Holding Deposit

mff369

Hi, I accepted an offer on a new build property and asked for a holding deposit.My solicitor informed me that the buyer had paid £3000 to his solicitor as the deposit.
After 8 weeks the buyer has pulled out and my solicitor has not been able to speak to the buyer's solicitor saying they won't return his call.
He went on to say that they may have placed the deposit as a goodwill gesture,just to show how keen they were.

I have not heard from my solicitor for about 5 days now and think that he is not interested in pursuing the deposit.
Nothing had been drawn up legally as my solicitor did not advise to do so.
As soon as I accepted the offer the buyer requested that I stop marketing the property.Now they have pulled out I have lost 8 weeks of advertising + incurred my solicitor's fees.

kingstreet

So, you are a builder and you requested a reservation fee on a newbuild property?

What were the terms of the reservation?

Do you adhere to the Consumer Code For HomeBuilders?

http://www.consumercodeforhomebuilders.com/

mff369

Hi, I am a small developer building a property then selling before i can move on to the next project.
I asked for the holding deposit to see how committed the buyer was.I did not ask for £3000 but that is what they deposited with their solicitor.
I am not a member of the consumer code for homebuilders.
I felt that we had made a verbal agreement which i would always honour even if someone came in with a higher offer.
It's a shame that not everyone acts in a gentlemanly way.

kingstreet

The larger builders request a reservation fee of £250, perhaps £500 and they refund the bulk of it if the buyer decides not to proceed. They follow the Code I linked to.

If you do not provide a written agreement, I can't really see what you can do about this. English Law permits the purchase or vendor to withdraw from a contract before it is exchanged.