Sellers failing to complete

kazwookie

Get on to your solicitor, and make it very clear to them what you expect.

ie being put up in a hotel and expenses for storage etc.

I would have thought the onus was on the vendors to get out and find alternative accommodation if their onward move as held up.

TBagpuss

I wonder if they mean that the vendors need to serve notice to complete on their developer, but I think the answer is still that OP needs to talk urgently to their own conveyancer, who presumably knows what the contract actually says and what their options are, since a lot depends on what the terms of the specific contract are! 

babyblade41

I'm not quite understanding here. Why did you agree to a long stop with your vendor ?

I can understand it from your vendor with their new build  but not sure why you did with your purchase .

Or have I got a bit muddled ?

saajan_12

Everyone's jumping to conclusions but the key is exactly what the exchanged contracts say:
Option A ) Longstop date usually means the buyer can choose to pull out on or after that date if no notice served. If you don't pull out then you keep waiting for notice indefinitiely
Option B ) Default completion date = 29th April unless notice served earlier

The norm for new builds is option A, and if the seller's solicitor was sensible they would have advised the same terms on the contract between the seller and OP. There is a possibility that its option B but that's unusual.. 

If A -> then the vendors haven't failed to do anything, you can legally pull out or keep waiting, but no costs claimable
If B-> then the vendors must complete on 29th or will be in breach, and your (mitigated) costs are claimable. 

JustACourtesyCall said:

Hi,

We are in a bit of a tough situation.

We had finally got our vendors to agree, in November, to a longstop date of 29th April or 10 working days notice - whatever was earliest. - how exactly is this phrased? sounds like A above

We are now 10 working days away of the longstop date and have not received notice. Solicitors have said that they must provide this. - what exactly did they say? sounds like B above, so contradictory. 
We have agreed to move out of our rented accommodation and a new family are moving in on the 30th so we have to move out. - how did you 'agree' - did you serve notice, or agree a mutual early termination with the LL, or something else? 

The vendors are buying a new build which was meant to be completed in Feb, but after several excuses later its dragged on. -delays with new builds are par for course really, 2 months isn't huge, could be many more depending on where they've reached. 

What is our recourse? What can we do in this situation? - depends heavily on whether its option A or B as above. 

Thanks

doodling

Hi,

What do you think a longstop date means?

1. A date by which they must complete.

2. A date which if passed without completion allows the parties to walk away from the contract.

I think you believe you have (1), I suspect you might have (2).

Finding out what the contract means is probably your top priority.