The Weirdest Situation with Bellway

ukuscan

Hello Everyone,
I'm facing with an issue that I'm really struggling to understand. I was wondering if anyone experienced something similar with Bellway. If anyone advises a way out, that would be really appreciated. 

The thing is, Bellway is building houses in Wootton, Bedford. We want to buy one of the houses in that development. When we visited them on site in August, they said that a group of houses will be finished in the following months. (2 in November, 1 in December, 1 in Jan, 2 in March etc.) However, back in the day, we couldn't reserve any of them as we had to sell our property in order to be able to reserve. We said fine and focused on selling our property. Now, we have a buyer in place. We took our house off of the market. We instructed our solicitor etc. Sale is in progress. Then, I called Bellway to say that I'm ready this time; however, they told me that the houses will not be completed as planned. Instead, they will be finished in July 2021 and this date cannot be changed. They said that they allocated their resources to other houses in other developments to complete the houses that they've already sold. 

I was quite frustrated and gave up on them. I focused on alternative solutions. However, out of curiosity, I visited their site by myself again today. And I saw that the houses that were due in November and December are pretty much finished. I was shocked. When I say finished, I'm saying that they are literally finished. There is no building barricade that blocks you to go there etc. The street is open. Anyone can literally go to the window of the house and even see inside from there. I thought that for some reason, they don't want to sell the property to me. I asked one of my friends to give them a call. They said to my friend that the houses are being built and they will be finished in July 2021. 

I'm not sure if I could explain how bizarre the situation is. But, does anyone have an idea why on earth Bellway doesn't want to sell a house that they finished? What's the point of sitting on the stock? Who wouldn't want to cash their product ASAP in an economical environment like today's? Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I'm really wondering the actual reasoning. If anyone has an idea, or if anyone experienced anything similar with them. I'd love to learn more about their experience. 

I thank you all in advance. 

Stay safe, take care!

MovingForwards

Maybe they have received offers and waiting for the conveyancing to be finished. Perhaps they are affordable housing or shared ownership properties.

If you and your friend have both been advised there's nothing until July, maybe they mean there's nothing available as those ones haven't been finished.

Find something else or wait.

ukuscan

MovingForwards said:

Maybe they have received offers and waiting for the conveyancing to be finished. Perhaps they are affordable housing or shared ownership properties.

If you and your friend have both been advised there's nothing until July, maybe they mean there's nothing available as those ones haven't been finished.

Find something else or wait.

Thanks for your feedback.
The thing is, my friend and I specifically asked for the plots that I saw on site. They are not saying that it's reserved or something. They say it's available, but it's not going to be finished before July. 
Besides, we're sure that they are not affordable housing or shared ownership because the plots of these types have been identified clearly in the site plan and these plots are not in these groups. 

NameUnavailable

You could always try speaking to them and asking that question directly? They obviously have their reasons, I don't think anyone here can tell you what that is.

NameUnavailable

Proceed with your sale and rent in the meantime.

ukuscan

NameUnavailable said:

You could always try speaking to them and asking that question directly? They obviously have their reasons, I don't think anyone here can tell you what that is.

Hello, thanks for your response.
I asked to them in an email. Haven't received a feedback yet. I feel like there is something dodgy. If I hear back anything, I'll share with the forum. I just wondered if anyone experienced something similar..

FreeBear

Just watch out for any maintenance charges (a.k.a. fleecehold) for the estate - If there are any, run a mile. These things are starting to be a real issue when people try to sell and are putting a number of buyers off.

Personally, I'd be wary of any brownfield sites in the Bedford area - Quite a few old clay pits that have been used for landfill (including toxic waste) in the general area. Do your research before spending too much money.

GDB2222

NameUnavailable said:

Proceed with your sale and rent in the meantime.

Why would you do that? It is quite a big risk to be out of the housing market, as prices can move quite sharply. They might move in your favour, but then again they might not. Certainly, proceeding with the sale just to be kind to your buyers is a bit OTT. If you feel bad about them, give them some money to reimburse their wasted fees.

Mnoee

They might be show houses? I've never bought a new build, but I'm sure I've read that they have a couple of houses people look round while they're building the rest. Whatever the reason is, if they're not selling them yet there's not much you can do! 

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

How do you know they are finished by looking through the window? Did you see the kitchen installed, the bathroom, the garden turfed?

spoovy

Could be revenue-shifting within the business, moving sales from one years to another, or from one land manager to another, for some tax efficiency or internal politics reason.   I doubt you'll ever find out.