We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Builders have changed their mind after accepting an offer

Hi

Me and my partner put an offer in on a new build a couple of weeks ago which was accepted, because I'm self employed and recently had my year end I've been waiting for my accounts to be finalised before we could go ahead and make sure we were eligible for the mortgage and help to buy.

Once I found everything is alright I rang the builders to pay the reservation fee, once I rang them I was told that no they're not selling it at that price. We have emails stating that they have accepted our offer and I have had to push my accountant for my accounts to be done quicker which has cost me money and also for a financial adviser to do all the affordability checks.

Are they allowed to just change their mind and not sell?
Is there anything I can do? Such as report it to an ombudsman?

Hope someone can help me.
«1

Comments

  • glosoli
    glosoli Posts: 739 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    I guess unfortunately until contracts are exchanged, they can do what they want. I presume you are buying in England?
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Are they allowed to just change their mind and not sell?

    Yes. In the same way that you'd be allowed to just change your mind and not buy.
  • Slithery
    Slithery Posts: 6,046 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Are they allowed to just change their mind and not sell?
    Yes, they can.
    Is there anything I can do? Such as report it to an ombudsman?
    No, you can't.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    glosoli wrote: »
    I presume you are buying in England?

    It doesn't really matter what country they're in - there's nothing resembling a contract here.
  • MobileSaver
    MobileSaver Posts: 4,376 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I've been waiting for my accounts to be finalised before we could go ahead and make sure we were eligible for the mortgage and help to buy.

    Are they allowed to just change their mind and not sell?

    Yes, they are, in exactly the same way that if you discovered you were not eligible for the mortgage you could have changed your mind and decided not to buy.

    Until you get to the point of Exchange of Contracts either party can pull out of the deal without any penalties or comeback.
    Every generation blames the one before...
    Mike + The Mechanics - The Living Years
  • stator
    stator Posts: 7,441 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Write a letter of complaint to head office.
    That's pretty bad customer service but legally there's nothing you can do.
    Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.
  • compensatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttioooooooooooooooon
  • Niv
    Niv Posts: 2,566 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    compensatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttioooooooooooooooon



    Don't be daft
    YNWA

    Target: Mortgage free by 58.
  • sparky130a
    sparky130a Posts: 660 Forumite
    Hi

    Me and my partner put an offer in on a new build a couple of weeks ago which was accepted, because I'm self employed and recently had my year end I've been waiting for my accounts to be finalised before we could go ahead and make sure we were eligible for the mortgage and help to buy.

    Once I found everything is alright I rang the builders to pay the reservation fee, once I rang them I was told that no they're not selling it at that price. We have emails stating that they have accepted our offer and I have had to push my accountant for my accounts to be done quicker which has cost me money and also for a financial adviser to do all the affordability checks.

    Are they allowed to just change their mind and not sell?
    Is there anything I can do? Such as report it to an ombudsman?

    Hope someone can help me.

    Yes they can.

    No you can't.

    I'd start looking elsewhere. And employ a decent broker.
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I think people's responses assume you are in England or Wales.

    The legal situation might be different if you are in Scotland.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.2K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 259K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.