FTB - About to be stuck in a chain?

TAWBristol

Hi All,

Just after a little bit of general advice..

We had out offer accepted at the beginning of the month, and since then have arranged and been offered our mortgage.

When we viewed the house, we were advised the vendors were looking into buying a new build property on the other side of town ( so we presumed they would then be chain free and move quickly)

Today we have been told that they have had an offer accepted on a house, however, they now need to wait for that seller to find a property - so we have this sinking feeling that things will drag on for a while now and the chain will get bigger.

As we are first time buyers we are pretty flexible in that we are in rented accommodation, however, our contract runs out at the very beginning of July, and ( after 4 years) of being on 12month contracts we obvisouly do not want to sign for another 12 months.
If we go onto rolling monthly contracts, our rent goes up £100 per month...

Is there a way in our position that we can 'move things on' at all?

Can we suggest our vendor rent? - Our vendors boyfriend has also put his house up for sale, and they are now buying together.

Feeling a little confused with the whole 'chain' scenario - and where the end of it might be....

Shakin_Steve

Being in a chain is a very common situation when buying a house. It can be frustrating, but it's just part of the process. As for suggesting that the person who's home you want to buy rents, does he suggest the same to the owner he is buying from? And so on up the chain?
It's a waiting game and I'm afraid that's all you can do.

sulphate

Even without a chain there's no guarantee that you would complete by the beginning of July. House purchases take as long as they take. Sometimes it's 12 weeks or less but 6 months or longer isn't an unheard amount of time.

First time buyers start the chain off so will have to wait the longest.

These threads come up a lot it seems. I actually have no idea why those in a chain free position expect their vendors to incur significant cost by moving their families into rented accommodation just because they don't want to rent anymore themselves! Not to mention disruption by moving twice in a short period of time. First time buyers are the ones that should be flexible, as we were when we bought our first home.

TAWBristol

sulphate wrote: »

These threads come up a lot it seems. I actually have no idea why those in a chain free position expect their vendors to incur significant cost by moving their families into rented accommodation just because they don't want to rent anymore themselves! Not to mention disruption by moving twice in a short period of time. First time buyers are the ones that should be flexible, as we were when we bought our first home.

Yes we are being flexible - I was purely asking a question.

As my post stated we were advised the vendor was buying a new build - this has changed, which is why I asked a question as we did not know we would end up in a chain...

It’s not us expecting anything, just sounding ideas out.

At the end of the day we have no choice but to be flexible..

sulphate

The problem is that vendors are advised to accept an offer on their house before seriously looking at their next purchase. So they may not have actually viewed any houses before you put your offer in and therefore weren't aware what is out there and may have decided the new build wasn't suitable for their needs for whatever reason.

The fact the house is now in a chain may not necessarily mean the process will take longer - at least you don't have to wait for their house to be built!

Good luck

HouseBuyer77

If we go onto rolling monthly contracts, our rent goes up £100 per month...

How come? Moving on to a rolling contract happens automatically at the end of the fixed term, rent and contract terms remain the same. Your landlord cannot just start charging you £100 extra a month.

What they can do though is evict you via S21 (give two months notice, asking you to move out, then apply to court to have you evicted after those two months are up). So if they want to up the rent and you don't they can just evict you (after the fixed term).

Shelter has some information: http://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/rent_increases

So it's a bit of a game of bluff. Would the landlord really want to kick out a good tenant? I'm guessing you're paying market value rent anyway? So it's not like the landlord could actually rent it to anyone else for £100 a month extra.

TAWBristol

We were advised last year ( after our 3rd year) that if we went to rolling monthly contract, the rent went up £100.

If we stuck to 12 months, then the rent went up £25 a month.

It leaves us in a catch 22 really - we'll have no option but to go on rolling, and pay through the nose for it.

Personally I think its the letting agent rather than the landlord pulling the strings!

mysterymurdoch

You don't need to pay the £100 extra a month, it's unreasonable. And if the LL really thinks they can get that much from someone else and starts trying to evict you it'll take months anyway, by which time you could well have the house buy all sorted.

jackjassiek

Hi


I understand your situation. You can only choose to wait or walk away. (wait in chain or wait for the new built to be done can be equally long)


I had similar situations.
In February, I made an offer of the first house. Our previous seller told us that the seller would move out to rent as soon as possible/ when the paperwork from my side is ready to exchange. Our previous seller would buy a new built.
In the beginning of April (just before we exchange the contract), the seller denied to move and wanted to exchange the contract, with completion on notice!. The new built has been in the foundation laid stage only! (= we may have to wait until December or the beginning of next year or longer!)
I do not like this kind of situation and dishonest seller. If I know this from the beginning, I would not make an offer. Although I suggested the owner to put the completion date on September. (5months waiting) The seller did not compromise at all. Thus, I pulled out. Now, I am so happy and I got a new better house without chain (seller has probate) and I am ready to move in very soon!




Please note that I was living in a student accommodation 12 months contract. I will also have to move out in September. There is no rolling contract month by month to negotiate.

AdrianC

TAWBristol wrote: »

When we viewed the house, we were advised the vendors were looking into buying a new build property on the other side of town ( so we presumed they would then be chain free and move quickly)

No, they had a downward chain - they were reliant on you buying their house to be able to buy the newbuild.

They were just "looking at buying"? So weren't committed at all? No great surprise - they wouldn't have been able to commit without completing their downward chain.

As it happens, they've not committed on the newbuild, and now have an upward chain, too.

You were always going to be in a chain - because you were buying off somebody who was buying somewhere else. It's just now a longer upward chain...

illusionek

You can always try to revise your offer as the previous one was placed under assumption that they were moving to the new-build and now chain will be considerably longer. I doubt very much they will go for it but you never now.