Seller wants to exchange contracts without completion date

pachaboy

I'm buying a home that was part of a part exchange for a new BOVIS home. This means I'm buying from BOVIS Homes.

The new house they are building is for the person that is living in the house i'm buying at them moment. I'm a first time buyer so there is no real chain.

I thought this would run smooth. BUT... the new BOVIS home has taken an extra 4 weeks to finish (blamed on the hot weather??). BOVIS would not give me a completion date for my house until the new one was built. The original suggested date was 25th July, this moved out to 25th August.

Now it is built it has failed a Customer Care report this means it won't be 25th August. Bovis have no idea how long what work needs doing will take, as well as getting a new report and still won't give a completion date, they have said it could be another 3 weeks. That would make it 16 weeks since having our offer accepted.

BOVIS have said they want to exchange contracts this week. They will put Completion on Notice instead of a real date. I don't want to do this. I'm in storage and hotel at the moment as I gave up my rented place planning for the 25th August move. If I exhange contracts and BOVIS move the date again to October for example i'd be paying so much money to stay in storage or pull out and have to pay a fine on the contract.

They have now said exchange contracts or we will put the house back up for sale!

Also they have said once the person moves out of our house it has to be empty for one week while they do a report on this house? Is this right?

Does anybody have any advice on what I should do, don't want to lose the house.

TheDink

Have you asked your solicitor about this? They should be able to advise.

Pal

Personally I would get your solicitor to draft the contracts to include penalty clauses for completion after a specified date, to cover the costs of the hotel, storage and an amount for your inconvenience to date.

I would also walk away rather than let a housebuilding firm threaten me regarding exchange dates when they have held everything up so far.

pachaboy

Solicitors are no help at all. They have said either wait or pull out.

We have got this house at a good price and now they have agreed to give £500 cashback on completion for messing us about, but still no completion date.

We really want the house too.

rchddap1

If you want the house...and the solicitors can't do anything then you don't really have a lot of options...ie, accept what the builders are telling you.

However, one thing I would try is putting together some figures of your extra costs, as a result of this delay, and get them to increase their cashback, or include some more extra options free of charge as additional compensation.

pachaboy

Bovis have agreed to the £500 cashback. I told them this will keep me going for two weeks. But its been 1 week and could be another 3. They have said they won't give any more cashback.

I'll get back on my solicitor.

Cheers for all the advice, very useful.

misesther

Your solicitor should be more helpful!!!!!!

Bossyboots

I agree that the OP's solicitor should be negotiating a penalty clause for the contract which is sufficient to cover the additional costs involved if completion does not happen by a set date.

Tell them that is what you want them to do, don't ask them if they will. BOVIS will try to resist it, but a sale in the bag is better for them than putting it back on the market.

I know a local site near here where the building company announced that all the flats were sold before they finished building and they shut the show house. They then messed purchasers about so much, that three quarters of the sales fell through and there are still 6 available one year after the project was completed.