Remuneration due to missed completion?

SmashedAvacado

Seller prepares contract not buyer

Searches were delayed - was that because you didnt send them the monies to get the searches, or because the seller didnt send a copy of the registered title, or because the solicitor failed to get around to doing it.

rcast1989

We sent the money as retainer with the contract back on 01/01/2019 in total. My own opinion is the last option. They just didn't do it. There was never any reason to state otherwise and it is their policy I am guessing to withhold all paperwork that requires signing ( such as the mortgage deed which was sent weeks ago) until the search pack results come back and any queries are answered.

hazyjo

rcast1989 wrote: »

We had moving van paid for and arranged as well as our current rentals new tenant moving in due to our lease ending with 30 days notice to coincide with the promised completion date. So we must move out.

So arrange for 28 days or so (4 weeks) between exchange and completion.

It really is basic knowledge to wait until exchange. You say you've been asking over the last 8 weeks? How on earth would your solicitor know 8 or so weeks ago? They often don't know until a week before the anticipated exchange date.

Sorry but with the contents of the text you posted from them, you don't have a leg to stand on and you are the one in the wrong. You should never take an anticipated exchange date as gospel.

Whose fault would it have been if your vendors had taken the property off the market?! Entirely possible...

Average process takes 12 weeks. Not sure if you're saying yours was 8-ish? Unclear from your text.

Why the rush?!

rcast1989

Its our first home at 29 and 27 with a 10% deposit fronted from our own savings and hard earned money.exchange and completion was due to not take weeks, more like a day at most or even same day (as confirmed by seller solicitor) due to the nature of the property.

Why would we wait and pay an extra months rent in central London on top of having the keys to our home?

CarrieVS

rcast1989 wrote: »

"We aim to complete your matter in a suitable time frame but if there are any issues which prevent us from doing so we will advise you as soon as the same become apparent to us. As your matter proceeds, we will keep you updated where there is a significant change but based on the current information we anticipate that your matter should complete within 6 – 8 weeks." That's an estimate and they specifically raise the possibility of it taking longer. This does not make them liable for missing it.

"To ensure that your expectations are met could you please notify me of any special requirements you may have, such as any important time limits to meet or specific ways to contact you to keep you informed of the transaction’s progress." this is part of our contract from 01/01/2019 This doesn't say they guarantee to keep to any time limit you propose, although it implies they will do their best.

How can we be expected to give notice on a rental if we don't agree at least 4 weeks in advance on an exchange/completion date. You can't. This is specifically why we did set out and agree to such a date. Otherwise we would be paying rent for a month after completion. Most people do when moving from renting to owning - it's just part of the cost of the purchase. Alternatively you could have asked for a delay between exchange and completion, but the seller may not have agreed, especially given what you say below.

Just FYI this is a vacant possession, no onward chain, no previous owner. it is council own new refurb, brand new, never lived in

I'm afraid you have nothing. You open yourself to precisely this risk by giving notice before exchanging, which is why most people don't do it. The only way you might have a claim is if you can prove that the solicitor specifically advised you to do this, (and not just that they said they were still expecting to complete as estimated,) in which case you could possibly try suing - or threatening to - for negligence?

aries_163

Unfortunately when buying whilst currently in rented, an extra months rent should be accounted for in your finances / budgeting.
What would you have done if the seller pulled out 1 day before exchange and you had given notice 3 weeks earlier?
Advice is always to wait until exchange and then give notice as nothing is certain, as you are now unfortunately finding out. It might now coat you more for temp accommodation and storage fees than that extra months rent would have.
I feel for you, as a first time buyer it’s a confusing process and the people we pay for the legal work don’t always seem to communicate in the most efficient way, but you’re just gonna have to put this down to inexperience I think and suck up the extra cost you will incur for temp accommodation/ storage.

pinkteapot

rcast1989 wrote: »

How can we be expected to give notice on a rental if we dont agree at least 4 weeks in advance on an exchange/completion date. This is specifically why we did set out and agree to such a date. Otherwise we owuld be paying rent for a month after completion.

Exchange and completion are not normally on the same day. Normally, you exchange and then complete days or weeks later, with the gap between the two decided (has to be agreed) by all the buyers and sellers in the chain. You could have negotiated with your seller that you need four weeks between exchange and completion because you're in a rental and you need to give notice.

When going from rented to bought it's very difficult to tie up completion precisely with a rental date ending though. You often end up with a short period of overlap - unless the rest of the chain is extremely relaxed on completion dates and happy for you to specify exactly what date you want.

Is there any option to stay in your rental a bit longer - have you asked your landlord? If they haven't found a new tenant yet they might be able to be flexible.

Niv

rcast1989 wrote: »

Its our first home at 29 and 27 with a 10% deposit fronted from our own savings and hard earned money.exchange and completion was due to not take weeks, more like a day at most or even same day (as confirmed by seller solicitor) due to the nature of the property.

Why would we wait and pay an extra months rent in central London on top of having the keys to our home?

To insure against what has just happened to you.

Ian_875

rcast1989 wrote: »

How can we be expected to give notice on a rental if we dont agree at least 4 weeks in advance on an exchange/completion date. This is specifically why we did set out and agree to such a date. Otherwise we owuld be paying rent for a month after completion.

Just FYI this is a vacant possession, no onward chain, no previous owner. it is council own new refurb, brand new, never lived in

For what it's worth, I'm currently a FTB awaiting completion myself on a property with no chain, and I'm more than expecting to have a month where I'm paying both rent and mortgage. I won't even think of putting my notice in until everything is agreed.

Yes, its an extra cost, but ones that factored it. It also means I should hopefully have a month to move things bit by bit and do any odd jobs that need doing without the stress of it all having to be done on the one day

I think you'll have to chalk this one down to an expensive lesson learned and take the hit on some temporary accommodation, or possibly even speak to your landlord and ask if they can extend your lease a few weeks? I know they've got someone lined up, but they might also be willing to wait.

rcast1989

Im not suing I guess we just very let down by people we paid good money to advise us on. We went in with great expectations and should have been advised more appropriately as to the proper procedure.

We feel that it is their blame for giving us false expectations as to the exchange/ completion date. over the past 4 weeks when we specifically asked if it was ok to give our landlord notice.