Exchange problems

Hewes

Hi everyone,


I'm currently in the process of buying my first house, and have come across some issues and would like some advice.


We are due to complete this Friday (30th Oct 2015), however we have still not exchanged. The reason for this (as we have been trying to exchange for several weeks now) is that there is a charging order by the county court on the property. The sellers solicitors have approached the court several times for an amount for the charging order, but despite their "5 working day turn around", the court have not given them a figure. Obviously neither solicitor will exchange without that figure.


However, being all eager and daft, and fully believing that we're moving on Friday, we have arranged everything for then. End of tenancy (actually, that's Monday), removals, utilities etc. Now, it's still conceivable, if not like that they'll get this figure and everything will fall into place, no worries.


However, if not, what should I do. The owner of the property have already purchased and moved into a new house, and are currently busy moving everything out (I drove past the other day and it was in full swing) - so they are not trying to mess me around, they truly want to complete on that day.


Pesky court.


So, my options. Firstly, I'll spare everyone the "you shouldn't count on moving until you exchange" - ok, wrist slapped, I get that. If I don't move on Friday, I lose out financially - I've paid for the removals. However, there is no one ready to move into the property I'm in, so I could easily turn around to my current landlord and say "not moving yet, can we have a few more days please.


Is there any way anyone thinks I could ask to rent the new house in the interim, as ideally I'd love not to loose my payment on the removals company, or have to mess around. I know that the vendor doesn't have to accept this. However as they have no mortgage, they shouldn't have to ask permission to do this. Or am I just living in cloud cuckoo land, and have to live with my mistake, and hope things get sorted in the next 2 days.


Thanks for reading


Hewes

agrinnall

booksurr wrote: »

you can but ask

- current LL if you can stay on

- vendor if you can move in and rent

no one on here can say how either person will respond to your request.

But we can say that any sensible vendor and their solicitor would decline option 2, given the potential complications that could arise that would impact the vendor rather than the OP.

Option 1 may well work, you just need to be aware that the LL could insist on you giving (or at least paying for) the appropriate notice once you extend your tenancy and move into a new rent period.

macman

If they were to rent you the property as you suggest, then you would not be buying it with vacant possession...potential legal minefield. I would never grant a buyer access before completion for this reason.
Not to mention that buying without vacant possession would invalidate your mortgage offer.

ciderboy2009

If the seller's solicitors are contacting the court then I imagine the response they'll finally get will be that they should contact the Claimant to find out the current outstanding balance - courts don't keep running records of how much is owed on each case any more.