Two year long stop date

minirisks

Some of you might already read my previous post. I bought an apartment in Oxford which will complete in Oct. 2017. The developer added a long stop date in the contract which is 2 years in the contract and promised the property will be completed in Oct. I still feel uncertain at this point, as the two year long stop date is too long. Is two years long stop date reasonable? Are there any laws that state how long the long stop period should be? Thanks.

davidmcn

Seems excessive if it's meant to be ready within a few months. There are no laws about reasonableness or whether there even ought to be a longstop date, you seek independent advice and try to negotiate these things before entering into a contract.

SquirrelRM

If you have signed the contract then you have accepted the terms of the contract and are therefore stuck with the 2 year long stop date. I do however feel a 2 year long stop is a bit excessive!

Thrugelmir

As it's approaching the end of July. The current progress of the development should be very apparent. The terms are most likely standard. Your solicitor would obviously renegotiate this particular term. As you aren't buying off plan.

pinkfluffybabe

Our lawyer got our developer to shorten our long stop date to the date our mortgage offer expired.

minirisks

SquirrelRM wrote: »

If you have signed the contract then you have accepted the terms of the contract and are therefore stuck with the 2 year long stop date. I do however feel a 2 year long stop is a bit excessive!

I have not signed the contract yet, as I still feel uncertain about the two-year long stop date. However, if I pull out because of uncertainty, I might lose reservation fees and solicitor feels (in total about 4000GBP). Is there anyway to get the reservation fees back?

minirisks

pinkfluffybabe wrote: »

Our lawyer got our developer to shorten our long stop date to the date our mortgage offer expired.

Did you use the solicitor that was recommended by the estate agency? My solicitor claimed that "the two year long stop date" protects both the buyer and the seller's interest. I paid 4000GBP reservation fees and solicitor fees. I am worried I will lose the 4000GBP if I do not accept the term and pull out.

minirisks

Thrugelmir wrote: »

As it's approaching the end of July. The current progress of the development should be very apparent. The terms are most likely standard. Your solicitor would obviously renegotiate this particular term. As you aren't buying off plan.

My solicitor was recommended by the estate agency. She claimed "the two year long stop date" protected both the buyer and the seller's interest. And when I aksed her to change the two-year into six months because of the cash flow issues, she refused. She said “two years are pretty standard.” I am now thinking about pulling out, but I am worried that I might lose 4000GBP reservation fees and solicitor fees. Is there any chance to get the money back?

G_M

As well as insisiting on a more realistic and acceptable date, you might also consider switching to a conveyancer who is actually 100% on your side.

Using one reccommended by the seller, or the seller's estate agent (the EA is paid by the seller, not you) is never wise.

If the plan is for the build to complette in Oct this year there is absolutely no reason for a 2 year date. OK, build-timescales can slip. The weather might be bad. A sub-contractor might let the developer down etc. So it's reasonable to allow some lee-way.

But Oct is 3 mnths away. Doubling that to 6 months would be generous. But 2 years? :eek:

That suggests either that

* a standard template contract is being used, to include situations where the build has not even started yet, in which case it should be amended, or

* the developer has such little faith in his planning that he might actualy need 2 years!