Reserve Now or Hold off buying off Plan

leaseholdzzz

I work in the sector and can attest to this happening right now. Because of the cliff edge coming up next year, when the cap will more than halve from 600,000 to less than 250,000 up north which is the region I cover. There are a huge number of help2buy buyers rushing to complete well in time. This will obviously affect the level of competition for plots, irrespective of whether you are using the scheme or not.

If you are using help2buy make sure your long stop date is before 31 March 2021.

ethank wrote: »

I would also reserve as soon as possible. Prices generally only go up on developments. HTB will fuel a lot of sales over the next year.

Sammyd159

Annastin wrote: »

We need to start looking right now then I guess. We have the 5% deposit to hand so might as well do our best, even though we will lose money to vacate our tenancy early.

Does anyone know what happens if we proceed on a new-build house that is eligible for help2buy now and due to complete this year, but construction gets delayed until after the new cap comes in? I've heard from my friends that construction delays of 5-6 months is not uncommon?

When the developer applies for their HTB funding for the next year up to April 2021, they can only apply for funding for properties forecast to be build complete by December 31st. The developer should know which plots they can still sell with HTB (I do).

Do you NEED HTB? Can you buy without it?

Sammyd159

If there is a specific house type / plot you want, then get in first. Developers of new builds love to keep putting prices up as they go. Incentives are normally offered on plots that have either fallen through, not sold and are stock / nearly stock or at the end of the development.
A new build site of 300 units will be busy! Are there any facilities? Is there a service charge? If you have small children a new house on a new site is great, for making friends with your neighbours and their kids etc.

Annastin

Thanks Sammy. Can developers give me 100% certainty that a plot will complete by 31.12.2020? From what I understand delays of many months is not uncommon?

Unfortunately, we need the help of HTB to buy a newbuild of the size we need with the kids.

We have an appointment with a broker for today evening so hopefully should get the ball rolling and snap up a ready to move in (or almost ready) property.

Sammyd159 wrote: »

When the developer applies for their HTB funding for the next year up to April 2021, they can only apply for funding for properties forecast to be build complete by December 31st. The developer should know which plots they can still sell with HTB (I do).

Do you NEED HTB? Can you buy without it?

Abbey10

My understanding is that they cannot give you a guarantee of completion date at the point of reserving or even exchanging. They can put a long stop date in the contract as others have mentioned which means you can pull out and get your deposit back (even if you have exchanged) if the completion is later than the long stop date.

I am learning about new build delays the hard way. We were due to complete Oct/Nov 2019. We moved of our rental as we were given assurances by the builder and have been living with friends for months. The current expected completion date is March 2020 and the delays keep coming in drips.

AdrianC

Annastin wrote: »

Can developers give me 100% certainty that a plot will complete by 31.12.2020?

Nope. Which is why there's a long-stop date in the contract.

RelievedSheff

Annastin wrote: »

Thanks Sammy. Can developers give me 100% certainty that a plot will complete by 31.12.2020? From what I understand delays of many months is not uncommon?

Unfortunately, we need the help of HTB to buy a newbuild of the size we need with the kids.

We have an appointment with a broker for today evening so hopefully should get the ball rolling and snap up a ready to move in (or almost ready) property.

The only way to get a certain completion date is to buy a plot that is already built and ready to move into. If the development is selling well you are unlikely to get this opportunity.

Annastin

Oh that's a shame. Unfortunately we can't take the risk of delays due to the help2buy changes on the horizon. Also I don't want to get into a food fight at the end of the year battling others like us.

But we're quite flexible with our requirements so hopefully should be able to land a decent property that meets our needs.

RelievedSheff wrote: »

The only way to get a certain completion date is to buy a plot that is already built and ready to move into. If the development is selling well you are unlikely to get this opportunity.

pattypan4

Annastin, try not to overthink this