buying a home but my house builder delayed it so long i now have to pay stamp duty?

michaelannie

As my title says basically i am supposed to be completing (moving in) on the 29th of this month.

But i was told today that i will need to pay stamp duty as the government changed the first time buyers limit for stamp duty as my house costs £136500 i now have to find a extra £1365! this is a new build house...

However i feel that this is the builders fault as we were verbally told that our completion date would be on the 28th of January 2012 this was then changed to the 15th of feb we then exchanged contracts on this day (paid deposit etc)and after this they then changed it to the 5th of march and yet again when this come around they put us on notice for a completion day and only told us 4 days ago we would be completing on the 29th of this month and i now have to pay the stamp duty!

so my question is do you think i would be able to get the stamp duty out of the builders?

as they changed the dates to just over the cut of date for stamp duty and the worst part is the only thing holding my house up for the last two months was the fact they have not finished working on my garden and decided to finish the council houses next to us first!

steve1980

Have you actually exchanged? Who are the builders?

When you exchanged what notice were you given about completion?

michaelannie

steve1980 wrote: »

Have you actually exchanged? Who are the builders?

When you exchanged what notice were you given about completion?

we exchange contracts on the 5th of feb they then put our completion date on notice and provided us with a estimated day of the 5th of march this went by and the house still was not finished they only had a bit of garden fence left to do for a completion for the last 2 months.

we were told on the 22nd we would actually complete on the 29th..

edit oh and the housebuild is leadbitter homes in cornwall

AlexSnow

Did your solicitor advise you that it was a possibility that completion could take place after 24th March and that if it did you would be obliged by the contract to complete and pay stamp duty?

Did they attempt to negotiate a provision in the contract so that if completion did take place after 24th March either the developer would pay the stamp duty or you could walk away and get your deposit back?

If not, I would suggest your solicitor may be at fault and you should ask them why they did not advise you of this possibility and find out what they are going to do about it?

pinkshoes

When you exchanged contracts, what did the contract say about the completion date?

I agree with the above that it should be your solicitor that should be highlighting these things to you.

(unless the development was sold to you on the pretence that no stamp duty would be required?!?!)

Richard_Webster

Builders contracts nearly always provide for a "floating date" so that basically the builder finishes the house and then gives you 14 days to complete.

Your solicitor certainly should have told you that the date was not fixed. If he told you that much then it isn't rocket science to work out that the date might be after 23rd March.

If he didn't explain this then you might have a claim against him.

michaelannie

AlexSnow wrote: »

Did your solicitor advise you that it was a possibility that completion could take place after 24th March and that if it did you would be obliged by the contract to complete and pay stamp duty?

Did they attempt to negotiate a provision in the contract so that if completion did take place after 24th March either the developer would pay the stamp duty or you could walk away and get your deposit back?

If not, I would suggest your solicitor may be at fault and you should ask them why they did not advise you of this possibility and find out what they are going to do about it?

Thanks for that i only found out about the stamp duty change when my solistor rang me last night and asked me to pay £1365 at 6:00pm..

they are however attempting to negoate with the house builder as they have blamed them for it however as it is 1 day before completion i feel is a bit late....

but after reading that i actually agree that is my solistors fault they should have advised me that this might happen.

Also if this is my solistors fault should i just pay them the money ar wait it out?

ognum

michaelannie wrote: »

Thanks for that i only found out about the stamp duty change when my solistor rang me last night and asked me to pay £1365 at 6:00pm..

they are however attempting to negoate with the house builder as they have blamed them for it however as it is 1 day before completion i feel is a bit late....

but after reading that i actually agree that is my solistors fault they should have advised me that this might happen.

Also if this is my solistors fault should i just pay them the money ar wait it out?

I am sorry you are in this situation but do find it hard to believe that despite all the information in the press on TV and radio about the budget and stamp duty that you did not know about this?

While I agree legal professionals have a duty to inform their clients and that the builders will have been aware if it was me I would have been stamping my feet and insisting on a completion.

You have entered into the house buying contract, do you not think part of your own responsibilities are to understand the process and keep abreast of the situation yourself?

Sorry if this sounds harsh but this is probably the biggest purchase you have ever made and you have not bothered to read around the subject at all!

theartfullodger

Country needs the extra income. .. I'm sure all those in receipt of state funding (eg civil list beneficiaries... ) will be grateful..