Handing in notice JUST after completion

itsjen

Hi all, a slight pickle here. My partner and I are FTB and we're in the process of buying a really lovely house. Everything's sorted, and we were meant to complete in April, but the buyers asked for a May 20th finish - I'm presuming that is completion and exchange, but I've contacted my conveyancer to clarify for sure.

I'm a teacher but I decided whilst we were in the process of buying that I am unhappy and would (ideally) like to leave teaching. I may be getting two job offers (or not) by next week. The deadline for handing in my notice is May 31st in order to leave in July. I will still be paid until the end of August, however, so 4 months of pay after my notice. My partner has a steady good income that covers our expenses for the house + mortgage, and we'll have about £8-10k put away by August as long as nothing unexpected happens to any costs on top of the mortgage while I jobsearch if necessary. My main point: to avoid issues with the mortgage company, would I be legally able to hand in my notice anytime after the 20th (i.e. the presumed completion date) without this violating our contract? I believe the first mortgage payment would also come out before the 31st.

Please note, I am very open (albeit unhappy) to stay longer if this isn't something we can comfortably do legally, but this would be a good time for me to go. One job I'm hoping to secure an offer with is 7k more per year than my current salary, the other is a 4k drop but with positive long term prospects. I do recognise that this is very silly of me to be taking out a mortgage during such an uncertain period, but there are some unexpected recentish circumstances that mean delaying purchasing the house could cause a lot of other really sticky problems for my family, so that's not really an option. Whilst it's not preferable, I will stay another year if necessary. I know I could leave mid-year, but I don't want to do it to the kids ideally.

Sorry for the length of this, and a huge thanks in advance.

Typhoon2000

If you even think your circumstance may change ( before or after completion) you are obliged to inform your lender ( as per your application terms and conditions). Following which your lender will most likely pull your offer.

So if you want the house, get this thought out of your head and reconcile to stay in teaching in your job for the long term. If for some reason you change your mind and decide you are going to hand in your notice after completion ( even the next day- the pressures of moving is stressful and affect people differently) then that is of course fine. There is no need to inform your mortgage company of a change in circumstance that happens after completion.

muhandis

To be absolutely blunt, once you’ve completed you are free to do as you wish with regard to your employment.

All you need to worry about is making the monthly mortgage payment, that’s it. Post completion, lenders don’t do any checks as to whether you are employed or not, etc.

Whatever you do, do wait till after completion.

ian1246

Only other thing to be aware of is when it comes to renewing your mortgage deal, they may look at affordability. So if you ve dropped in earnings it could cause a few issues then.

That said, i think its just if you switch to a different company where they check earnings? The solution therefore is to fix initially for 5years or so & overpay mortgage if affordability might be an issue... or just stay with the same company.

itsjen

Thanks all for your responses. Would it matter if the first payment came out just after my notice? I.e. 1st June?

I've just spoken to the solicitor and she's being quite cagey, refusing to guarantee the 20th concrete but assuring me they're "aiming for it". I suppose that's because they're a bit of a flakey bunch and we've already delayed once.

It seems that as long as the first payment isn't going to check with my employers that I haven't handed in my notice, I should be okay providing that completion isn't delayed until after May 31st. I suppose my last hope is to see with my employer whether they'd accept me informally handing in my notice, but accepting a later one? I'll need to double check whether schools can actually do this, though.

Unfortunately it looks like I may have to stick around until at least December. Thanks so much though all, let me know if I'm overlooking any deus ex machina!

aries_163

Doesn’t matter in the slightest when your first mortgage payment is. You can do what you want after completion.