Can Homebuilder Force Us To Complete Early?

Dave_Z

Hi all, stressed out FTB here! The title might not sound like an issue to some I'm sure

We viewed and reserved a Persimmon new build in early March at which point we were advised the house should be ready by early May and we could expect to move in from the middle of May. On 9th April Persimmon emailed to advise the house was nearly ready and we'd be moving in by the end of April. Obviously this took us by surprise. I wrote back expressing my concern about the notice we need to give on our rental house and got the below response;

"You will be moving in April. Once you exchange contracts we will give you a fixed date for legal completion and this will be guaranteed."

Our landlord won't allow us a break of contract to let the 30 days notice start immediately and is holding us to 30 days from our renewal day - we're on a rolling month-by-month contract. LL has got a new tenant ready to take over but not until 23rd May which is 16 days after our renewal date, leaving us liable for that period.

My second concern is that we were expecting our first mortgage payment to be in June, but if we're completing by the end of this month it'll be in May and together with the extra rent we'll be liable for is going to put a huge dent in my finances. It'll leave us about £1k worse off in May.

Do I have a leg to stand on in terms of asking Persimmon to contribute to our extra expenses due to them bringing the schedule forward at short notice? Is there anything I can do to force completion at a later date? This is all new to us and are feeling pretty worried about our finances with these added costs. It seems like we're being pushed to complete asap so someone can get their sales figures for April.

T0mmyh

Just tell them you don't want that date for completion. Don't let them dictate the terms. They won't pull out for the sake of a couple weeks

rosie383

The completion date has to be agreed between both parties. Contact your solicitor, tell them that the proposed completion date doesn't work for you, and give them a few proposed dates that suit you.

Annie1960

Developers do tend to dictate the terms on new-builds. As rosie says, talk to your solicitor who may be able to help negotiate a later date.

Pixie5740

Are you certain it's 30 days notice you need to give?

Assuming you are in England or Wales, see Ending AST.

Dave_Z

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Are you certain it's 30 days notice you need to give?

Assuming you are in England or Wales, see Ending AST.

That's how I understand it from my contract and the link you posted. Our tenancy has been SPT for about a year now. It renews on the 7th of each month and we gave notice on the 10 April so just missed the deadline. The LL says our notice doesn't technically begin 'til 7th May so we're liable until the new tenants take over - currently 23rd May but I'm pushing LA to get them in earlier.

I'll speak to solicitor today. We haven't exchanged yet but expect to this week. I've been a little reluctant to start shouting about completion date before we exchange as surely after exchange Persimmon are less likely to throw it away for the sake of a couple of days. We've already stated to our solicitor that we wanted to complete first week of May but we're using Persimmons recommended solicitors so perhaps they aren't operating purely in our best interests.

giraffe69

We haven't exchanged yet but expect to this week. I've been a little reluctant to start shouting about completion date before we exchange as surely after exchange Persimmon are less likely to throw it away for the sake of a couple of days.

But surely you have to set a completion date when you exchange? Once you've done so it is binding on all parties.

Dave_Z

giraffe69 wrote: »

But surely you have to set a completion date when you exchange? Once you've done so it is binding on all parties.

Ah, ok. I'm getting very little info from my solicitor so excuse any naivety. In that case then I'll tell our solicitor now that we want to complete on a set day in May.

In other news the new tenants have agreed to move in on the 9th May! Big improvement and takes the pressure off on one front. If we get a date agreed to complete in May then we're all set and hopefully won't have to reach for the credit cards.

AdrianC

The only extra cost to you will be the rent for the period between your actual competion (late April) and when you expected to move in (mid May) - so you'll be ~2/3 of a month's rent worse off.

Against that, you have a lot more flexibility to actually MOVE. This may reduce your costs drastically.

You suggest that you've not yet exchanged contracts? If that's so, then you still have room to negotiate - although whether they will play ball or not is another question. I doubt they'd lose a sale over a couple of weeks completion date, though. If you have exchanged, then you've already agreed how the completion date is calculated.

Dave_Z

We haven't exchanged, no. I'm still waiting for my solicitor to respond to either my emails or calls about where the contracts she apparently sent last week could be and so we can discuss completion dates. The rent is no longer an issue as our LA managed to get the new tenants to agree to an earlier move. The only issue I'd now have with a completion date in April is that we'd have a mortgage payment due in May. We'd been banking on that first payment being in June so that we'd have more cash available for paying solicitor fees, etc.

john_white

But you won't have rent to pay in May.


I expect your solicitor will want paying before completion, basically all monies (fee's, tax, deposit) will all need to be with the solicitor in April.