If exchange takes place but no completion

lookstraightahead

 could someone clarify for me.

3 in chain, we are bottom of chain with top of chain moving into rented. Top of chain needs to exchange ASAP so that they can sign an AST, but wants three weeks between exchange and completion to find somewhere.
if we all exchange but the top of chain doesn't find anywhere, do we as bottom of chain get compensated? Or do we just get our money back?

pinkteapot

If you all exchange contracts then, yes, everyone is legally bound to complete on the specified date and you can reclaim all additional costs you incur as a result of any delay from the party in the chain who fails to complete (technically, you have to claim from your seller, who has to claim from theirs, up the chain to the party at fault - you only have a contractual relationship with your seller). 

In reality, completion failure after exchange is EXCEPTIONALLY rare. I assume you mean they need that time because they're going into rented? Three weeks is plenty of time to sort somewhere. 

lookstraightahead

pinkteapot said:

If you all exchange contracts then, yes, everyone is legally bound to complete on the specified date and you can reclaim all additional costs you incur as a result of any delay from the party in the chain who fails to complete (technically, you have to claim from your seller, who has to claim from theirs, up the chain to the party at fault - you only have a contractual relationship with your seller). 

In reality, completion failure after exchange is EXCEPTIONALLY rare. I assume you mean they need that time because they're going into rented? Three weeks is plenty of time to sort somewhere. 

Thank you. Yes my feeling is what they decide they can't find anywhere, as our sellers can't (or won't) go into rented. We are renting at the moment and having an overlap so effectively by hanging on we are paying the top of the chain's rent.
last week they all wanted completion by next week !!

AnotherJoe

lookstraightahead said:

pinkteapot said:

If you all exchange contracts then, yes, everyone is legally bound to complete on the specified date and you can reclaim all additional costs you incur as a result of any delay from the party in the chain who fails to complete (technically, you have to claim from your seller, who has to claim from theirs, up the chain to the party at fault - you only have a contractual relationship with your seller). 

In reality, completion failure after exchange is EXCEPTIONALLY rare. I assume you mean they need that time because they're going into rented? Three weeks is plenty of time to sort somewhere. 

Thank you. Yes my feeling is what if they decide they can't find anywhere, as our sellers can't (or won't) go into rented. We are renting at the moment and having an overlap so effectively by hanging on we are paying the top of the chain's rent.
last week they all wanted completion by next week !!

They will have to decide that upfront before they exchange. Once they exchange if they dont complete they are in for a world of hurt. This could happen with *any* chain purchase but as said its very rare.

lookstraightahead

AnotherJoe said:

lookstraightahead said:

pinkteapot said:

If you all exchange contracts then, yes, everyone is legally bound to complete on the specified date and you can reclaim all additional costs you incur as a result of any delay from the party in the chain who fails to complete (technically, you have to claim from your seller, who has to claim from theirs, up the chain to the party at fault - you only have a contractual relationship with your seller). 

In reality, completion failure after exchange is EXCEPTIONALLY rare. I assume you mean they need that time because they're going into rented? Three weeks is plenty of time to sort somewhere. 

Thank you. Yes my feeling is what if they decide they can't find anywhere, as our sellers can't (or won't) go into rented. We are renting at the moment and having an overlap so effectively by hanging on we are paying the top of the chain's rent.
last week they all wanted completion by next week !!

They will have to decide that upfront before they exchange. Once they exchange if they dont complete they are in for a world of hurt. This could happen with *any* chain purchase but as said its very rare.

I just feel anything could happen in this tiny chain of 3!

pinkteapot

lookstraightahead said:

I just feel anything could happen in this tiny chain of 3!

That sounds like first-time buyer nerves. Of course any house transaction can go wrong, but it virtually never happens after exchange. I always breathe a MASSIVE sigh of relief once we've exchanged - it tends to get fraught right before it. 

Honestly, most conveyancing solicitors will never have had a case of completion failing after exchange in their whole career. You will find one or two cases on here because when it does happen, people want help and there's very little advice online because it's so rare!

Even in those tiny number of cases where completion fails, in the vast majority of *those* it then happens within a couple of days. The most common cause is a complete balls-up by a bank or solicitor that results in a payment failing which then gets sorted quickly. This is why people are advised not to complete on a Friday - if anything does happen to go wrong then solicitors and banks are closed all weekend. Again though, you've got more chance of an AstraZeneca blood clot than a failed completion - and the chances of that blood clot are vanishingly small.  

fishfingerbutties

Even if they can't find somewhere for a long term rental, they could find a short term rental and storage. Even if it is much more expensive, it's still way way cheaper than the risk of not completing. So logically, it really won't happen.

SpiderLegs

Well I don’t wish to p*** on anyone’s chips but the last house I sold the buyers failed to complete on the agreed date...

on a Friday too!

hazyjo

SpiderLegs said:

Well I don’t wish to p*** on anyone’s chips but the last house I sold the buyers failed to complete on the agreed date...

on a Friday too!

Had you exchanged?

SpiderLegs

hazyjo said:

SpiderLegs said:

Well I don’t wish to p*** on anyone’s chips but the last house I sold the buyers failed to complete on the agreed date...

on a Friday too!

Had you exchanged?

Certainly had.
It was no disaster as we’d purposely split the sale and onwards purchase. 

lookstraightahead

Thanks everyone