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Reserving house nightmare
Clarice1995
Posts: 8 Forumite
Hi
Just looking for some advice/a rant really.
Had an absolute nightmare with reserving a help to buy advertised property! Sorry t
We reserved the property on 25th June and paid, initially £1,000 reservation fee.
Our mortgage adviser submitted our mortgage and help to buy application on the 28th June. Mortgage application was accepted subject to the survey but help to buy came back to us on the 2nd July and stated that they couldn’t find the builder was registered with their scheme and that the £1,000 reservation fee should only be £500. This was passed immediately to the Estate Agent who promised to investigate and sort with the builder and send back our £500.
The builder was off on holiday for a week, but it was brought to his teams attention and then brought to his attention on 15th July. In the meantime, we found out from Natwest that our survey had been put on hold buy the Estate Agents which they didn’t let us know about. We also still didn’t have our £500. I then complained to the Estate Agents simply stating that the help to buy should have been set up before we reserved, they should have told us the survey was cancelled and that communication and urgency should be better than what we had receiving. They acknowledged this and said that the registration process just needed ‘topping and tailing’ and they will be sending our £500 to our solicitors.
We also spoke with the builder who explained it was something to do with planning permission but we were assured this would be sorted by the end of July, as did the Estate Agent.
Fast forward to the beginning of August, ask for updates and am told no update. 9th August then comes, and we get a call to say they are awfully sorry and embarrassed, but the problem was actually an email that had been deleted from help to buy to the builder. Unfortunately, as the help to buy was not set up correctly we cannot legally reserve the property or have any binding contracts as if help to buy find out that we have reserved before the registration is complete they will not fund us. Also, to add this would take a further 10 -12 weeks before they are registered with Help to Buy. The builder has assured us the house will still be ours and kept for us so we can continue to make flooring and bathroom choices etc.
Our mortgage application can only be on hold for 2 months, so will pass this deadline which means if for any reason interest rates rise, we could get a worse deal than what we thought we could get. As the solicitor’s paperwork is also dated pre-registration, they will need to draw up more paperwork and potentially charge us extra for this.
I sent in long complaint detailing how unhappy we are with the service to the estate agent and asking more questions about the process etc. He basically came back trying to say it is not his staff fault, didn’t really answer any of my questions also said the timescale would be longer than 12 weeks as previously anticipated and just said he will send the complaints procedure if wanted.
Just wondering where I stand with all this, we are first time buyers and have never had to deal with a situation like this and I just feel appalled by the whole situation! We love the house and want it but seems like they have messed up everything and really haven’t been helpful in establishing the problem in the first place. We are seriously considering pulling out.
Do we have any grounds for complaining ?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Any advice would be great.
thanks
Just looking for some advice/a rant really.
Had an absolute nightmare with reserving a help to buy advertised property! Sorry t
We reserved the property on 25th June and paid, initially £1,000 reservation fee.
Our mortgage adviser submitted our mortgage and help to buy application on the 28th June. Mortgage application was accepted subject to the survey but help to buy came back to us on the 2nd July and stated that they couldn’t find the builder was registered with their scheme and that the £1,000 reservation fee should only be £500. This was passed immediately to the Estate Agent who promised to investigate and sort with the builder and send back our £500.
The builder was off on holiday for a week, but it was brought to his teams attention and then brought to his attention on 15th July. In the meantime, we found out from Natwest that our survey had been put on hold buy the Estate Agents which they didn’t let us know about. We also still didn’t have our £500. I then complained to the Estate Agents simply stating that the help to buy should have been set up before we reserved, they should have told us the survey was cancelled and that communication and urgency should be better than what we had receiving. They acknowledged this and said that the registration process just needed ‘topping and tailing’ and they will be sending our £500 to our solicitors.
We also spoke with the builder who explained it was something to do with planning permission but we were assured this would be sorted by the end of July, as did the Estate Agent.
Fast forward to the beginning of August, ask for updates and am told no update. 9th August then comes, and we get a call to say they are awfully sorry and embarrassed, but the problem was actually an email that had been deleted from help to buy to the builder. Unfortunately, as the help to buy was not set up correctly we cannot legally reserve the property or have any binding contracts as if help to buy find out that we have reserved before the registration is complete they will not fund us. Also, to add this would take a further 10 -12 weeks before they are registered with Help to Buy. The builder has assured us the house will still be ours and kept for us so we can continue to make flooring and bathroom choices etc.
