Shared Ownership Significant Delay

Ren_sa

Hi everyone,
My partner and I were in the process of buying a shared ownership with L&Q. Day before we were meant to exchange contracts we received a phone call from L&Q advising us that there will be significant delays with the construction of the property. They also advised us that we would receive a formal letter explaining why and for how long next week.
The exchange of contracts has been out on hold.

It's been 3 weeks and we still have not received any letter, they're dodging our phone calls and ignoring all of our emails. We paid them £500 reservation fee and we spent money on our mortgage and solicitor fees.

Is there a way we can claim the money back?

asm89

Which property is it out of interest - one in London?

Are you planning on pulling out of the sale? The £500 is only refundable if you can't get a mortgage.

Delayed exchange is annoying, but perhaps better because then you have more time to find something else, should you decide to pull out. Your mortgage offer may be portable to the new property.

If you are buying a flat, I'd advise you to hold on to this property if possible, as getting a mortgage offer on other flats may prove a headache right now, due to cladding report requirements from lenders.

Ren_sa

Yeah it's in London. Unfortunately the delays are going to be 2 years.

Would they not have to refund us the money, as it is their fault for the major delays?

We are first time buyers and were hoping that we could claim back the money we already spent on solicitor fees. We are going to try and ask the mortgage lender to transfer the mortgage on a different property.

AdrianC

Ren_sa wrote: »

Day before we were meant to exchange contracts we received a phone call from L&Q advising us that there will be significant delays with the construction of the property. They also advised us that we would receive a formal letter explaining why and for how long next week.

We paid them £500 reservation fee and we spent money on our mortgage and solicitor fees.

Is there a way we can claim the money back?

What's the long-stop date in your reservation contract?
Until that date, you have no legal recourse to reclaim it, but they may do so voluntarily.

Ren_sa wrote: »

Yeah it's in London. Unfortunately the delays are going to be 2 years.

Would they not have to refund us the money, as it is their fault for the major delays?

Is it? Have they said the cause of the delay? My guess would be cladding... Not really their fault. The entire cladding industry is in chaos post-Grenfell.

We are first time buyers and were hoping that we could claim back the money we already spent on solicitor fees.

Not a hope.

We are going to try and ask the mortgage lender to transfer the mortgage on a different property.

That should be straightforward.

desamax

More scandals
Contact the NLC, I believe they have a FB group. For expert advice. For some unknown reason Martin has refused to look into #leaseholdscandle
This might be a blessing in disguise as shared ownership means you own nothing and pay 100% of the outgoings. And in reality you are a AST Tenant.
Do more research for your own peace of mind.
Good luck.

asm89

If it's a flat you are buying I'd speak to any new housing association first on whether they have a cladding report available already or will do soon,if the building is over 6 floors. There are massive issues with this at the moment. There are several threads on the mortgages board about this.

Lenders won't lend until an engineer has certified that the building is fire safe and complies with the latest building regulations. Housing Associations are being slow to get this done so its causing delays and blockages on sales, purchases and remortgages.

asm89

Suppositions. A lot of people do all the research in the world and still decide on shared ownership especially in London! It's the only option for a lot of people.

BBoop

I am sure a 2 year delay can not be judged to be anything but a breach in their contract with you from their side. Best bet transfer your mortgage to a different property and write to shared ownership provider stating you feel a 2 year delay is a breach in contract on their behalf and you wish to receive a full refund. Even better request the mortgage company write to the housing association to confirm the timescale and reasons for delay with their requirement in order to maintain their offer to you for this property. This can then be refused if not acceptable to the mortgage company and perhaps then in these circumstances where a mortgage can not be secured you can receive a refund. However I would research the breach of contract option first. Failing that bad publicity such as this costs more than a simple return of your funds would cost them surely??