Notice for Completion Date

Rudi1990

i’m a FTB and will have to give notice on my current rental property in due course. How much notice will I get on the completion date and is the date accurate? Just want to give my current landlady as much notice as possible and preferably a minimum of a month as per my contract.
I haven’t received my mortgage offer yet but the underwriting has been completed and the valuation has been booked.

Irishpearce26

It depends on what you are buying and who from. If its a new build you may be given completion on notice which can range from 14 days to 6 months but usually results in the developer being able to give a fixed date closer to the time. The completion date will depend on how many are in the chain above you however as you are an FTB with no chain below you it usually starts with you about dates due to the cash travelling upwards. Have you got an accepted offer on a house, started conveyancing etc? Perhaps you could agree to go on a rolling contract after you give notice and have an idea of potential dates.

parkingadvice1212

Subject to change at the last minute I’m afraid. We were due to exchange last Friday for completion on the 2nd but the top of the chain wasn’t ready - it’s now impossible for completion to be on the 2nd as our solicitor needs 7 working days to get the funds from the bank. 

amandacat

As things progressed with mine, my solicitor contacted me and asked for proposed exchange and completion dates. If you’re in rental you ideally don’t want to give notice until you have exchanged in case dates changed.  You can ask for a gap between exchange and completion to allow you to give notice on your rental and your solicitor will communicate with the other parties to see if they agree (the more people in the chain, the more tricky it becomes for everyone to agree) 
People may be reluctant to agree a 4 week gap but you might be able to agree it or if not a 3 week gap.  A week crossover isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it gives you a bit more time to move things from your rental and do the post tenancy cleaning. 

iampetesmith

I think we ended up exchanging on the Tuesday and completing on the Thursday so it was only a couple of days. We just paid the extra rent and had the keys to both houses for a few weeks so we could move all the stuff ourselves. The landlord had also given us notice earlier in the year as he wanted to sell it, but he let us stay there until our purchase went through.

Rudi1990

Irishpearce26 said:

It depends on what you are buying and who from. If its a new build you may be given completion on notice which can range from 14 days to 6 months but usually results in the developer being able to give a fixed date closer to the time. The completion date will depend on how many are in the chain above you however as you are an FTB with no chain below you it usually starts with you about dates due to the cash travelling upwards. Have you got an accepted offer on a house, started conveyancing etc? Perhaps you could agree to go on a rolling contract after you give notice and have an idea of potential dates.

Thank you, it’s not a new build, I have had an offer accepted and the lady who I am buying from is in the process of offering on a property she likes.
I haven’t started the ball rolling with conveyancing yet, I wanted to wait until I get the mortgage offer so I know it’s definite.

Rudi1990

parkingadvice1212 said:

Subject to change at the last minute I’m afraid. We were due to exchange last Friday for completion on the 2nd but the top of the chain wasn’t ready - it’s now impossible for completion to be on the 2nd as our solicitor needs 7 working days to get the funds from the bank. 

Oh gosh 😩 that’s what I’m afraid of! However, the lady I’m buying from did say at the start she could move in with her parents if she hadn’t found anywhere by the time I’m ready to move, so hopefully if the chain did collapse above me she would still do that 🤞🏼

Irishpearce26

Rudi1990 said:

parkingadvice1212 said:

Subject to change at the last minute I’m afraid. We were due to exchange last Friday for completion on the 2nd but the top of the chain wasn’t ready - it’s now impossible for completion to be on the 2nd as our solicitor needs 7 working days to get the funds from the bank. 

Oh gosh 😩 that’s what I’m afraid of! However, the lady I’m buying from did say at the start she could move in with her parents if she hadn’t found anywhere by the time I’m ready to move, so hopefully if the chain did collapse above me she would still do that 🤞🏼

It will depend on the chain above you, if the lady is buying a house that only has one or two people above her then it shouldn't encounter any issues but like anything there is always a probability. If she is willing to break the chain then that is good news but get it written into your offer and contract.

Rudi1990

amandacat said:

As things progressed with mine, my solicitor contacted me and asked for proposed exchange and completion dates. If you’re in rental you ideally don’t want to give notice until you have exchanged in case dates changed.  You can ask for a gap between exchange and completion to allow you to give notice on your rental and your solicitor will communicate with the other parties to see if they agree (the more people in the chain, the more tricky it becomes for everyone to agree) 
People may be reluctant to agree a 4 week gap but you might be able to agree it or if not a 3 week gap.  A week crossover isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it gives you a bit more time to move things from your rental and do the post tenancy cleaning. 

Thank you, yes I’d like an overlap of about a week as I’m a single mum and will be doing all of the packing/unpacking and cleaning etc myself so I try to give myself some wiggle room when I move! Hopefully this will be my last move for a long time as no one can sell it from under me now 😁

Rudi1990

iampetesmith said:

I think we ended up exchanging on the Tuesday and completing on the Thursday so it was only a couple of days. We just paid the extra rent and had the keys to both houses for a few weeks so we could move all the stuff ourselves. The landlord had also given us notice earlier in the year as he wanted to sell it, but he let us stay there until our purchase went through.

Same here - Landlady is selling but I have notice until end of July.
She is very nice though and hasn’t bothered putting it on the market yet but I also want to give her sufficient notice so she can market this property!
Maybe I’ll chat directly with her once I have the mortgage offer through and try to arrange something mutually suitable

GDB2222

A lot more people say that than do, unfortunately.

In normal times there’s usually a month between exchange and completion, so you would give your landlord notice straight after  exchange.  These days that month is being cut back to days or there’s simultaneous exchange and completion. Worst happens you’ll be paying rent for a period after you have bought the new place. You need to budget for this.