New Build - 104 agreement

GixerKate

A friend of mine is in the final stages of buying a shared ownership house and is getting very conflicting information from the sales agent for the development and her solicitor.  Normally I'd say go with the solicitor but if I'm honest the solicitor doesn't seem very good (not a solicitor suggested by the developer).

She is due to exchange today and got a call yesterday from her solicitor saying that the whole thing can't go ahead as the developer hasn't provided a completed 104 agreement.  On talking with the sales agent, the sales agent then said a bond was in place and they are one of the last to complete on the estate so either get it sorted or the reservation will be cancelled, ie implying it wasn't a problem for any of the other houses so shouldn't be a problem for my friend either.  

On further frantic calls to the solicitor it turns out its the lender who is insisting on having the 104 agreement in place.  My friend is now purchasing indemnity police for £100 (plus £60 admin fee by the solicitor) to resolve this.

Can anyone shed some light concerning the 104 agreement?  I thought it applied to a whole estate and the agreement is pending until the sewers are adopted by the local sewer authority.

RelievedSheff

The S104 is one of the last things to be completed on a new build estate. It is very common for the S104 not to be in place when new build properties are sold. We bought our new build almost 2.5 years ago and the S104 and S38 agreements are still not in place and we don't expect them to be in place for some time to come as the estate is still being built.

74jax

Could your friend ask her solicitor WHY she needs a s104 in place to exchange?

GixerKate

74jax said:

Could your friend ask her solicitor WHY she needs a s104 in place to exchange?

Apparently its the lender who is insisting it has to be in place

gettingtheresometime

RelievedSheff said:

The S104 is one of the last things to be completed on a new build estate. It is very common for the S104 not to be in place when new build properties are sold. We bought our new build almost 2.5 years ago and the S104 and S38 agreements are still not in place and we don't expect them to be in place for some time to come as the estate is still being built.

Is this to do with water ? If so how has the developer connected to the sewerage system given the S106 follows the S104?

user1977

GixerKate said:

74jax said:

Could your friend ask her solicitor WHY she needs a s104 in place to exchange?

Apparently its the lender who is insisting it has to be in place

Presumably though only because the solicitor is advising them that they ought to insist on it being in place...I doubt anybody dealing with this at the lender would know one end of a s.104 agreement from the other.