Think this means the vendor will pull out. Can we save the situation?

aliwyc

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. 

We viewed a property on 22 Feb, made an offer the following day which was accepted the day after.  They accepted our offer (over others) as we are in a position to proceed quickly. Our vendors want a quick sale so they can reclaim the stamp duty for the other property they bought.  They wanted us to complete by mid-May, which at the time, we thought was possible.   

Anyway, so the next few weeks, we went full steam ahead.  Got a building survey, got searches, got a mortgage offer etc. We purchased our current property through HTB and so we got a valuation done on our house for the purposes of the redemption of the HTB & submitted this to the HCA who provided a redemption figure.  By 20 March, our solicitor confirmed she had received the searches, received the original signed deeds from us, had a copy of the building survey and was awaiting the draft contract from the vendor.  On 23 March, I was cc-ed into an email from the vendor's agents confirming the draft contract was sent on 20 March . Also on 23 March, the UK went into "lockdown". 

Since then, not much has happened  (my solicitor was furloughed, it was transferred to another solicitors, then there's this whole other issue whether I think they gave us incorrect info.) until this morning, when the vendor's agents told me that the vendor would be pulling out her the sale if we do not complete by 18 May 2020.  She will rent out the property instead, so she can recoup the money lost to stamp duty (!!).  It seems that I have done everything I can, but my solicitors have not done anything at all to progress (the new solicitor has been slow at responding to me, the vendor's solicitors and my buyer's solicitors).

The problem is, because we purchased through HTB, the HCA need our solicitors to send the form of undertaking at least 15 working days before completion.  There are fewer than 15 business days to 18 May.  The vendor isn't budging.  Unless anyone can figure a way around this, it looks like she is pulling out. 

Any suggestions?

Comms69

Not really. But frankly i think she's bluffing. She's going to struggle to let it out at the minute anyway.

Id be dropping my offer by 10k as a response.

Thrugelmir

Letting the property isn't going to save the vendor from incurring stamp duty. 

What's the latest status update from your solicitor undertaking the conveyancing? 

Lokolo

To be honest, I suspect she is now pushing for the sale to go through as she expects prices to fall because of the virus.
I'd do what Comms69 said. Pressure the solicitor to get everything finalised, then when it comes to exchange decide whether you want to reduce your offer. But please consider that it could be the EA fibs, rather than the vendors (unless they've told you directly!)

bexybest

When I redeemed by HTB during a sale I was also panicking about the 15 working days. We only received notification of the completion date 4 days beforehand so I got the paperwork sent via email to them, rang up HCA immediately and asked for them to provide authority to proceed. Within 15 minutes it was in my email inbox (I specially asked for email not snail mail). 

It can happen... fingers crossed for you.

aliwyc

Thrugelmir said:

Letting the property isn't going to save the vendor from incurring stamp duty. 

What's the latest status update from your solicitor undertaking the conveyancing? 

She has paid the extra stamp duty on purchasing a 2nd home, which she can claim back from HMRC if we complete by 18th May.  So she is saying if we don't complete by this date, she will let out the property to recoup the money that she would otherwise have been reimbursed from HRMC.
Solicitor has just called to update me.  Basically nothing seems to have been done but she did say the 15 days given be HCA is potentially flexible. 

Comms69 said:

Not really. But frankly i think she's bluffing. She's going to struggle to let it out at the minute anyway.

Thanks - and I agree, I reckon she would struggle letting out at the minute. 

Lokolo said:

To be honest, I suspect she is now pushing for the sale to go through as she expects prices to fall because of the virus.
I'd do what Comms69 said. Pressure the solicitor to get everything finalised, then when it comes to exchange decide whether you want to reduce your offer. But please consider that it could be the EA fibs, rather than the vendors (unless they've told you directly!)

Ooooohh interesting, hadn't thought of it like that.  I hadn't asked for a reduction in the purchase price despite Covid (though it had crossed our minds) because it's a long term house and we didn't want to jeopardise the purchase. 
Re: fibs, he's been copying and pasting sections of her emails to me. Apparently her emails anyway. 

aliwyc

bexybest said:

When I redeemed by HTB during a sale I was also panicking about the 15 working days. We only received notification of the completion date 4 days beforehand so I got the paperwork sent via email to them, rang up HCA immediately and asked for them to provide authority to proceed. Within 15 minutes it was in my email inbox (I specially asked for email not snail mail). 

It can happen... fingers crossed for you.

Ah thanks! That's really reassuring to know and fits in with what my solicitor just said about flexibility on this.  Fingers crossed!

steampowered

I wouldn't pay much notice to be honest. The seller is just trying to make everyone get a move on. 

It's worth letting your solicitor know that the vendor is threatening out due to the time this has taken, and try to chivvy them along as best you can. And it's worth keeping everyone updated as best you can. Nothing more you can do than that. If the sale falls through it falls through.

The concept of "letting out the property to recover stamp duty" doesn't make any sense. If the seller wanted to rent the property out that's what she would be doing.

martindow

Where is the estate agent in this?  They should be working to keep the sale together and smooth out problems as far as they can.  It seems as if everything is happening via solicitors.  I'd give the agent a call - they may be unaware that their sales fee is at risk!

PJBRFC

Just to add, I've just done a HTB redemption. At every stage I contacted them by phone and they did each step there and then, even though they quoted a waiting time. They are also sending documents by email rather than post at the moment to assist in getting sales through on time. For reference this was Target I was dealing with. 

Call them, they are very good and willing to help. 

aliwyc

Thanks for your responses. 

martindow said:

Where is the estate agent in this?  They should be working to keep the sale together and smooth out problems as far as they can.  It seems as if everything is happening via solicitors.  I'd give the agent a call - they may be unaware that their sales fee is at risk!

The vendor's agents are the ones who told me yesterday that if we don't complete by 18th May, the vendor will pull out.  I asked the agents whether if it was say, 20th May, it means she will pull out.  He went back to her and responded to me to confirm yes, that would be the case.  Interestingly though, when I spoke to my solicitors (finally) yesterday evening, she said she hadn't received this ultimatum date from the vendor's solicitors, and only from the agents.  So vendor's agents may be the ones bluffing.   My current solicitor hasn't done anything for a month and from what the agents are saying, have been 

PJBRFC said:

Just to add, I've just done a HTB redemption. At every stage I contacted them by phone and they did each step there and then, even though they quoted a waiting time. They are also sending documents by email rather than post at the moment to assist in getting sales through on time. For reference this was Target I was dealing with. 

Call them, they are very good and willing to help. 

Thanks! That's very reassuring - it was definitely the 15 day thing which made me panic yesterday and made me think that it was doomed.   I'm waiting for my solicitor to review the searches (!) and get back to me to see whether 18 May is even realistic in any way, and then I'll call Target.  Thanks for letting me know