Buyer pulled out of the property purchase last minute - what can be done?

moneyistooshorttomention

Well....a lease extension isn't a necessity if OP stays in the flat. We can assume that a 70 year lease will be sufficient to "see her out" for the remainder of her days.:cool:

gayleanne

No one can be this stupid, it is school holidays remember

RAS

:d:d:d:d

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

well....a lease extension isn't a necessity if op stays in the flat. We can assume that a 70 year lease will be sufficient to "see her out" for the remainder of her days.:cool:

:d:d:d:d

PasturesNew

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Well....a lease extension isn't a necessity if OP stays in the flat. We can assume that a 70 year lease will be sufficient to "see her out" for the remainder of her days.:cool:

You clearly don't know anybody over 40 .... if the potential buyer's middle-aged and if we assume that means about 50-55 ... then it's likely she'll be moving in about 10-15 years to something else. She's probably got another 30-40 years of property owning ahead of her and is unlikely to stay in one she buys now forever.

NervousHomeowner

The reason the length of the lease matters isn't anything to do with dependents or it running out - it is that a lease is expensive to renew. At only 70 years, she is likely to have to renew it at some point because a short lease will reduce the value of the property and if short enough, may mean that it is unmortgageable, therefore making it very difficult to sell in the future.

With regards to being told to just put down 90 years and then it would all be checked by her solicitors, what did you really think would happen when the buyer found out about the actual length of the lease? You must have known that, at that point, there was a strong chance she would pull out?

giraffe69

(I still cannot understand though why someone without dependents should be annoyed with the property rights which are clearly sufficient for the lifetime).

Some years down the line she tries to sell to move to sheltered accommodation and the lease is 20 years shorter than she believed and you can't see this would be a problem?
When you guessed the number ot put on the form did you not have access to the information from when you bought the flat as to how long the lease was?
If you either try to sell to someone else who knows the lease is 70 years or try to extend the lease you will then have a clearer idea as to how much cash is involved here.
When you post about
a. how you guessed the length of the lease
b. how you couldn't understand why it mattered
c. how you would like to report the misled buyer to the immigration department or similar
you can't really be that surprised at a distinct lack of sympathy.

Oh and when you comment on how nice people are in post 21 what do you think your ex-potential buyer is thinking or saying?

sulphate

Gilly_VV wrote: »

Ok I admit that the argument about middle aged was too harsh and unfair (I still cannot understand though why someone without dependents should be annoyed with the property rights which are clearly sufficient for the lifetime).
And of course I will not report her anywhere. I got her phone number from the agents trying to discuss amicably but she did not listen at all and started crying and shouting.
We are losing ££££ I am afraid so of course I am emotional!

Because she may not be thinking of it as a forever home so will find it difficult to sell on.

The EA gave you very bad advice but I am frankly unsurprised. Next time you have a question to answer on the forms you are unsure of either find out for definite or ask your conveyancing solicitor. And don't buy anything for a new place until you have at least exchanged.

The fact you are pregnant is of no relevance or importance to your buyer.

Can you renew the lease?

Gilly_VV

DH is the sole owner of the flat and we were not even together when he bought it. We made a written enquiry about the lease extension a couple of years ago but the amount quoted was just crazy (freeholder lives in the same house and we are not on good terms!) Honestly we never asked the freeholder about the lease term and when DH bought the flat no-one told him this might be an issue.

RAS

Gilly_VV wrote: »

We made a written enquiry about the lease extension a couple of years ago but the amount quoted was just crazy (freeholder lives in the same house and we are not on good terms!)

So you have a very good idea of exactly how much money you were attempting extract from this woman?

Were you hoping that since she is not UK, she would not understand the consequences of the short lease?

m0t

Gilly_VV wrote: »

DH is the sole owner of the flat and we were not even together when he bought it. We made a written enquiry about the lease extension a couple of years ago but the amount quoted was just crazy (freeholder lives in the same house and we are not on good terms!) Honestly we never asked the freeholder about the lease term and when DH bought the flat no-one told him this might be an issue.

So you knew that the cost of the lease extension was 'crazy' but are surprised when your buyer pulls out? Your buyer probably thinks you were trying to screw her over, and so do I.