Can vendor delay move?

always_sunny

katvet wrote: »

I appreciate our mortgage fees are not the vendors' problem, but the fees were a factor in choosing their property as we knew there was no onward chain. There's no tenants, the vendors live in the property. They have a grandchild due around early January so want to be able to spend time with their daughter, not moving house.

All of that is irrelevant for them; any decision or action you took before the contract exchange was/is your decision. The seller can walk away from the deal the day of the exchange and there's no much you can do. You can put pressure but I guess you have already done so?

marksoton

katvet wrote: »

I appreciate our mortgage fees are not the vendors' problem, but the fees were a factor in choosing their property as we knew there was no onward chain. There's no tenants, the vendors live in the property. They have a grandchild due around early January so want to be able to spend time with their daughter, not moving house.

So you've got an agenda, and they have their own. I'd suggest some sweet talking is needed....

AnotherJoe

Sounds to me as if you need to make an ultimatum, but in the nicest possible way to avoid an emotional reaction from them.

"Due to our circumstances we will lose a considerable sum of money if we haven't completed by (say) Jan 10th and to ensure that, we need to exchange by (say) Nov 20th. If you cannot agree to that then either we will be forced to withdraw our offer or reduce it by £22k. Sorry about that but we did stipulate this in the original agreement we made. If you can't agree to this by end of next week we'll need to purchase an alternative property and we are already looking / have one ready / are in an position to make an offer on another property in case you can't make these dates.

To be clear, if completion date is not agreed to be by (say) Jan 10 then (or whatever your stopgap date is) then even if we do not have another option and delays occur, our offer will be reduced by £22k as that amount was factored into this completion date at the latest. Sorry about that but we thought we had made that clear when we agreed the sale on (date x). "

Doozergirl

katvet wrote: »

I appreciate our mortgage fees are not the vendors' problem, but the fees were a factor in choosing their property as we knew there was no onward chain. There's no tenants, the vendors live in the property. They have a grandchild due around early January so want to be able to spend time with their daughter, not moving house.

You've put yourself in this predicament by completing on your own sale and putting the safety of £22k in your vendors' hands. I can't think of many people I'd trust with that!

Can santander be sweet talked to extending? I know we've had 6 month periods in the past - much more realistic.

Guest101

katvet wrote: »

We had an offer accepted on a property about a month ago. We made it clear at the time that we must be living in that property within three months of completion on our previous home, so Santander pay back the astronomical fine (over £22k!) we have for ending our fixed term mortgage early, and this is written in the offer letter from the estate agents. Our sale completes next Monday, we weren't in a chain to sell and we're not in a chain to buy either. The vendor is downsizing into a property they already own, we're renting until completion. Obviously I have no idea how long conveyancing work will take but the house is only about 20 years old so hopefully nothing major will come up. The vendor initially said they were looking to move after Christmas, but they now want to wait until end of January as this will be more convenient for them. This is worrying close to our three month limit from the bank; if there were any delays at all we would no longer be eligible for a refund on our fine from them - our mortgage offer etc is based on us having this money back in the bank! If we're ready to move immediately and the buyer already owns their new home, then (pending conveyancing) are they 'allowed' the delay completion just for the own convenience?! Their house had been on the market for a long time before we made an offer so it's not exactly a surprise that they need to move their belongings out!

Ignoring everything else (since it's cosmetic) until you exchange contracts, with a set completion date, the seller or the buyer can delay or withdraw from the deal - with no repercussions


(Not in Scotland though)

Guest101

I get the feeling the OP thinks £22k is more important than the sellers family visiting.


Now obviously there's ways to look at it, but I suspect the vendor wont agree, and that's where the (patent pending) "G_M tea and cake" option comes in to it.

kingstreet

katvet wrote: »

Our sale completes next Monday

Your sale is only a month-old and you are completing next week when you have no confirmed onward move?

Why?

I would not be completing without at least exchanging contracts on my purchase, so I at least know I have a confirmed completion date.

You appear to be contributing to your own issue with this ERP refund by completing the sale earlier than you need/should.

davidmcn

Guest101 wrote: »

Ignoring everything else (since it's cosmetic) until you exchange contracts, with a set completion date, the seller or the buyer can delay or withdraw from the deal - with no repercussions

(Not in Scotland though)

No, the same principles apply in Scotland. We just tend to be in a contract at an earlier stage than the English.

Richard_Webster

Your sale is only a month-old and you are completing next week when you have no confirmed onward move?

Why?

Good question!

Another point - has OP checked that the penalty will come back immediately on completion of the new purchase. Some of these penatlies are only refunded a month or so after completion of the new mortgage.

marksoton

Is it just me or does a £22k charge for leaving a mortgage deal early that has 1.5 years to run seem massively excessive?