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

oldMcDonald

Gilly_VV wrote: »

We are losing around £5K alltogether... that is best case if the people in the chain let us go as we signed a contract with them already...

If you are saying that you have exchanged with the people you want to buy from then, along with everything else that you have said, this thread has got to be a wind up.

I can't imagine that a solicitor would advise you do this before exchanging on your own property.

RAS

You are not the victims.

You are fully responsible for this mess. When you provide vital legal information, you need to get it right. Even more so when you already "know there is a problem".

m0t

Gilly_VV wrote: »

OK so what as if she did not know she may lose it or as if someone forced her to pay. Can you please stop making a monster out of me (it's entertaining I see). We are a victim in this case not the abuser.
She had a survey & all the searches done which came out excellent as the flat is very well looked after. The only thing is this lease typo on the information leaflet and now should it cost us our life plans?

You are not the victim she is. The fact that everyone has already told you that is a big clue.

If everyone tells you the sky is blue but you think its green then its time to get your eyes checked...

powerful_Rogue

PasturesNew wrote: »

I can turn when proper annoyed.

I suggest you take a step back. Its only an internet forum!

sulphate

It's not a typo though is it, it's nothing but a guess.

You are not a victim, the sooner you stop being so dramatic the sooner you are to coming to terms with your situation.

Again, you must take at least some of the responsibility.

I really hope you have not exchanged on your would-have-been next house.

Gilly_VV

We did not have any idea what the lease term was. Why should I lie about it? I only know that the extension was very expensive so we did not proceed but this could easily come from the freeholder being mad (we are in a dispute re maintenance costs which are unreasonably high for the service he provides). Whatever we put on the form (which was not a legal document just piece of paper for information & for the survey and valuation process) could easily be a typo - what then?

moneyistooshorttomention

Now wondering if indeed this thread is a wind-up instigated by computer manufacturers. By the time we have all thrown things at our computer screens in sheer frustration at OP's absolute refusal to show any sense of personal responsibility at all and then had to go out and buy new p.c. screens...:rotfl:

Moonraker71

Hi Gilly. I'm sorry that your chain has broken down - whatever the circumstances, this is surely a nightmare at the best of times, let alone when you're pregnant and so far along the process. But I think the reason that people are getting annoyed at you is because you have contradicted yourself by saying you didn't know the length of the lease and referring to it as a "typo" then in other posts claiming to be "aware of the issue" and even admitting that you'd looked into the cost of extending the lease in the past, with the costs being "crazy". This implies that you *did* have some knowledge about the potential issues a short lease can cause.

If I was your buyer, I would be furious. A 70 year lease means a potential payout of about £15,000 to extend, and she would almost certainly have to do this before she could sell the flat on in the future. However, I will say that she does bear some responsibility for not getting this checked out earlier on. Whether this is down to her or her solicitor, who knows, but to find out this information just days before exchanging contracts is bewildering.

Ultimately, I feel sorry for you, even if no-one else does. Giving you the benefit of the doubt, I think you've probably made a gigantic error of judgement rather than deliberately setting out to be deceitful, perhaps.

But I do feel you need to take some responsibility for the situation, instead of blaming her. Ultimately, this has happened because you put false information on your form, regardless of the circumstances under which you did that. I don't think people would be so harsh if you held your hands up and said, you know what, we made a massive !!!!-up. Lesson learned.

patricia..xx

To give you the benefit of the doubt, you have been spectacularly naive.

If you want advice on how to fix this, I would say you need to make enquiries about how to extend the lease, and probably start that process. Look at http://www.lease-advice.org/

Also, prepare to be in for the long haul in getting your flat sold. You will be living in it with a new baby, which will be fine, they don't take up any room at all. But give up any thought of selling just now, concentrate on the lease extension, then the new baby when it arrives.

You are getting angry at the wrong person - this is your own fault, ignore that if you want to but you are now the only person who can put it right and move on, so look at the website I mention and get on with it. By the time your baby is 6 mths old you can have this sorted and be living somewhere lovely but only if you recognise where this went wrong.

Gilly_VV

No we did not EXCHANGE THE CONTRACTS with the next buyer and I have never said so. We signed a deposit contract putting a small deposit amount in to secure the deal and the sellers also did.