Four months between exchange and completion

Opash1986

Hi,

Hope someone can help. We're due to exchange tomorrow (13/3/18) on a house but don't want to complete until 27/7/18. This is because the seller is moving in to a house that hasn't been built yet but will have by this date.

The traditional and mainstream insurers seem to have an issue with this four and a half month period and we can't get insurance so cannot yet exchange. Does anyone know of any specialist companies where you can get cover for this period between exchange and completion?

Thanks!

davidmcn

Isn't an alternative to get the sellers to take on the risk instead? I know the norm in England & Wales is that the purchasers take on the risk (even though they don't live there yet and have got s0d all ability to control what's going on) but that doesn't mean it's compulsory.

diggingdude

could you not delay exchanging?

eddddy

diggingdude wrote: »

could you not delay exchanging?

I expect that everyone (especially the newbuild developer) wants certainty that the transactions will happen.

There is no certainty until contracts are exchanged - before that, anyone can change their mind.

Opash1986

Yeah thats exactly right. The new build company wants the exchabge to be done asap although the house isnt ready until June/July. I suspect we could bring forward the completion date but don't want to let the sellers suffer.

saajan_12

Opash1986 wrote: »

..don't want to complete until 27/7/18. This is because the seller is moving in to a house that hasn't been built yet but will have by this date.

Are you sure the house will be built by that date or is 27July a long stop date? Will your sellers will have a fixed completion date, or 'completion on notice'? What happens if the build under/overruns, which is frequently the case?

Even with a fixed completion in your transaction with the seller, you'd be compensated if the seller isn't able to give you vacant possession but it's still a lot of hassle finding temporary accommodation, keeping ALL receipts etc. With completion on notice, you don't know the date until the notice is received, so need to keep alternative accommodation options open.

Alternative is for seller to break the chain and move out into rented accommodation. Sooner the better, as its hard to get very short term rentals. Currently they could still use it for ~4 months with some overlap to allow smooth move in

pink_pirlie

saajan_12 gives good advice. Not that this answers your original question about insurance ...

Our vendor is / was buying new build and in mid January we were told w/c 19th Feb for completion. We decided to not hold up the sale of mine and put all our stuff into storage and moved into temporary accommodation.
We are still waiting and have no idea how long our purchase is going to take.
The new build was taking so long and was no where near completed the vendor is now buying a different property on the same retirement development that is a probate property.
I am getting fed up of living out of one small room!!