Help - vendor won't vacate!

chops05

My Grandad is in the throes of purchasing a property where the vendor has said he will vacate as he is buying a plot of land to built his own property and is not therefore dependant on the sale. Great we thought! The purchaser of my Grandad's property is a FTB and so it is a really short chain.

We are all ready to exchange and now the vendor wants to tie in the purchase of the plot of land and now not vacate! Can he do this? All parties were in agreement for completion of 27th July and now the vendors solicitors are have raised some queries on the purchase of the plot of land it seems like exchange is not going to be happening until these queries have been resolved. As the sale was agreed on the basis that the vendor vacates is there anything we can do to hold him to this?

My Grandad is 84 and does not know about these problems. Its been stressful enough for him to be moving out of a property he has lived in for 40 years let alone be told that he may not be moving on the date he has requested.

alant1000

if you have a completion date sounds like you have exchanged contracts.. if the contract states that the deal has to be complete within a certain time you are probably OK and could contest this, especially if the land deal did not form part of the original chanin, since this can be deemed as a separate bit of conveyancing. However they can still pull out, it just means he looses all his fees, so it depends on how much the guy wants to remain. He is probably thinking that you need him and the deal more than he needs you which is a pain. If you are not in a hurry, then best to ride it so no one looses out, but if you are in a hurry, maybe get your solicitor to go through the fine print to try and catch them out.

---lee---

What vendors/buyers say and do often changes during the course of the sale. As contracts have not been exchanged, ultimately there is nothing you can do to force his hand. My previous experience in buying and selling homes has taught me that people often have hidden agendas which are not revealed until late in the day. I would be vary wary of this vendor – it sounds like he has not decided exactly what he wants yet. Unfortunately, some people are like that and don't care about the problems they cause to others in the chain.

Unless all parties can accommodate the changes/make other plans it’s back to the drawing board. You could always proceed with the sale and look for another property for your Grandad but this may mean him having to move somewhere else temporarily/putting furniture into storage etc which is probably not what you want at his age.

---lee---

chops05 wrote: »

We are all ready to exchange...

alant1000 wrote: »

sounds like you have exchanged contracts..

Does not sound that way to me?

If contracts have been exchanged then there is no issue as the vendor has no option but to vacate on the agreed date as it would no longer be his property.

chops05

no , contracts haven't been exchanged yet we were just given the completion date as a date to aim for.

Just about to call the sales prgressor to get an update on things!

Richard_Webster

When a client tells me that his seller will vacate I am always sceptical.

If it is really important to my client I tell them:

(a) Don't trust anything the estate agents tell you because the seller may have been pressed by them to say he would vacate and he said he might if he really had to and he could find somewhere else, etc. They don't hear the qualifications and say he's agreed to vacate.
(b) Make sure you talk to the seller yourself and make sure he has thought through the implications of vacating - where he would go, etc. If he says something like "I think I could stay with my daughter while the house is being built..." You ask him to check that he can actually do that. If a seller goes through that kind of process, it is more difficult morally for him to pull out because he has thought it through and told you. Of course he may think about it and realise it isn't practical, but at least then you don't proceed with buying his house.

Of course none of this is legally binding, and the seller can lie through his teeth about his intentions, but most people don't. They carelessly say things, not having really considered the implications, and when they do they realise them, they feel whilst its a pain for others, they hadn't really appreciated etc...If they do "count the cost" of moving out and they know you know they have, they are more likely to keep their word...

As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients

chops05

Panic over as contracts have now been exchanged. The problem was with the vendors solicitor advising his client to tie the purchase in but this would have meant that exchange would not have taken place for another few weeks. The vendor isn't actually purchasing a plot of land but a property in a very bad condition and it is not habitable so even if it had have been tied in he would not have been able to live in it. He is vacating and moving in with his parents. Thanks for all your advice, I think I was just panicking!!

---lee---

Sorted - good result!