Vendor won't exchange, advice

rosie383

There should be no reason why she couldn't get a place in year 1 is there? Wait and move the one time and apply to the LA for any available place for reception and she will probably love every minute at that age. And as soon as you can, apply to get a place at your school of choice. Better that than losing thousands in rent. And less stress too if you only have to move once. And you never know, things can suddenly start falling into place and the chain may be ready to complete in time.

TheCyclingProgrammer

rosie383 wrote: »

There should be no reason why she couldn't get a place in year 1 is there? Wait and move the one time and apply to the LA for any available place for reception and she will probably love every minute at that age. And as soon as you can, apply to get a place at your school of choice. Better that than losing thousands in rent. And less stress too if you only have to move once. And you never know, things can suddenly start falling into place and the chain may be ready to complete in time.

Yes, whilst I highly doubt we'll exchange by the change of address cut off (6th Feb - there is a bit of leeway but no guarantees after this date), I'm hopeful we will get her in on waiting list. The chances of her getting a Year 1 place at the school we want aren't that different to her getting a reception place, but we may have more chance when she gets to year 3 as the junior school admits an extra 4 places (plus there isn't any guarantee that all 60 year 2 children from the infants will move there), if worst comes to worst.

I've spent some time looking at the OFSTED reports of some of the less good schools in the area - if she's going to go to a not so good school I'd much rather it was one close by than miles away, so need to be smart about our third and fourth preference. One of the local infant schools rated as "requires improvement" has a lot of movement on their waiting list (20% army children) and from what I can tell, is on the up. Might be a wise choice to put down.

Your comments are reassuring though, thank you. I do realise that just because the school doesn't have the greatest OFSTED rating, that it isn't necessary a bad school and even if the teaching isn't perfect, all the schools in the area appear to be safe and friendly.

Hoploz

Don't get me started on OFSTED!

(ex-primary-teacher and recently ex-school-governor here)

gibson1

If it was just a verbal agreement that they move out by a certain time, then they have no obligation to keep that agreement unfortunately.

However, you could let them know that you are considering pulling out, as they are not honoring their original agreement, unless you can all come to an agreement over a timescale that is suitable for everybody.

keepsim

gibson1 wrote: »

If it was just a verbal agreement that they move out by a certain time, then they have no obligation to keep that agreement unfortunately.

However, you could let them know that you are considering pulling out, as they are not honoring their original agreement, unless you can all come to an agreement over a timescale that is suitable for everybody.

I am exactly in similar situation , Is there any way to legally bind them on move out date ?

Today they can say to get ball rolling that they will move out by x date but what if they dont ?

I am first time buyer , just like to understand on completion date does vendor has to hand over keys as well ?

derbyshirenick

I wouldn't stress too much about OFSTED ratings. Go for look arounds and your gut is way more important than what the spreadsheets say.

Ours were at a top school. I forget what the OFSTED word for it is, but its the best one, outstanding or excellent I forget.

Anyway... while yes they tick all the ofsted boxes there was something that wasn't quite right, it lacked warmth. We just felt like the school operated fully focused on its ofsted rating and not so much on what is actually best for the children i.e. a warm, friendly and fun environment for them to develop life skills.

When we moved area the school was only "good" but we found it to be a much warmer, friendly and child focused place.

I know my experience is irrelevant but all I am saying is as long as its not got a poor rating I wouldn't worry, go have a look around and follow your gut. Much like buying a house the one that's best on paper and the one that makes you go "this is the one" when you walk in the door are often very different.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Re: above, yes, I know what you are saying. We are going to go and look at some of the less rated schools in early January - the less popular ones which we may be given a place at initially as it may allay our fears somewhat. Of the two that are most likely to have a place, the infants seem a lot better than the juniors and both seem to be improving too so - if we can't get our daughter into our preferred school at infants, we may have a chance at juniors as there is a few more places on offer then.

We've definitely ruled out renting due to the cost and disruption. Our vendors have looked at once place over the weekend which they weren't interested in but have another viewing lined up for a property that's just come on the market. The EA seemed hopeful but I know its right near the top end of their budget so fingers crossed for this one and it being a relatively short chain!

derbyshirenick

keepsim wrote: »

I am exactly in similar situation , Is there any way to legally bind them on move out date ?

Today they can say to get ball rolling that they will move out by x date but what if they don't ?

I am first time buyer , just like to understand on completion date does vendor has to hand over keys as well ?

You are not locked into a legally binding date until you exchange contracts. At that point the vendor must legally be out on the agreed date.

The unfortunate thing is, and I know as ive just been through this myself a few weeks ago. Chances are you might not exchange until a week or less before completion so there is a big element often of just having to hope people stick to their agreements. If you can and want to there is nothing to stop you having a big lead-time between exchanging and completing so you have lots of notice for letting termination etc. I cannot speak for all but certainly in my transaction the solicitors didn't seem too worried about not getting the deal confirmed until right at the last minute. I had certain assurances as I knew the vendors were financially locked in to the sale and completion date but if they were not... i would have had even less sleep