Is this Legal???

Big_John_246

Morning All

My daughter and son in law have just put a deposit down on a new build home, with a well known builder.

When they spoke with the agent he said the house comes with the following incentives, Stamp Duty paid, free upgrade kitchen, £4,000 to spend carpets and tiles, Back lawn turf, and 10% towards legal fees.

My daughter told the agent that they were using there own mortgage broker and solicitor the agent said that was fine and my daughter signed to go ahead with the sale, only my daughter signed as my son in law was away with work.

After a week the builders, Head Office have now said if my daughter does not use there mortgage provider and solicitor they lose all the incentives.

Are they allowed to do this, it seams along the lines of blackmail and unfair trading.

Hope someone can advise as to were they stand.

Kind Regards

John

rtho782

I'd never use their solicitors. Mortgage broker perhaps.

If they did not make this clear when signing I'd ask for the reservation fee back as they are retrospectively changing the deal. They will probably then cave, but be prepared to walk away if not.

kingstreet

They cannot insist you use particular solicitors or broker.

However, they can incentivise you to use them. In this case, is this a formal reservation if not signed by all parties?

If it isn't, your daughter should ask for a refund of the entire fee and walk away if unsatisfied.

If it is, the builder, assuming they are bound by the Consumer Code for Home Builders, cannot cancel the reservation or alter it to suit itself.

http://consumercodeforhomebuilders.com/

Lunchbox

Check the paperwork that was signed or the small print of the advertising. We were offered incentives but the small print on the advert did stipulate it was subject to us using the recommended broker and solicitor. In our case the incentives weren't large enough for us to want to do that.

AnotherJoe

I think it comes down to what the Ts&Cs of the agreement she signed say. If they do say its dependent upon mortgage provider, she could always check out what the deal is, maybe it's no worse or even better than what she currently has. If they don't have this condition, she can tell them to spin.

Then, when she knows the facts,and factoring in how much they like this property, she'll be in a better position to negotiate which probably either means caving in, forcing them to stick to what they agreed or walking,