New Build flat, Completion date no keys

uk993

I am a bit confused regarding to the definition of a completion date. What I gathered is when full payment made and keys are handed over.
On my completion date, no keys are handed over until 2 months later. Yet I made a full cash payment.
I am getting charge for bill like service charges, electric, water and council tax for the 2 months before I got my keys.
When I went back to the developers they declined and stated I need to pay service charges as far as they are concerned it is completed. 
Am I liable for all these even though Keys were not given after 2 months later ? What is the legal side of this?

Thanks for any advice.

BarelySentientAI

What did your contract say would happen?

Mark_d

Completion is when the property legally becomes yours.  So you are responsible for council tax, utility bills etc. from this date.  You may be able to get discounted council tax as the property was empty and unfurnished in the period before you got your keys.  Metered water/energy bills should also be lower than normal as you weren't using any water/energy.

It does sound odd that you weren't given the keys until after the completion date.  Before exchange, what was agreed regarding when you'd be able to move in to the property?

gwynlas

Why did you not get the keys on completion date? Why did you allow the money to be paid by your conveyancer without knowing when you could take up residence? if on  the completion you handed over cash why did you not get anything in return? Are you living in the UK if so where?

user1977

Don’t you have somebody already engaged to give you legal advice? What are they saying?

DE_612183

who are the developers?

propertyrental

Assuming England/Wales:

You should have had a clear understanding, either via your solicitor or the developers, of how/when the keys would be released.

You should have informed your solicitor you had not received the keys. He would have claimed that the developers had not Completed and demanded either

* completion in two days (ie keys) or

* return of your money due to failure to Complete (plus penalties).

On my completion date, no keys are handed over until 2 months later.......... Keys were not given after 2 months later ?

So to be clear, you Completed 2 months ago (exact date please) and you still have no keys?

What (exact) date did you Exchange Contracts?

There is something missing from your story. I suspect English is not your first language so you may have misunderstood some of the contract terms, or you may have not fully explained here the exact situation.

Another option, 2 months ago, would have been a locksmith to remove / replace the locks.

Where have you been living for the last 2 months?

BarelySentientAI

propertyrental said:

Assuming England/Wales:

You should have had a clear understanding, either via your solicitor or the developers, of how/when the keys would be released.

You should have informed your solicitor you had not received the keys. He would have claimed that the developers had not Completed and demanded either

* completion in two days (ie keys) or

* return of your money due to failure to Complete (plus penalties).

So to be clear, you Completed 2 months ago (exact date please) and you still have no keys?

What (exact) date did you Exchange Contracts?

There is something missing from your story. I suspect English is not your first language so you may have misunderstood some of the contract terms, or you may have not fully explained here the exact situation.

You, and almost everyone else so far, are assuming that Completion has meant vacant possession with the keys as would be usually expected.  This ignores the possibility that there have been no modifications to the standard conditions (I did see one flat sale where there was legal completion on one date but the keys were retained by the management company whilst the block was uninhabitable due to work on the communal area), or that Completion is being used here to mean something actually very different.

Don't lead off on demanding things via solicitors until things are a bit more clear.  I suspect, just as you do, that there is something missing from this story.

uk993

The keys were delayed due to the fact that the developer did not complete the apartment in time but still proceeded with the completion and asked us to deposit the funds. If we had delayed making the payment due on the completion date  we will be charged for late payment.

uk993

The main question is, when I completed my side of settlement of the full payment on the completion date, am I still liable to pay service charges on the previous months before they had given us the keys?

user1977

We don't know, because we can't see what (rather odd) contract you seem to have entered into.

What does your solicitor think?