnant woman on benefits? There's no way you're going to get the property.

Yorkie1

When you say 'vacant possession is served', do you mean that the sellers get the house back from the tenants (i.e. they've moved out), or that the sellers have served a notice on the tenants of intention to gain possession. I really do hope your solicitor hasn't allowed the latter to be the situation - it takes 2 months minimum from service of a notice to get the tenants out unless they agree to go sooner.