House in chain when completed

katiej3030

Please help we signed a contract for a house in March on the week the country went into lockdown. At the time we was given a moving date of June. However the sellers are having a property built and due to lockdown this was not completed. 

Due to the wait our mortgage offer expired, however the bank agreed to extend by three months, which is up the beginning of November. The bank are unable to extend again so we would have to reapply and would now need at least a 15% deposit due to rules changing with covid. We do not have this and have already paid our 10 percent deposit to the solicitor. 

We have no idea when we can move due to sellers property not being available. We have exchanged contracts and are unsure where we now stand as if it gets to November we would have to pull out although have been told we are legally bound to this house. We feel this  is not our fault we exchanged in March and should be moved in by now as per our contracts. We accept that Covid could not have been seen to happen and so can accept delays but we are scared about our options. Please any advice welcome 

pinkteapot

Presumably you exchanged contracts with completion on notice? That's standard for a new-build, so what your vendors would have had to do. Sounds like you also agreed to do this?

If so, the crucial point is whether your contract had a long-stop date or not. That's a date written in where if completion hasn't happened by then (because the build is delayed), you can pull out without penalty. If there's no long-stop date, you're probably in trouble. You need urgent advice from your solicitor - no-one on here can advise as we haven't read your contract.

This is all assuming you've definitely exchanged contracts. Signing them isn't the same thing.

davidmcn

Did your contract have a fixed date of completion, or was it "on notice" i.e. whenever the sellers' new house was ready? If the latter, you should have been advised to have a longstop date in your contract (i.e. entitling you to pull out if things dragged on beyond a certain date) - didn't that happen?

katiej3030

Thank you for you comments I have just looked at all letters with the contract and the only date given is completion 1st June , it dosnt say anything about longstop date ?? 

katiej3030

I feel so lost with this we were never told about a long stop date as it was advised that all building work was almost complete and the move would take place. It was never even mentioned of it didn’t happen. I am so scared we are going to lose our deposit as a family we would never save the money again . I understand these are hard times for so many people it just so stressful. Thank you for your help 

penners324

Speak to your solicitor 

davidmcn

If the completion date was fixed as 1 June then the vendors are in default for not completing four months ago. So by now I'd have expected you to have told them to get out and find somewhere else to live while they wait for their new house to be built (which is really what ought to happen anyway if someone is buying off-plan). Talk to your solicitor in case you've completely misunderstood what's going on.

pinkteapot

You need to speak to your solicitor and find out:

Have you exchanged contracts?

If so, did you exchange with fixed completion of 1 June or with completion on notice?

If completion on notice, was there a long-stop date?

Explain to your solicitor why you’re asking. They work for you and it’s their job to give you advice on your options. 

Let us know what they say. 

AdrianC

Did you actually exchange contracts in March? Or did you merely sign your contract, and it's sat there waiting to be exchanged?

katiej3030

Hi yes we exchanged we then received a letter from the solicitor that stated letter to confirm contracts exchanged and completion date of purchase is the 1st June. This is in bold letters but then there was covid. I have spoken to solicitor and all I have had from her in the past is I am chasing builders I have never had this situation before. Thanks for all your advice, I have left a message for an urgent callback and feel I have something to say back to her now at least to try get some answers. 

katiej3030

We have paid house insurance on the property since March too