Buying a property on auction with vacant possession and exchanging before tenants leave

user1977

The point of the special conditions is that they take precedence over the standard ones. But I think we'd need to see the whole contract to determine whether there is really no longstop date.

macman

Unless it's a new build, which it isn't, I thought the principle is that you should never proceed to exchange without a fixed completion date? Without that, it's open-ended. 
If the tenants can't or won't vacate, then the LL has to evict them before completion, which could take another 6 months.

user1977

macman said:

Unless it's a new build, which it isn't, I thought the principle is that you should never proceed to exchange without a fixed completion date? Without that, it's open-ended. 

It might be a wise principle to follow (certainly in the OP's case), but there's no legal reason why it can't be determined by being x days after something else happens. However, it doesn't sound like the OP got advice about anything before it was too late.

saajan_12

OP, for us to help, you need to quote the full sections of the contract including headings, which reference 1st Dec / 8th Dec / 5 days post vacancy. 

Based on the special condition that completion is 5 days after vacancy, you wouldn't become a LL so no S21 notice etc. However the question is whether this overrides or is in conjunction with the 8th Dec completion date.. which depends on the wording. 

Jumblebumble

AnaO said:

I won a bid on a property auction in November. The property is tenanted, the auction advert stated that the tenant was due to vacate on the 1st of December (the property is being bought with vacant possession), and the auctioneers assured me that the tenant was moving out on the 1st of December.

I asked for the completion date to be extended to the 8th of December as I was due to receive funds from the sale of my property on this date. The auctioneer sent me an email advising the the Seller's solicitor had informed them that the Seller was satisfied with this completion date. The contract that I exchanged states the completion date of the 8th of December.

When the 8th of December arrived I was informed by the Seller's solicitor that the tenants had not moved out as their credit checks had failed.
And to date they have still not moved out as I believe their credit checks keep failing.

I have asked if the contract can be rescinded and my deposit be returned, however, the Seller's solicitor is stating that the auction's special conditions override anything stated by the auctioneer, and also override the completion date on the contract. The special condition states that completion will take place 5 days after the Seller has informed me that the property has been vacated. Which obviously could mean months, years or decades!

I obviously feel that I have been deceived by all parties concerned as I was under the impression that the completion date on the contract would stand. However every time my solicitor brings this up, the Seller's solicitor states that we need to refer to the special conditions which override the contract. Do I have any legal recourse here? I am prepared to wait for another month to complete, but this could go on forever and I have nowhere to live - I am currently in temporary accommodation.

Has anyone come across this scenario before?

Wow
You bought a house without a professional checking the contracts?
You listened to a salesman who could not possibly know give you the dates that tenants would be leaving ?
( unless the salesman knew there was an eviction order and that bailiffs were due to evict)
I guess the lesson to be learned is to never exchange without vacant possession unless you are willing to accept becoming a landlord

The crucial question is what does you solicitor advise.;