Seller can only move out in Jan 2021 - pre-sale agreement?

steampowered

You would probably be waiting until January 2021 for any property. Conveyancing takes several months.

The risk you face is that the seller decides he wants to stay in the property until his new build is complete, which brings you to April.

Lots of new builds are getting delayed so you could well find you get delayed beyond that.

hazyjo

Most rentals will be for 6+ months so I'm not sure what they have to gain by waiting.

They'd be mad to ditch you for a new buyer if they're buying a new build. If they lose their buyer, they are likely to lose the new house. 

If I were in their shoes, I'd be looking to complete asap so I'd have 6+ months in a rental.

newsgroupmonkey_

We made an offer for our current place in mid-September last year. The deal was that we made it happen very quickly.

As it turned out, we moved in on January 21st which wasn't particularly quick. But certainly not the slowest!

Drawingaline

12-16 weeks for conveyancing is pretty average (even quick!) So Jan will be when you would probably be looking to complete anyway. 

Our chain was complete end of July, we are towards the end now, but looking likely to be the beginning of Nov. 16 weeks. And that's been a pretty straightforward sale and purchase.

saajan_12

Leth said:

Is there such thing as some sort of "legally binding pre-sale agreement" to ensure that he must sell the house to us in January?.

Yes, its called exchanging contracts. Once all the mortgage offers are in place and conveyancing is completed satisfactorily, you agree a completion date and the two solicitors "exchange contracts" for the purchase to 100% happen on a certain date. If the seller is looking to move to rented and doesn't have a mortgage to port, they should have no problem exchanging before they have a date on the new build. Note you would be committed to the purchase too, so you would need to be confident your mortgage offer stretches that far and nothing in your circumstances will change in that time (eg someone losing job and hence mortgage withdrawing). 

Your next decision is whether you trust the seller to sign such an agreement in 2-3 months time, enough to risk ~£5k in mortgage fees / surveys / solicitor costs. If yes, then get started on the process and then exchange contracts when complete, with a completion date set for January. That shouldn't be a particularly large gap, considering the the backlog in surveys etc, likely slower responses and less progress over xmas. 

2bFrank

Id say if you manage to complete in Jan 2021 would be very optimistic. Currently people are having to wait 6 weeks for survays and searches, plus christmas slow down, id say Feb/ March at the moment.

However the main issue is the new build. You dont know what will happen in the next few months in regards to COVID. Building sites could be shut down, suppliers could have delays with materials etc. Its a big risk if you need to be in by March.

bucksbloke

You can exchange contracts and he is legally obliged to complete the sale.
Completion can be on notice (for instance he is given X days notice to complete on his new build or on a specific date agreed at exchange)