Delayed completion

shanclover

We are in the middle of buying a house and previously the seller was chasing us to complete in Dec Now we are ready and they want to complete in early Jan. They are saying there wasn't enough time to vacant the house. I'm just a bit worried if they have changed their mind about selling so was wondering if we should push for an early exchange date. I understand that means we need to put down 10% deposit.  It seems the only penalty the seller will get if they change their mind after the exchange is some legal /removal cost. Is it worth pushing for an early exchange date?
Another question is if we were sending the 10% deposit to our solicitor and the solicitor defaults (hopefully not), what protection do we have on our deposit?

Thanks all

TripleH

The deposit should be completely safe.

It is held in a client account that is completely separate from the firm's business. That money is yours and it is there for your use only (the solicitors are merely holding it on your behalf).

If that money is used for any other purpose than your house deposit (and other agreed psyments) the trouble the individual solicitors will be in is immense (even if the firm goes under). Those funds cannot even be moved to the firm account to pay money you owe without your consent.

I'd push here for a longer gap between exchange and completion and reassure it gives your buyer assurance you won't pull out.