House Sale + New Build Purchase

TGTBT

Hi all, first time poster - long time leech (mainly because work block the login page yet they allow me to browse).

My wife and I sold our home back in early November (accepted an offer SSTC) with the intention of buying a new build which is due to be completed and ready to move into late April / early May, builder is a little flexible. We were informed by our Estate Agent that the buyers who were purchasing our home do have a chain however it is very advanced. Whilst we don't know the full details of the chain we presume it is Person A (FTB) -> Person B -> Our Buyer -> Us. On the basis that the chain was described as advanced, we accepted their offer (November). Last weekend, we paid the reservation fee on a new build, £2000, with a further £7000 due by the end of March to order the kitchen and bathrooms (I found this strange as I would have expected this to be done after exchange of contracts however it's not unheard of in this area as apparently other developers do this as well so accepted this was the case).

We have been chasing our EA and Solicitor daily since the beginning of the year to get this transaction done and over the line as we had a rental property lined up to take for 3-4 months whilst our new build was being finished off. We are now nearly in March and we've just been informed that our buyers sale isn't nearly as advanced as they claimed, they're currently awaiting a doc pack from their leasehold management company, which in turn has delayed exchange/completion of our sale to the end of March (my Solicitor has advised me of these best case scenario dates). Now here lies the problem, we've got £7000 to pay the developer due by the end of March (stated on the reservation form), we've lost our rental because it was a friends place which he agreed to give us for a few months but this was back in early January and we stated if we hadn't completed by end of February, he needs to list it - can't have him being out of pocket, so hes got a new long term tenant in.

What I consider our options:

1: Carry on with the sale and hope it completes before the end of March giving us the sale proceeds to pay the developer his £7000 and arrange a completion date in line with our new build completion. Rentals are now out of the question as we would be looking at 1-2 months rental which no-one offers (we have no family to bunk with) and not many rentals accept pets. We have a Yorkie.

2: Put our house back on the market whilst the sale carries on in the background with the hopes of getting a very specific buyer (FTB / Cash buyer who is ready to instruct a solicitor and complete ASAP). This option I feel wouldn't speed things up at all however the EA has stated it is an option.

3. Withdraw from the sale and purchase, deposit is refundable up to a certain date (based on my new job offer falling through or my house sale), from memory I think it is 12th March. Wife has very much fallen in love with the new place, this would break her heart. I'm not relying on the refundable deposit as technically my house wouldn't fall through - I would be withdrawing thus not refundable - yes there is probably a way of wording it to the builder to get our money back whether its morally right or not.

4. Politely ask the builder to extend his deadline of the end of March, thus revealing my hand that our buyers sale is delayed but it will also delay the new build as the kitchen/bathrooms will have a lead time/fitting time. If he agrees, go back to option 1 albeit with a bit less stress about deadlines.

We aren't best pleased with our buyers interpretation of 'advanced sale' and their solicitor has only just admitted it is an early stage as my solicitor started mentioning exchange and completion dates at our request. I apprectiate it's all about risk and everyone has money at stake not just ourselves, we've been dealt the hand we've got and need to make a decision either way. So I'm after an opinion of you house buying experts out there another option I may have missed perhaps?

It is worth mentioning, we haven't started the legal work on our purchase yet but I do have confidence in our solicitor to get this done swiftly once they are in possession of the relevant search packs.

Sammyd159

I see this happen all the time, estate agents saying chains are advanced when they aren't. Leasehold management packs are a nightmare and any communication with leasehold / management companies is also a nightmare.
Remarket your house, but let the sale carry on and explain to your buyer that you are happy to let them proceed, BUT if you get a better offer from a more proceedable purchaser and they have not got to exchange by then, that you will sell to the new purchaser.  This should stick a  rocket up them and get them chasing their solicitor and leasehold company on a daily basis, I have known people go to leasehold offices and refuse to leave without getting the pack! Your buyer needs to do some serious pushing. he he shouts loudest etc etc. 
Speak to the developer, explain you are not willing to pay 7 grand in your current situation.  If they won't extend then I would cancel.  It's not worth the financial loss of 9k if your house sale falls through at the death. Tell them your sale might fall through.  
I sell new builds and as we don't do part exchange or anything like that, I refuse to take reservations from clients SSTC until I have thoroughly checked all parties in the chain to see if they are close to exchange. 

TGTBT

Thanks for the reply, it is very much as I expected - we've given them until next Friday (13th March) to be in a position to exchange, if not we're pulling out entirely. I think given the timescales of when we sold, November 4th, an exchange by mid March is more than patient from ourselves.

I'm just really ticked off because my solicitor advised me that the leasehold management pack should have been the very first thing my buyer's solicitor should have requested way back when. Why has it only been requested 3 weeks ago...screams of delay tactics or an incompetent solicitor most likely the former.

Looks like we have to prepare ourselves for the worst, going back on the market and pursueing a different house.