Exchanged on New Build - Now prices reduced by 20%

Bungarm2001

"Whether or not the solicitor came from the builders, they are acting for you. They should not have put you in the position of exchanging on a contract with a mortgage offer expiring before the building was likely to be completed."

If you think you've been stitched up by this solicitor then I would go to the Law Society and complain. I think in your shoes I would anyway...something is not quite right here...

benood

Bungarm2001 wrote: »

"Whether or not the solicitor came from the builders, they are acting for you. They should not have put you in the position of exchanging on a contract with a mortgage offer expiring before the building was likely to be completed."

If you think you've been stitched up by this solicitor then I would go to the Law Society and complain. I think in your shoes I would anyway...something is not quite right here...

I agree but you will need to have gone through the solicitors internal complaints procedure before the law society will look at it.

Richard_Webster

With hindsight you could have tried to get the lender to extend its mortgage offer in time and if it would not do so then your solcitor might have tried to negotiate a way out for you with the developer before contracts were exchanged.

Did the solicitors point out to you the risks involved with an expected build completion date after the expiry of your present mortgage offer? If they did not then they might be negligent. Certainly last December the Northern Rock business had put some concern about that prices would fall so they should have been more aware of the possibility.

HxBro

ceestar wrote: »

BTW - The deposit was £26K

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if the other flats have reduced by 40k, then walk away from this one and get one of the others with a lower mortgage. You'll lose the deposit, but you'll save a lot more on the mortgage due to the difference in price, making you better off than you would be if you went with the current flat

Of course you'll need a deposit again, which may cause problems.

ceestar

Richard_Webster wrote: »

With hindsight you could have tried to get the lender to extend its mortgage offer in time and if it would not do so then your solcitor might have tried to negotiate a way out for you with the developer before contracts were exchanged.

Did the solicitors point out to you the risks involved with an expected build completion date after the expiry of your present mortgage offer? If they did not then they might be negligent. Certainly last December the Northern Rock business had put some concern about that prices would fall so they should have been more aware of the possibility.

No - We were not advised of this at the time. Like I said I don't feel the solictors have acted properly - I am waiting to see the outcome of the new valuation/mortgage offers. I doubt the property would be valued at the same price back in Dec. At that point, I will ensure that I make all the correct noises but until such time I think it's just pure speculation.

I have already complained about the way this has all been handled by our so called solictitor's already but will lodge formal complaints, once we know we know for sure!

ceestar

Is there nothing in the SCS 4th edition regarding bank valuations or subject to mortgage offers?

Trollfever

I am also of the opinion that this is a matter for the Law Society as it questions the professional ethics of solicitors.

ceestar

Trollfever wrote: »

I am also of the opinion that this is a matter for the Law Society as it questions the professional ethics of solicitors.

So I would need to go through the correct channels of the lawyers internal complaints process before contacting the law society.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

Before jumping into complaining about the Solicitors actions, I'd suggest a meeting with your Solicitors as, despite the fact that they are being paid by the developer, they are ACTING for you.

There may be a clause within the contracts that allows you to back out and only lose your initial booking fee if you cannot obtain a mortgage. I did see a clause once where it allowed the clients to back out if they couldn't get a buyer or if they lose a buyer for their house due to the long time between exchange and completion, but that's not the case with you.

Normally the developer expects you to exchange contracts within around 28 days of booking the property. If they know it's going to take 12 months to build and complete, then there is a lot that can go wrong in that time, as you have witnessed, and so I wouldn't be surprised if you could get out of it under some 'unfair contracts' law if there isn't a clause already.

Trollfever

OP needs a new solicitor:

http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/