Vendor wants to give me money of to sort Deed of Variation after completion. Is this wise?

Jess5678

Hi all, I've been waiting 8 months for a flat purchase in England to go through and am really keen to get moved in as life has been on hold for so long now. The main delay has been Deed of Variations to cover escalating ground rent and issues with the lease e.g. the lack of a mortgage protection clause which could mean I have to sell it cash only and loose money. The leaseholder initially agreed to the DoV for the ground rent but then the freeholder refused it. Both the leaseholder and freeholder have now agreed the DoV in relation to the issues with the lease which I think are the worst risks. The vendor wants to give me the equivalent money off of my purchase price to sort it after as they will struggle for the funds for it before the sale and to speed things up. I really want to get in and start building a life after selling my previous property and temporarily living with family (for much longer than expected) but is it to risky to sort it after? If the I can get it in writing from the Leaseholder and Freeholder, could they 'change their minds' or find a reason it's not possible after I've purchased the property?

Also, what is the average time it takes to sort a DoV if I were to push for it to be done before completion? I have asked my Solicitor if I will incur extra costs from her if we deal with this after but I am just trying to gauge / weigh up how risky it would be overall!?

Voyager2002

These are questions for your solicitor.

user1977

Are you buying with a mortgage? If so then your lender will need it sorted out by completion, not afterwards.

Jess5678

Thanks both. I am lucky to be buying without a mortgage as it's a downsize. The current owner has a mortgage on the flat and says she's never had a problem so it's not being bought at a cash buyers price but lenders seem to be getting more fussy so I want to future proof it and try to avoid loosing money if / when I sell. I have asked my solicitor all of these questions and more but am awaiting their response. My solicitors initial advice was "We would highly recommend that this is dealt with prior to exchange of contracts so that the issue is rectified before anything is legally binding." But ultimately, it's my decision and just wondered if others had experience of this situation so I could factor it in.

Debbie9009

I would listen to your solicitor rather than random people on the internet, as your solicitor will be the one who will understand this issue best. Your solicitor can’t make you do anything, but with them saying they highly recommend it be sorted before exchanging contracts that would say to me that is the best way to go. 

Chances are the seller will have this problem whoever they sold the flat to. 

eddddy

Jess5678 said:

My solicitors initial advice was "We would highly recommend that this is dealt with prior to exchange of contracts so that the issue is rectified before anything is legally binding." But ultimately, it's my decision and just wondered if others had experience of this situation so I could factor it in.

What your solicitor means is... you will be totally at the mercy of the freeholder if you exchange contracts without the DoV in place.

• The freeholder might change their mind and say "We've decided not to sign a DoV after all."

• Or the freeholder might say "We've decided to increase the charge for the DoV to £100k"

The only way you can avoid that risk is if you sign a binding contract with the Freeholder. And that's probably not going to be feasible.

NameUnavailable

If the vendor can't affort to pay the freeholder for a DOV up front they should be able to agree that the DOV is a condition of the sale and it will be paid for out of the proceeds of the sale on completion, via solicitors.

Love_nut_butter

Jess5678 said:

Hi all, I've been waiting 8 months for a flat purchase in England to go through and am really keen to get moved in as life has been on hold for so long now. The main delay has been Deed of Variations to cover escalating ground rent and issues with the lease e.g. the lack of a mortgage protection clause which could mean I have to sell it cash only and loose money. The leaseholder initially agreed to the DoV for the ground rent but then the freeholder refused it. Both the leaseholder and freeholder have now agreed the DoV in relation to the issues with the lease which I think are the worst risks. The vendor wants to give me the equivalent money off of my purchase price to sort it after as they will struggle for the funds for it before the sale and to speed things up. I really want to get in and start building a life after selling my previous property and temporarily living with family (for much longer than expected) but is it to risky to sort it after? If the I can get it in writing from the Leaseholder and Freeholder, could they 'change their minds' or find a reason it's not possible after I've purchased the property?

Also, what is the average time it takes to sort a DoV if I were to push for it to be done before completion? I have asked my Solicitor if I will incur extra costs from her if we deal with this after but I am just trying to gauge / weigh up how risky it would be overall!?

Hi OP, may I ask how this turned out in the end? I'm a buyer experiencing the same situation.