Vendor still wants access after completion

I_have_spoken

When I bought my 1st house, the vendors asked if they could "stay over" the 1st night. My solicitor laughed! No vacant possession = no money transferred to vendor's solicitor.

BitterAndTwisted

Poor woman. She probably has no idea how or when she's going to be able to get everything packed and moved before the completion date. But that's not your problem. You could risk her popping back every weekend for months and months. Either you're willing to put the completion date back so she can clear the house, there's room in the garage and she moves it all there herself before completion, she arranges it to go into storage or you get your solicitor to tell it won't be possible.

ethank

Tell her it is not convenient. She has agreed a completion date of 23 May and needs to be out by then.

TBagpuss

It not normal, and if you allow it to go ahead I would suggest that you speak to your solicitor on Monday and make sure that everything is claerly set out - e.g.
- all keys must be handed over
- the house must be empty and anything she is collecting later limited to one corner of the garage / the garden shed / utility room
- the stuff left must not exceed [set maximum in terms of number of items / specific list / number of boxes]
- you don't accept any responsibility for any loss or damage to anything she leaves
- stuff must be collected no later than [date] and if not removed by that date you will dispose of it and bill her for any cost involved in doing so
-if there is not a fixed date for her to pick it up, it must be at an agreed time with reasonable notice given

If this was just a conversation between you and her then it is unlikely that you are in any way bound by it, so if you have got cold feet, make your solicitor aware and get them to write to her solicitor to make clear that the house must be cleared, and that you reserve the right to dispose of anything left behind at her expense.

J_i_m

I have always has the benefit of a staggered move.

However, the first time was, me moving out of the family home into rented accommodation, and the second time was moving back into family home. Hence I was able to move my things either before or after the official moving date.

The last time, we moved as a family, (down sizing) but sold to within the family, who were good enough to facilitate some storage for us.

I admit though, when I finally get my own place again, I would not be comfortable with allowing who is effectively a stranger to have access after completion date.

Ulfar

Change the locks as soon as you move in.

Others may say it is paranoid, but for my current house the vendor tried to let themselves back in the following day. They were very unhappy and quite rude when my father answered the door and denied them entry.

They claimed it was to pick up an important piece of post, the old man working for the post office at the time advised them to go and put a re-direction in place. Their response was they already had, so draw your own conclusions as to why they wanted to get back in.

In this case better safe than sorry.

I wouldn't be letting them leave anything behind. If you have exchanged it will be with vacant possession as a stipulation of the contract, your solicitor/conveyancer would be highly negligent if it the contract doesn't state this.