We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
The Forum is currently experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
When you exchange contracts, normally you fix a completion date at the same time. That must be difficult with a property that is not built yet, with all the potential delays etc.?
Yes, which is why it's never done that way. The contract will say that completion is [x] days after the property is signed off as complete. You may need to haggle about what parameters there are around that e.g. you don't want to be still bound into the contract after your mortgage offer has expired, so generally there will be a longstop date at which point the buyer is entitled to pull out.
And also why it's a bad idea for a buyer to try to get into a chain with their buyer, as every other contract would need to reflect your completion being on notice, and other parties won't be keen to be tied into the construction timescales of your builder just because you're getting a shiny new house. Easier to sell first (or do part-exchange with the developer).
