Seller booked removals before exchange and won’t change date

Eleanor_23

Hi, looking for advice on an extremely difficult seller.

Seller to us is at the top of the chain.
Two people in the chain below us.
Chain below, plus us, all want to move before Christmas. We’re all ready to exchange and if we did by Monday coming it would have been ok. Top of the chain doesn’t want to and they’ve gone ahead and booked removals for 7th Jan and have said they can’t change it.

Is this allowed. How much power does the top of the chain have against the 3 of us below?

Thanks

SmashedAvacado

Is this allowed.

They can do what they want. As can you.

If this is a deal breaker, give them your date and tell them you wont deal with them unless they agree to it. Of course, they can walk away. Presumably they are concerned that they have paid a deposit for a removal company and dont want to lose it by choosing another one. Or they have plans for christmas....

Why not ask them why they wont change?

davidmcn

It's a negotiation. Anything is "allowed", you don't currently have a legal relationship with them. You're allowed to tell them that if it doesn't happen before Christmas you're walking away.

eddddy

Eleanor_23 wrote: »

Top of the chain doesn’t want to and they’ve gone ahead and booked removals for 7th Jan and have said they can’t change it.

Is this allowed. How much power does the top of the chain have against the 3 of us below?

As others have said, it's all just negotiation.

FWIW, an EA once told me that I had to complete on a particular date because my buyer had booked removals, booked time off work, had booked a holiday immediately after that completion date!!!, etc.

I'm pretty sure none of it was true.

LittleMrsThrifty

Where is the top of the chain moving to? It sounds like they don't want to be out before Christmas.

Linton

Eleanor_23 wrote: »

Hi, looking for advice on an extremely difficult seller.

Seller to us is at the top of the chain.
Two people in the chain below us.
Chain below, plus us, all want to move before Christmas. We’re all ready to exchange and if we did by Monday coming it would have been ok. Top of the chain doesn’t want to and they’ve gone ahead and booked removals for 7th Jan and have said they can’t change it.

Is this allowed. How much power does the top of the chain have against the 3 of us below?

Thanks

The top of the chain has no more power than anyone else. Were you to say "No" what could they do? They have the same choice as you, accept it, pull out or make other arrangements like putting their belongings into storage and move into a short term rental/stay with family with the risk that the chain collapses in the meantime. The challenge, which the EAs should help with, is to agree a date which everyone is prepared to accept.

G_M

So maybe their contract with the removals company is such that there is a (large?) cancellation fee.


But if you threaten to withdraw unless they Complete before Christmas, they will lose their cancellation fee anyway - so you have all the power!


It's a game of bluff. The one with the power is the one who believes they have the power.....!

steampowered

Could offer to pay half the cancellation fee?

Smodlet

steampowered wrote: »

Could offer to pay half the cancellation fee?

Sorry, steampowered but, imho, sod that.

[Deleted User]

I think someone needs to point out they will not only lose their sale / house they are purchasing but all their legal and survey fees if they don't move at the same time as everyone else.

Got to be more than the cancellation fee, which may not even exist. Removal Companies who can't cater for short notice of changes in moving date won't exist for long as this is very common.

I suspect this is based on an unwillingness to move before Christmas, which I can understand but is going against what everyone else wants in the chain. Alternatively, I suppose you could all look at the advantages of moving after Xmas as well? If something goes wrong, it could be difficult to fix with the closeness to Xmas and New Year hols, stress of unpacking before Xmas as well as Xmas happening etc.

shortcrust

I’d be livid if I were the OP. How rude to unilaterally try to force a date on a chain!

There’s one date I wouldn’t be moving on and that’s 7 Jan.