FTB - exchanged but cannot complete

immy75

First time poster so please be kind!

We are in the process of buying a property and have exchanged (one week ago today) and our deposit is with the Conveyancers/Solicitors. We are FTB and are ready to move. We paid our deposit as soon as the completion was offered as we knew it would take at least 5 days for the money to be requested from our mortgage company and we didn't want this process to hold up our completion date (which at the time we believed was just over a week away).

Our seller knows that we must leave our rented accommodation this week, we were originally told a completion date of 20th October, then 27th of October; now we haven't been given a date at all. The house he is buying at the top of the chain was owned by someone now deceased and the delay was apparently due to waiting for a Grant of Probate. The Grant of Probate was due back last Tuesday 24th and now every time we contact (myself, estate agents and our solicitors) his solicitors we are told they are still waiting for this and they have no further update.

I have tried to push for more information; perhaps a ballpark idea of how long this process could take (days, weeks, months) and no one will tell me anything or commit to dates or timescales.

I feel like we are over a barrel; we now have to pay for moving, storage costs, temporary rented accommodation (that we have no idea how long we need it for) and then a final move when the sale finally goes through.

With all due respect to our seller, the issues he is having with top of chain are really nothing to do with us. Is there no time limit on a exchange > completion at which point reasonably he must move out?

Perhaps you'll tell me that there is nothing we can do and this is the way the system works (I expect this is what you'll say) but the stress and the anxiety this is causing us is just unbelievable and is stretching us massively financially. Is there anything we can do/say that can either speed up this process or give us answers?

Thank you.

Lokolo

Sorry but an exchange doesn't happen without a completion date, and therefore I don't believe you have exchanged.

Edit - and because of this you shouldn't have paid for movers etc. and you shouldn't have handed in your notice for your rental accomondation

Surrey_EA

Are you sure you have exchanged contracts? There is a difference between signing contracts, and contracts being exchanged.

Once exchange of contracts has taken place the completion date is fixed and cannot be moved.

What completion date did your solicitor tell you had been fixed for completion?

Fosterdog

What was the actual completion date agreed upon when you exchanged contracts? Whatever that was they cannot change it without penalty so if they fail to complete you can claim your expenses from them, including any temporary accommodation, storage costs, and any additional moving costs you wouldn’t have had if they hadn’t breached the contract.

What has your solicitor said about it? They really should be getting this sorted for you.

Scotbot

If you have exchanged then you have a completion date, if the vendor fails to meet it you get your deposit back or you could request costs in return for a later date which will come out of the deposit.

Are you sure you have exchanged or is the money sitting with the solicitor still? Just because you have paid the deposit to the solicitor does not mean tbe exchange happened. I suspect it hasn't which means you are stuck

immy75

I understand I shouldn't have given notice on my rented accommodation but we had a three month notice to give and when our mortgage was accepted, perhaps naively (granted), I assumed that three months would be enough time for this process to complete. We currently rent in London so the idea of paying a mortgage and back payments on a house we potentially wouldn't be living in was not a situation I wanted!

Based on what you're saying it doesn't sounds like we have exchanged, but the problem here is that the seller is refusing to as he obviously doesn't want to move out and have to pay the rental charges that we are now stuck with.

I guess going back to my original overriding question in this case; is there any way to speed up the process still?

Thanks

Lokolo

No there isn't. You could give a deadline but and threaten to pull out, but that doesn't leave you with anything.

Surrey_EA

It sounds like exchange has not taken place.

If there is someone further up the chain waiting for grant of probate, it is difficult to predict how long this will take.

It will depend on how committed your seller is to the transaction. They may be persuaded to go ahead with the sale before their onward purchase is ready. Although more likely they will want to wait until probate has been granted, and their purchase can happen at the same time as their sale. Meaning you will have to wait until all is resolved.

If probate is holding matters up, the answer to your question is no there isn't anything you can do to speed things along.

Cakeguts

You will have to ask your solicitor whether you have actually exchanged contracts. It doesn't sound as if you have because the completion date is set at that time. Grant of probate takes as long as it takes and there is nothing you can do to speed it up.

Slithery

You need to contact your letting agency or landlord and see if they would be willing to let you stay in your current rented accommodation until the sale is sorted - they may want paying extra for this.

This is why you should never give notice until after you've exchanged.

elverson

Is someone lined up to move into your current place? If not can you just ask to stay put for now?