New build long stop expired

ap741

Hi all, in need of some advice/support. 

To cut a very long story short, the new build I reserved off plan in May 2022 is about to go past the long stop of September 29th 2023 as stated on the contracts. 

I exchanged in January 2023 and was told by the solicitor that it was exchange on completion for March 31st 2023 with a long stop of the end of September (6 months). 

This date will now come and go and tonight I was told that the worst case scenario is now April 2024. 

There have been countless ‘worst case’ scenarios over the past 16 months all of which have been different issues (gas pipes, boilers, road works, landownership disputes). The house is a shared ownership and the housing association is pointing fingers at the developers and vice versa (not that this has helped me). 

Honestly, I am exhausted by the whole experience and have now taken on a tenancy agreement as come the end of October my daughter and I will be homeless (we have been living in a one bedroom air bnb since November as each time we were only given delays of a couple of months) and with no real idea on a move in date, I couldn’t wait any longer. 

My question is this….are we entitled to any expenses over the course of this past year? My solicitor has informed me that once the long stop has passed I can pull out and get my deposit back. I also have an emailed offer back in February that promised full payment of my mortgage application fees, reservation fees and solicitors costs if I chose to walk away. 

Would it be reasonable to just take this and accept the huge living costs as an unfortunate consequence or ask for them to cover it due to misleading information? 

Note- I would have taken on a tenancy a year ago had the long standing issues been made clear to me then. I have also approached the solicitor about this question and the contract states they need reasonable time to complete the work…as the advertised completion was sold to me as july 2022 I do feel that a final completion of end of April 2024 is excessive (but I may be wrong!). 

I have ‘divorced’ myself from this house and no longer wish to buy it and just wondering what I could potentially expect? 

Any insights would be greatly appreciated, thank you! 

user1977

ap741 said:

My solicitor has informed me that once the long stop has passed I can pull out and get my deposit back. I also have an emailed offer back in February that promised full payment of my mortgage application fees, reservation fees and solicitors costs if I chose to walk away. 

Why wasn't that in the contract? Does your solicitor think it's enforceable?

Generally your only remedy is to pull out and get any deposit back.

ap741

Solicitors are generally being fairly naff. I have spoken to an independent litigation solicitor who has advised I go for expenses as there were substantial issues surrounding the build that weren’t properly handled before the houses were advertised for sale. The repayment of mortgage fees, solicitors fees and reservation fees were offered by the housing association as a good will due to the mess that’s been made! 

user1977

ap741 said:

The repayment of mortgage fees, solicitors fees and reservation fees were offered by the housing association as a good will due to the mess that’s been made! 

Just sounded a bit odd that you'd exchange in January but they were already offering you something additional the next month, if completion wasn't yet due?

ap741

user1977 said:

ap741 said:

The repayment of mortgage fees, solicitors fees and reservation fees were offered by the housing association as a good will due to the mess that’s been made! 

Just sounded a bit odd that you'd exchange in January but they were already offering you something additional the next month, if completion wasn't yet due?

It has only become apparent this last month that the issues were known and not being shared with the buyers. The road layout document, as of august, had been going backwards and forwards without sign off for 115 weeks! 

So they knew a lot more than they were letting on and it’s only now the long stop is coming round that they have started being more transparent unfortunately. 

peterhjohnson

I would think that the last thing the builders want is for you to pull out and have your deposit back for the simple reason that the price that they can get from the eventual buyer is probably less than you agreed to pay. If you decide to walk away, they are most unlikely to pay you a penny more than you are contractually entitled to.

On the other hand, if you decide that you are willing to wait, they may agree to share some of the difference between your agreed price and the lower price they are now likely to be able to sell it for.