Developer taking house off the market, then putting back on market for a higher price

MalMonroe

paulrdavies said:

Just wondering if anyone else has had this experience and whether this is actually allowed.
We made an offer on a new build in England which was still under construction. Our offer was accepted in March 2022 and we were informed the property would be ready in July.
We had accepted an offer on our house and were in a chain. In order for the chain not to collapse we agreed to sell and move out of our house in May, thinking we had about 6 weeks until we would be moving into our new property.
In june we were told that there was a delay and the property would be ready in August which wasn't a problem.
At the beginning of August we were contacted by the estate agents to inform us the Developer had now taken the house off the market. To say we were upset was an understatement. The developer said he had lost his tradesmen and thus could not give us a completion date. we said we were wiling to wait but he wouldn't accept that and basically indicated it was our fault for the fact we were now  homeless.
Exactly four weeks later the property was back on the market for £55,000 more, with the same estate agents. We also noted that he must have done the same for another of the properties as that was now on the market again. When we were looking for another property in the same area another estate agents told us they knew someone who had the same thing done at the same development in December 2021.
My question is this lawful and if not where do I go in order to take action?
If it is lawful is there anyway of forewarning others about this particular developer so it doesn't happen to them?

Hi, so sorry to hear that this has happened to you. There is a new service which I believe has just started, to help people in similar situations. It's this one - https://www.nhqb.org.uk/for-consumers/the-new-homes-ombudsman-service.html

They do say that they aren't operational as yet but all is not lost because if you click on 'contact us' they give information about who to contact when things have happened with a developer, as per the following link -

https://www.consumercodefornewhomes.com/   

General info - https://consumercode.co.uk/

Contact details for 'Consumer Code for New Homes' are in this link -

https://www.consumercodefornewhomes.com/contact-us/

I think it would be worth contacting them.

You will lose nothing and may gain something. (Even if it's just to put that developer on some sort of blacklist.)

I hope that's helpful.

Good luck. 

macman

That service is for new home owners who have build issues with their new property. How do you think it is relevant to someone who has no new home, nor has yet exchanged contracts with the vendor?
The OP has not exchanged contracts, and so the developer is free to withdraw and remarket without penalty. It sucks, but they have no legal recourse whatsoever.

Zinger549

macman said:

That service is for new home owners who have build issues with their new property. How do you think it is relevant to someone who has no new home, nor has yet exchanged contracts with the vendor?
The OP has not exchanged contracts, and so the developer is free to withdraw and remarket without penalty. It sucks, but they have no legal recourse whatsoever.

Sadly that poster is well known for posting incorrect information/advice.

jj_43

so you purchased an off plan property, what does the contract say? hopefully you had one?

Alderbank

jj_43 said:

so you purchased an off plan property, what does the contract say? hopefully you had one?

No, the OP says they had made an offer. Contracts had not been exchanged.

Woolsery

macman said:

The OP has not exchanged contracts, and so the developer is free to withdraw and remarket without penalty.

This is the essential thing to understand. Buying from a developer is a business deal with no place for sentiment. Given the current situation in building materials procurement, materials costs will have risen substantially, and not just on this house, so the developer may have decided to reflect upward movement in the housing market with higher prices. Their rationale would be "Will the market stand it if we do this?" not, "Will this upset people who currently intend to buy?"