Bellway - New Build and Reservation Fees

Thrugelmir

RandomGuy87 said:

eddddy said:

The normal process for new builds is:

• You pay the reservation fee, then you have 28 days to exchange contracts.
• (That's 28 days for your solicitor to sort out the legal stuff and for you to get a mortgage. Once you exchange contracts, you are legally committed - you can't change your mind [unless you have a longstop date and it passes])

• At some point after exchanging contracts, you will usually be given 10 days notice to complete.
• (The developer might give you an indication in advance of when that date will be. But the date often slips.)

Some people might think that "New Homes Mortgage Helpline" is some kind of organisation (perhaps government backed) with a mission to help home buyers.

Looking at their website, they're not. It looks like they're just a standard mortgage broker business. It seems to be a division of Connells Group - they are primarily a firm of estate agents. Are you buying through a Connells Group estate agent?

Other mortgage brokers might be able to find better deals, or charge you lower fees.


It's also often best to avoid solicitors / conveyancers who are recommended by estate agents or developers.


 

So in theory, we would be looking at maybe 38 days at most (give or take) to complete and thus own the house and move in?

That's most likely to be an optimistic timescale. 

eddddy

RandomGuy87 said:

It looks like the house is almost complete, there are only a few things inside to finish and they have only released two plots for sale in this area, this house being one. With that in mind, would you expect it to be a case that the builder notice wouldn't take too long?

It's best to ask the builder for an estimated completion date - but they often tend to be a bit optimistic!

The builder would probably want the house finished asap - to get your completion money in the bank. So they should rush.


But, for example, there might be "business reasons" why they want to finish some houses on another site first (e.g. to get a show home finished), so they transfer all the contractors working on your house to another site.

Or the tiling contractors go down with Covid, and they can't find another tiler to finish tiling the bathroom.

Or somebody drops a hammer on the shower tray and cracks it, and their supplier has no more in stock for 6 weeks