28 Day Conditional Exchange of Contracts

Tornado88

Hi guys, just after a bit of advice.

In September we reserved a new build house with Barratt Homes and entered into their part exchange deal on our current house. We paid £500 reservation fee and were given a deadline of Friday 9th October (this Friday) to conditionally exchange contracts.

We immediately instructed our independent solicitors and informed them of the tight deadline. Today our solicitor informed us that there was no way they were going to meet the deadline to conditionally exchange on the 9th and that they had requested an extension from Barratt’s solicitors, which has now been rejected and the date of the 9th of October has been reinforced.

Luckily this has all happened just before we were about to agree and pay for an expensive kitchen upgrade which we now won’t be paying for unless we can get some sort of guarantee Barratt’s won’t pull out after the 9th.

My question is where do we stand after the date has passed? Will we lose our reservation (and fee)? Has anyone had any similar experience with this?

Our sales advisor at Barratt’s is adamant that going over this date will be fine and that we can pay for the kitchen now, however she won’t give us anything to say that in writing and I feel like she’s just trying her best to push us into paying for a kitchen we might eventually lose if Barratt’s decide to pull out.

Thrugelmir

Barratt's aren't going to pull out. Their solicitors are merely applying pressure to ensure that exchange is effected in a timely manner. 

AdrianC

At the very outside, Barratt might say "Well, you lose the exclusivity and we'll re-open the plot to others if you don't exchange by the 9th" - but, realistically, nobody else is going to exchange before you. They certainly won't have a huff and refuse to sell to you.

princeofpounds

Tornado88 said:

 Today our solicitor informed us that there was no way they were going to meet the deadline to conditionally exchange on the 9th and that they had requested an extension from Barratt’s solicitors, which has now been rejected and the date of the 9th of October has been reinforced.

Why are they not going to meet this date - did they say? 

I don't think the date itself is really that meaningful to be honest. They will probably just extend your timeline, particularly if it's being delayed due to information missing from their side. At the moment, a month to exchange in a situation where you are relying on third-party reports is nonsensical; they should not have insisted on it, and you should not have accepted it. 

And yes, you're right that the sales advisor is doing that. I wouldn't hand over any more money at this stage.

Tornado88

princeofpounds said:

Tornado88 said:

 Today our solicitor informed us that there was no way they were going to meet the deadline to conditionally exchange on the 9th and that they had requested an extension from Barratt’s solicitors, which has now been rejected and the date of the 9th of October has been reinforced.

Why are they not going to meet this date - did they say? 

I don't think the date itself is really that meaningful to be honest. They will probably just extend your timeline, particularly if it's being delayed due to information missing from their side. At the moment, a month to exchange in a situation where you are relying on third-party reports is nonsensical; they should not have insisted on it, and you should not have accepted it. 

And yes, you're right that the sales advisor is doing that. I wouldn't hand over any more money at this stage.

Apparently the lender got the valuation of the house wrong (by £5!) so our solicitor reported this back but has yet to hear from them. Also some of the searches have not yet come back.

And as far as I know the 28 day period is common among new build developers, I’m just not sure where we stand after Friday passes with no exchange.

Tornado88

What’s weird to me is that we’re willing to pay up to £8k in extras. Why wouldn’t Barratt’s want to secure that money from us? There’s no chain because we’re entering their part exchange deal.

All they have to do is grant us an extension and they get an extra £8k, it baffles me, it’s like they don’t want our money!

tinytiddles

Seems odd to me, we have just part exchanged with Taylor Wimpey and we were told that as long as they can see that the transaction is moving along at a reasonable pace then they wouldn’t put us under any pressure. In fact come the end it was us telling them to hurry up and set a move date because the property was built and ready to move into. 

That being said, your lender and solicitor will be very familiar with new build deadlines so they should pull their finger out and get their bits done ASAP. As others have said, I can’t see Barratt pulling out because (if their part ex follows a similar route to TW) then they will have already spent quite a bit on surveys and legals on yours and if they have sold yours already too legal costs on the onward sale.

Depends how wedded you are the property and whether you want to risk losing half your reservation fee but I think I would tell them to poke it and then see what they say - I suspect they will suddenly have a change of heart although be aware they may also call your bluff. 

Thrugelmir

Tornado88 said:

princeofpounds said:

Tornado88 said:

 Today our solicitor informed us that there was no way they were going to meet the deadline to conditionally exchange on the 9th and that they had requested an extension from Barratt’s solicitors, which has now been rejected and the date of the 9th of October has been reinforced.

Why are they not going to meet this date - did they say? 

I don't think the date itself is really that meaningful to be honest. They will probably just extend your timeline, particularly if it's being delayed due to information missing from their side. At the moment, a month to exchange in a situation where you are relying on third-party reports is nonsensical; they should not have insisted on it, and you should not have accepted it. 

And yes, you're right that the sales advisor is doing that. I wouldn't hand over any more money at this stage.

Apparently the lender got the valuation of the house wrong (by £5!) so our solicitor reported this back but has yet to hear from them. 

Lenders don't value. Surveyors do on their behalf.  Was the property down valued? 

letsbetfair

Is the £8k kitchen good value anyway? The big house builders have a rep for charging a lot compared to what you'd pay an independent contractor...

Tornado88

Thrugelmir said:

Tornado88 said:

princeofpounds said:

Tornado88 said:

 Today our solicitor informed us that there was no way they were going to meet the deadline to conditionally exchange on the 9th and that they had requested an extension from Barratt’s solicitors, which has now been rejected and the date of the 9th of October has been reinforced.

Why are they not going to meet this date - did they say? 

I don't think the date itself is really that meaningful to be honest. They will probably just extend your timeline, particularly if it's being delayed due to information missing from their side. At the moment, a month to exchange in a situation where you are relying on third-party reports is nonsensical; they should not have insisted on it, and you should not have accepted it. 

And yes, you're right that the sales advisor is doing that. I wouldn't hand over any more money at this stage.

Apparently the lender got the valuation of the house wrong (by £5!) so our solicitor reported this back but has yet to hear from them. 

Lenders don't value. Surveyors do on their behalf.  Was the property down valued? 

Sorry that’s my mistake. The valuation that was done on behalf of the lender. They valued it at £305, 000. But the house price is £304, 995.

AdrianC

Tornado88 said:

What’s weird to me is that we’re willing to pay up to £8k in extras. Why wouldn’t Barratt’s want to secure that money from us? There’s no chain because we’re entering their part exchange deal.

All they have to do is grant us an extension and they get an extra £8k, it baffles me, it’s like they don’t want our money!

You don't need the extension to exchange.

The extension is merely an extension to your exclusivity. Nobody else is lining up to beat you to it... assuming you get even the faintest hint of a wiggle on.

If you do get beaten to it... well, then it wasn't down to them not wanting YOUR money, just them wanting SOMEBODY's money.