Offer was in Jan - survey still not done

Hous

I got an offer on my place in January which I accepted, it was way below what I wanted but I took it anyway for a quick sale.
It's now April. The buyer has booked the survey three times and cancelled it.
The buyer has told the estate agent that the survey can't go ahead until the alleyway next to my house is cleared (it is full of rubbish from the hoarder owner of the commercial property next to mine). This alleyway has nothing at all to do with my freehold though my side wall borders it. It may never be cleared, I have contacted the owner and he has promised to clear it but that was six months ago and he keeps promising to clear it but never does, I have no faith that he will clear it. So if the EA is telling the truth then the survey can never go ahead.
The estate agent has only just told me this. The estate agent seems happy to sit back and let the buyer tell him all kinds of stuff, it is like he doesn't want the sale to go ahead.
My solicitor is on holiday this week.
So my questions are:
When my solicitor gets back should I tell him to tell my buyer that if the survey isn't done in the next two weeks I am putting the property back on the market?
My EA is less than interested in doing any work for his money. If I tell him to put the property back on the market he will blether on and on and on about how it is a bad idea, and may even refuse to do it. Can he charge me on the basis that he had a proceedable buyer, even though the buyer is not actually acting like he wants to proceed?
I have a horrible feeling that the buyer and the EA are in cahoots, and the offer is going to suddenly drop again when they think they have ground me down. But then I am paranoid!

ognum

I look at a house in January, I have owned it for 6 weeks. this is a time waster, move on

Daisy70

The buyer has a good point. The alley way should be cleared in order for a thorough survey to be carried out.

Having said that, the buyer is clearly not interested in a speedy sale otherwise he would have given you an time ultimatum and has not done so.

I'd suggest that you ask for the survey to be done within a certain time or you'll pull out and put the property back on the market.

If you put the property back on the market, get the alley cleared.

mrsmchapman

Daisy70 wrote: »

The buyer has a good point. The alley way should be cleared in order for a thorough survey to be carried out.

Having said that, the buyer is clearly not interested in a speedy sale otherwise he would have given you an time ultimatum and has not done so.

I'd suggest that you ask for the survey to be done within a certain time or you'll pull out and put the property back on the market.

If you put the property back on the market, get the alley cleared.

I have to agree with above

lee111s

Decline their offer if a survey isn't done within your specified time frame. Nothing is forcing you to sell to them is it?

Hous

Thanks all. I'll take it on board.
BTW I do not have access to the alleyway, it is gated at the end by a high gate, so I can't personally clear it unless I break in. Believe me I would have if I had access.

Fire_Fox

Speak to Environmental Health at the local council.

LandyAndy

So your 'buyer' is concerned about the state of a piece of land to which neither you nor he nor any other member of the public has access?

What's he going to do next? Tell you to get your other neighbours to tidy their gardens?

He has wasted too much of your time already.

newsgroup_monkey

I'm with Landy Andy. If the EA has no interest in putting it back on the market, find another.

As for those who keep telling the OP to clear the alleyway, I don't think you read the post. The OP has no control over the alleyway and the neighbours have no interest in clearing it.

OP: I think you'll probably get a better offer at this time of year too compared with January when things seemed much slower.

Daisy70

newsgroup_monkey wrote: »

As for those who keep telling the OP to clear the alleyway, I don't think you read the post. The OP has no control over the alleyway and the neighbours have no interest in clearing it.

The reason I said that is because the OP may run into difficulties again with a survey if the alleyway is not cleared. It wouldn't look good to a buyer either, I wouldn't want to buy somewhere that had all that stuff lying around.

Perhaps asking the neighbour again saying that a sale has fallen through because of the mess, might do the trick. A lie, but they don't know that;)