Not be able to complete on deadline.

SMmack

Me and my partner are buying a first house from a seller who is buying a new build. The exchange is complete and  move in date is Friday the 8th. 
After Christmas we were told by the solicitor to close the help to buy ISAs and provide a closing statement letter. 

Due to Christmas bank holidays however I have found out we may not get this letter until Monday. We also do not want to buy without the government bonus as it is quite substantial after years of saving. 

What would be the potential implications and drawbacks of not being able to pay the deposit on Friday?

davidmcn

You'll be in breach of contract (which could be expensive for you) and won't be moving in on Friday. Didn't your solicitor explain what the contract actually says before you exchanged? 

greatcrested

If you don't pay the full amount on the contractually agreed Completion date, you will be in breach of contract. This will mean not moving in, but paying penalties instead.

Where you source the money from is not the seller's problem.

SMmack

davidmcn said:

You'll be in breach of contract (which could be expensive for you) and won't be moving in on Friday. Didn't your solicitor explain what the contract actually says before you exchanged? 

No she didn't explain anything to do with the move only instructed us of the date given. 

GDB2222

You need to get the money into your solicitor's account tomorrow, Thursday. Cleared funds. Basically, whatever is involved with doing that is what you need to do. Tomorrow is the absolute latest date. 

Can anyone lend you the money? Can you get a bank overdraft? Draw it down on credit card? Anything?

HampshireH

SMmack said:

davidmcn said:

You'll be in breach of contract (which could be expensive for you) and won't be moving in on Friday. Didn't your solicitor explain what the contract actually says before you exchanged? 

No she didn't explain anything to do with the move only instructed us of the date given. 

You must have known a completion date isn't changeable. Also it's gets agreed by all parties. If you weren't going to get this on time then that date shouldn't have been given.

What date did you close the account for a statement?

Most banks have copies of all correspondence on your online banking. If this letter has been sent and you are just waiting for the post can you not download it from your online account?

SMmack

GDB2222 said:

Can anyone lend you the money? Can you get a bank overdraft? Draw it down on credit card? Anything?

Not easily I'd be losing 6 grand of government bonus after years of aaving

GDB2222

SMmack said:

davidmcn said:

You'll be in breach of contract (which could be expensive for you) and won't be moving in on Friday. Didn't your solicitor explain what the contract actually says before you exchanged? 

No she didn't explain anything to do with the move only instructed us of the date given. 

It’s possible that your solicitor should have explained more, so you may have a cause for complaint later on. In the meantime, however, you need to concentrate on digging yourself out of a serious hole.

What will happen on Friday, assuming that you can’t complete, is that your sellers will serve a completion notice making you liable for their costs and giving you another two weeks to complete. Hopefully, you’ll manage to complete during the two weeks, as otherwise the result is truly horrendous. Let’s not go there.

If you do complete within the two weeks, the main costs you are likely to be liable for are your sellers' abortive moving costs. That may include hotel bills if all their stuff is packed, plus storage fees, etc. 

Your sellers will also  be liable to pay their sellers interest for late completion at an interest rate of around 6% pa, and you are liable for that, too. 

With a bit of luck, you should get away with paying out no more than £1-2k.

That is provided you can complete within the two weeks extension.  

SMmack

The solicitor has also pushed us to complete early 3 times without compensation in exchange and did not advise us to close the help to buy last time she did that on the 8th of December. 

Are your solicitors normally supposed to advise you on when to close accounts or what you are signing?

HampshireH

SMmack said:

The solicitor has also pushed us to complete early 3 times without compensation in exchange and did not advise us to close the help to buy last time she did that on the 8th of December. 

Are your solicitors normally supposed to advise you on when to close accounts or what you are signing?

I'm sure the onus would be on you to understand what you are signing and ask if you don't understand. They will then explain it to you.

It's helpful if they advise when to close the account. It seems they have done his though. What date did they ask you to do this and how long do the bank say it will take in their terms.

Presumably you had already made your solicitor aware of the bank's timescale to issues the statement

Tiglet2

The solicitor would not have exchanged without your authority to proceed, so why did you agree to it?  Are you saying that the solicitor advised you to close your HTB ISA on 8th December?  If so, it must have been clear that you were at the final stages.