Completion Fell Through

geoffc2020

We were about to exchange and complete end of last week - six of us in a chain. The date was agreed upon by all parties just after the Jubilee weekend. On the day my solicitor received an email to say they were unable to complete because someone further down the chain was waiting on a survey for a septic tank. We find it hard to imagine that they, their solicitor as well as their buyer and their solicitor would have agreed to completion in the first place had this not been at least already carried out but maybe hadn't been signed off on by a lender and were expecting this to be done by completion day.

My buyer is now living out of boxes having been ready to move and as we're due to go on holiday in a few weeks time I'm worried about dealing with matters then.

Has anyone had any experience of how long these surveys typically take and for lenders to give the green light?

canaldumidi

Could be any number of reasons. They may not have realised there even was a septic tank till late in the process. Or assumed it was in good condition but then something flagged it up as potentially needing replacement.

Or perhaps their solicitor was suddenly told of its existance (how would they know if not told?) and highlighted the new Environmental Agency regs on sewage disposal..

A survey will take half a day, but that depends how busy the company is. They might fit it in within a few days of request, or might be booked up for a week or three.

Then a report has to be written, and finally the buyer has to review the report and decide whether to proceed, pull out, or re-negotiate the purchase price, based on the report.

Here' an example of a survey company.

Same day Exchange/Completion comes with uncertainty!

geoffc2020

I'm just at my wits end now - finding information out as to exactly what the issue is is impossible. I'm probably going to give things another couple of weeks and may put the property back on the market.

I was initially dubious about same day exchange and completion but at least I can still pull out.

Alfrescodave

geoffc2020 said:

I was initially dubious about same day exchange and completion but at least I can still pull out.

Why then did you agree to exchange and completion on the same day? especially when there were 6 in the chain. Optimistic to say the least. 

Marky4040

geoffc2020 said:

We were about to exchange and complete end of last week - six of us in a chain. The date was agreed upon by all parties just after the Jubilee weekend. On the day my solicitor received an email to say they were unable to complete because someone further down the chain was waiting on a survey for a septic tank. We find it hard to imagine that they, their solicitor as well as their buyer and their solicitor would have agreed to completion in the first place had this not been at least already carried out but maybe hadn't been signed off on by a lender and were expecting this to be done by completion day.

My buyer is now living out of boxes having been ready to move and as we're due to go on holiday in a few weeks time I'm worried about dealing with matters then.

Has anyone had any experience of how long these surveys typically take and for lenders to give the green light?

Feel for you mate, my purchase fell through at the end due to an issue which was apparent from the beggining. Anyway this is the ordeal of the propeorty buying game, however what i would say is, i would not even enetertain a chain of more than 2 people, or none at all if you could help it. Chains are always a nightmare.

Woolsery

Most septic tanks will be reasonably constructed and compliant with regulations, but a few may still exist where an inspection will lead to a need for remedial work before the property may be sold.. This is unlikely to be quick or cheap.

GDB2222

geoffc2020 said:

We were about to exchange and complete end of last week - six of us in a chain. The date was agreed upon by all parties just after the Jubilee weekend. On the day my solicitor received an email to say they were unable to complete because someone further down the chain was waiting on a survey for a septic tank. We find it hard to imagine that they, their solicitor as well as their buyer and their solicitor would have agreed to completion in the first place had this not been at least already carried out but maybe hadn't been signed off on by a lender and were expecting this to be done by completion day.

My buyer is now living out of boxes having been ready to move and as we're due to go on holiday in a few weeks time I'm worried about dealing with matters then.

Has anyone had any experience of how long these surveys typically take and for lenders to give the green light?

Clearly, if it comes to it, you'll have to choose between going on holiday and selling your house. 

canaldumidi

Woolsery said:

Most septic tanks will be reasonably constructed and compliant with regulations, but a few may still exist where an inspection will lead to a need for remedial work before the property may be sold.. This is unlikely to be quick or cheap.

Hmm. .....

I have no statistics but I suspect there are 000s of STs in rural areas that are extremely old and hence of dubious condition. Owners tend not to check them, just keep using them.

As for 'compliant', with the new regs I suspect there are also 000s of now non-compliant STs. Or STs that might originally have complied (even with current regs) but which would no longer comply due to degridation of original drainage field -something else that owners tend not to check till they either sell or things get sobad raw sawage starts popping up in the field......

geoffc2020

Thanks for all your replies they are much appreciated.

The property involved was inherited from my late mother and with delays due to covid (finding original paperwork etc.,) and then probate I've now been dealing with this for two and a half years. Plus the property needs quite a lot of work on it and the offer was quite a bit over asking price I'm just grateful to have reached this far. The chain is not ideal but I have heard of those with considerably more involved and with regard to exchange/completion on the same day my solicitors assure me that a considerable number of their sales are done this way now although I acknowledge those comments that think otherwise. I would have preferred it to be otherwise myself.

Since writing my original post earlier I have managed to have a conversation with the buyer and it looks like the problem with the septic tank may be sorted and another attempt to exchange/complete will take place in a week or so, although both of us will be paying keen attention to things right up to that point.

eddddy

geoffc2020 said:

The property involved was inherited from my late mother and with delays due to covid (finding original paperwork etc.,) and then probate I've now been dealing with this for two and a half years. 

Just to be clear - are you living in the property or is it empty? 

If you're living in it, are you selling it and buying another property to move into on the same day?

geoffc2020 said:

we're due to go on holiday in a few weeks time I'm worried about dealing with matters then.

If you're not living in the property and it's empty - your holiday makes no difference.

Exchange and/or completion can happen while you're on holiday. Normally, the solicitor would give you a final quick phone call to say "Shall I go ahead?".  But you can tell the solicitor in advance that they don't need to make that call, if you want.


If you're living in the property, and buying another - exchange can happen while you're on holiday, but not completion.

If that's the case, tell the estate agent (and your solicitor) the dates of your holiday asap, so that they can pass the info to others in the chain - and everyone can agree a new completion date which doesn't clash with your holiday.

diystarter7

As someone on another thread said about new build, at times to avoid not completing on time, live in rented place.

We've always been lucky/tried to buy no chain and sell to no chain as my parents had a very poor experience with a 4 property chain over 30-35 years again and we all thought, best avoided.