Our mortgage application can only be on hold for 2 months, so will pass this deadline which means if for any reason interest rates rise, we could get a worse deal than what we thought we could get. As the solicitor’s paperwork is also dated pre-registration, they will need to draw up more paperwork and potentially charge us extra for this.
I sent in long complaint detailing how unhappy we are with the service to the estate agent and asking more questions about the process etc. He basically came back trying to say it is not his staff fault, didn’t really answer any of my questions also said the timescale would be longer than 12 weeks as previously anticipated and just said he will send the complaints procedure if wanted.
Just wondering where I stand with all this, we are first time buyers and have never had to deal with a situation like this and I just feel appalled by the whole situation! We love the house and want it but seems like they have messed up everything and really haven’t been helpful in establishing the problem in the first place. We are seriously considering pulling out.
Do we have any grounds for complaining ?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Any advice would be great.
thanks
0
Comments
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Some mistakes have been made, delays have happened, start again and make sure you are aware of what needs doing when yourself. You can complain all you like but no contracts have been signed so all you will probably do is get peoples backs up. If you need this second application to go smoothly you need these people on your side.
As far as the mortgage is concerned its very common for people to have to reapply for a mortgage due to delays with a new build. Ask your lender if the term can be extended if you've been given an idea of new timeframes."You've been reading SOS when it's just your clock reading 5:05 "0 -
You can get your deposit money back and walk away... Or you can wait until the paperwork is in place, and buy this house.
What else do you want?0 -
Adrian, yes I know we can do either I was just looking for some advice on what other people would do and also where we stood with the complaint.
Do you have any advice or was that it?0 -
I have no idea whether this particular property is more important to you than cutting the delay. Only you can answer that.
There are no other options, though, if what you're wanting is some third route forward. You can't make them do the paperwork faster. You can't get some kind of compo.0 -
Take a step back and take any emotion out of it. Who is the builder? They're obviously not a large developer, so have you seen other schemes that they have built, researched any bad reviews online etc?
Have you confirmed if they are providing NHBC warranty, or another warranty? Lots of issues recently in the warranty market, so something that you have to check out - your mortgage provider will be able to tell you the minimum that they require.
What is the issue with planning, and has it been sorted out? This can cause major issues with inexperienced/cavalier builders. Check the planning permission yourself online, and compare it against the plot details you have.
How far off from completion is the plot? Are there any completed/nearly completed plots still up for sale - things like that could suggest cash flow issues for a small developer.
I might be teaching you how to suck eggs, and apologies if I am, but it still amazes me how little research some people do before handing over their money.0 -
I would be concerned about the quality of the new build, given the fact the Developer failed HTB registration due to deleted e-mail or so they claim.
Sounds like a small developer so it can be that either their focus and dedication is on the building side and business admin is lacking. Or it could be systematic failure throughout the business.
If you really like the plot and are willing to wait for the HTB registration and other issues to be sorted out - use the time to better research the company your are handing £100'000s to. If they have finished projects, go knock on some doors and ask people how happy are they with the quality. As a new build owner I would be happy to give my 2c if some prospective buyer knocks on my door asking such questions.0 -
Hi comic geek.
The builder is small but well known around our particular area and has a really good reputation. The reason we went with this builder was because we know the quality is very good.
They have NHBC warranty.
We were told the planning permission was getting sorted but they have not confirmed this has been sorted following my email. I have just checked on the gov website for the postcode I have and it is not showing so now that is raising red flags.
I understand we should do plenty of research before handing over money but when your a first time buyer and have no other guidance it is really difficult to know what to ask and what to look for when you have never done it before. This has been a lesson and at least now I know some of the things to look out for but you do put your trust in the people who should know what they are doing I.e estate agents and builders but obviously that is something that cannot be done.
Thank you for your advice
0 -
Clarice1995 wrote: »
We were told the planning permission was getting sorted but they have not confirmed this has been sorted following my email. I have just checked on the gov website for the postcode I have and it is not showing so now that is raising red flags.
Have you looked at the relevant county council's website site ?
Personally I've never bothered with gov.uk when finding out planning info0 -
Have you looked at the relevant county council's website site ?
Personally I've never bothered with gov.uk when finding out planning info
I have just checked using the county council one and they submitted their application but is currently undecided.
Just gets better and better ����!0 -
Have you had the £500 overpayment refunded yet?An answer isn't spam just because you don't like it......0
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