Protracted house move - timescale for deed of variation on ground rent

Megaross

So the situation goes like this, march 2021 I have an offer accepted on a house, june 2021 I'm told to be ready to move for mid June. Then later told a septic tank issue was holding up my sellers onwards purchase, this goes on and on and on until march this year when said onwards purchase drops out.

They swiftly find an onwards purchase. Fast forward to this month when I'm told all enquiries are back but my sellers are waiting on a deed of variation to be done on a property they've bought on a local new build estate, a bit of digging reveals this is because "the rent charges are not compliant".

I sold my property back in January and moved in with a friend so as not to lose the second buyer in that timeframe (having lost the first), my mortgage is due to expire in June (quite annoyingly on my birthday) and because I'm porting that may mean I lose my early repayment fees entirely which are not an insignificant amount. To say nothing of the inconvenience and stress of it all having been under it for over a year.

I suppose my question is, how long realistically can I expect to be waiting? I can't seen to get any indication from anyone how long these things generally take and obviously there's only so much pressure you can apply before it is counterproductive.

Skylon

How many months have you got from when you redeemed your mortgage in January until you have to have taken out a new mortgage to avoid losing your ERC? 

I would ask your solicitors if they can give you a timescale and ask them to emphasise your time requirements to the other side, if they haven’t already. If it’s on an estate where they’ve dealt with other variations, they might have an indication of whether it’s likely to be relatively quick or not. 

penners324

Deed of variations can take months even when agreed by all parties.

eddddy

A deed of variation will probably be one sheet of paper that needs to be signed by two parties. Neither party can be forced to sign it.

If there's a delay, it could be because

• The two parties can't agree on the terms (i.e. what should be written on the piece of paper) 
• One party (i.e. the rent charge owner) is disinterested, and won't discuss signing it
• Both parties' solicitors need to check the wording - maybe one or other solicitor hasn't got around to it yet
• Both parties need to sign the deed - maybe one or other hasn't got around to it yet 

If both parties can't agree terms - it might take a few days to resolve, or it might never be resolved. If one party is disinterested, then it won't happen.


You can try to 'interrogate' your sellers to find out what the situation is - and then make a judgement on how quickly it will be resolved.

And/or you can start suggesting that you'll walk away if it doesn't get resolved soon - in the hope that will encourage your sellers.


It's also possible that somebody is "fibbing" to you - and the problem isn't a deed of variation.



Edit to add...

I just noticed you said the deed of variation related to "ground rent" in the thread title, and a "rent charge" in your post. They're very different. Often negotiating a change in "ground rent" is more challenging - because there'll be a price to agree on.

simon_or

You have been extremely patient (perhaps excessively so) but unfortunately it doesn't like it's going to complete in June before your porting window closes so the ERC is probably lost anyway.

While letting this purchase go on in the background, perhaps it is time to start dipping your toes back in the market. Who knows, as a chain free buyer you may well find something better.