So i just opened the door to my new house.

AdrianC

It's quite simple. The seller has not yet given vacant possession, so any issues arising until they DO are their problem.

They aren't a tenant. They aren't a squatter. They're simply a vendor who has failed to provide vacant possession.

Harryp_24

DaftyDuck wrote: »

The OP appears to be taking (in my opinion) a more sensible, relaxed approach than many have advised, and it's one I've had to adopt three times so far. One was a vendor who had built a new build next door, having split a small bit off their original garden, yet still hadn't moved all their stuff, one an elderly lady who was very stressed by selling, one a family who were... well, just too thick to manage it on time.

In all cases, it worked out just fine. It took the neighbours-next-door bunch a couple of weeks to get their last bit of furniture, but they were now my neighbours, and I think the overfamiliarity with both properties had made them too blase about it all; they'd been living in both for some months.

OP... At least plan that the worst may happen, because it might. However, it probably won't, and you'll hopefully have a neighbour sing your praises to her friends, have a willing cat-sitter, and might even get a bottle of cheap plonk out of it. It is probably worth reiterating that Saturday is it, and turning up prepared to change the locks, parents and friends in tow to help move her last bits if needed.

As an aside to others, this is why completing on a Friday isn't the best plan.... Especially when Friday is a Bank Holiday, so it's all shifted forward to Thursday. Next move, you'll be forewarned. Here's hoping this one resolves itself well.

thank you for responding. i really wanted someone who had gone through it before and you put my mind at rest. it might go wrong but seriously unless she is a oscar winning actress, she isnt going to do me wrong.

also to add, i did eventually get through to the estate agent who said that she had confirmed that she had moved out at 11 am. however as she is a vulnerable person, thanked me for being patient and will ring her and tell her she is in breach of contract and has to get moved straight away,

it was a very dissapointing day which i did not expect especially as i took the day off work for it but walking in and seeing people in my own house threw me. my head hasnt been straight for months now with buying it only to be thrown again today. Hopefully everything will be absolutely fine come saturday. shame i had to drink my moving in champagne my mother bought me at my parents house. haha.:beer::beer:

ripplyuk

My worry would be that this lady's insurer would refuse to pay out since she was no longer the legal owner. And the OP's insurer would refuse because they don't live there yet.

I'm just thinking just worst case scenario though.

Sorry to sound like the prophet of doom OP. I'm sure it'll all be fine

Harryp_24

ripplyuk wrote: »

My worry would be that this lady's insurer would refuse to pay out since she was no longer the legal owner. And the OP's insurer would refuse because they don't live there yet.

I'm just thinking just worst case scenario though.

Sorry to sound like the prophet of doom OP. I'm sure it'll all be fine

its ok, i know there are problems with this but apart from driving drunk over there and kicking her out i dont have alot of options.

JP1978

Move in, change ALL the locks. Put all her stuff in one room (or garage if you have one). If she wants to collect her stuff - supervise it, dont allow access on her own.

I would be bloody minded and put her stuff in the street to be honest - i wouldnt care of the legal side of that - but as I don't know the legal side, wouldnt advise you to do it :-)

Imagine if she removes something that causes damage - you would have one hell of a fight with your insurer (or be forced into lying to them). Get in, change the locks.

Regardless of what you do, once you have moved in and regardless of getting this additional key - CHANGE THE LOCKS

Marvel1

Annoying but by tomorrow, all will be done.

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Then speak to someone else in the firm - or failing that, the estate agent

Estate agent has their money, they won't care - not their problem.

freeisgood wrote: »

Get a locksmith to chance the lock asap an

It's easier to change it yourself, if I can do it - youtube is brilliant.

Helen2k8

Wow, I hope none of the brutes in this thread ever have anything go belly up for them.
Yes there are risks to accommodating people, and those risks need to be pointed out but throwing things out on the street and suing? When at least the OP has somewhere to sleep and possessions are safe? Inhuman doesn't even cover it.

PasturesNew

There was a story years ago on MSE where somebody turned up at the house to move in and the family were just sitting down to eat their tea. I can't remember offhand if it was them, or something that happened to a friend.

When I sold a house a few years ago, it was one of those days when the banking system closed down (NatWest).

I wasn't living there, but I'd dossed down on the floor for a couple of nights and was going to remove the final few bits/bobs in my car on the day - I'd already booked a holiday let to move into for a week. There was a knock at the door early in the morning and it was the buyer - asking if he could arrive now/early and put stuff in the garage - he'd only JUST found out that he had to be out of the house he was simultaneously selling that day - he'd planned on taking his time ....

I let him put the stuff in the garage, then, as the time got later, his money didn't arrive as it was all jammed in the bank across the country.

I was OK, I had "two homes" .... he had none and a family ...and half his stuff in a garage by then. I relaxed and went over the road to enjoy a mid afternoon coffee with a neighbour until I got the call to say funds received.

moneyistooshorttomention

Helen2k8 wrote: »

Wow, I hope none of the brutes in this thread ever have anything go belly up for them.
Yes there are risks to accommodating people, and those risks need to be pointed out but throwing things out on the street and suing? When at least the OP has somewhere to sleep and possessions are safe? Inhuman doesn't even cover it.

Just how many people don't realise "completion" means exactly that, ie completion/finito/it's over/house isn't yours any longer and therefore you and all your possessions have to be gone from it?

Surely that's a widely-known fact by now? Surely solicitors/legal executives/even conveyancers tell the buyer "At that point you gotta be gone".

Things can/do "go belly up" in a variety of ways all the time - but that means = something bad happening out of the blue.

Having to move at the point of "completion" is hardly "out of the blue". It's a well-known fact for all of us.

On starter house decades ago - I knew the vendor had to be gone (though I'd been peering through the windows of my house-to-be for weeks in between Exchange and Completion and knew my house was empty anyway). On current house - I knew the house had to have been emptied out when I had driven across country with all my possessions and the arrangement made to change the locks literally about 2 hours after I got here. In turn I had been going through every room in my last house a few hours before expected "Completion" time to check that every last thing had been removed.

Efficient people cannot be expected to adapt to other people being INefficient.

JP1978

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Just how many people don't realise "completion" means exactly that, ie completion/finito/it's over/house isn't yours any longer and therefore you and all your possessions have to be gone from it?

Surely that's a widely-known fact by now? Surely solicitors/legal executives/even conveyancers tell the buyer "At that point you gotta be gone".

Things can/do "go belly up" in a variety of ways all the time - but that means = something bad happening out of the blue.

Having to move at the point of "completion" is hardly "out of the blue". It's a well-known fact for all of us.

On starter house decades ago - I knew the vendor had to be gone (though I'd been peering through the windows of my house-to-be for weeks in between Exchange and Completion and knew my house was empty anyway). On current house - I knew the house had to have been emptied out when I had driven across country with all my possessions and the arrangement made to change the locks literally about 2 hours after I got here. In turn I had been going through every room in my last house a few hours before expected "Completion" time to check that every last thing had been removed.

Efficient people cannot be expected to adapt to other people being INefficient.

Totally agree.