68 thoughts on “Delayed completion? That’s going to cost me a fortune!”
Hi,
Great article, thanks. We purchased a house in England during the Stamp Duty Holiday in 2021. We had an offer accepted in April, and emails between solicitors of both parties point to a verbally agreed completion date towards the end of May. The vendor then stopped responding to their solicitor, estate agent etc leaving us all stumped. Eventually the vendor’s solicitor advised an updated completion date proposal of 22nd June. We accepted this but asked for provisions to be made relating to further delays and agreeing who would be liable for increased stamp duty fees. Long story short, we ended up completing in September 2021, with an additional £12,500 stamp duty to pay.
Is there any scope for us to either A) apply to HMRC for a (partial) refund or B) submit a claim against the vendor?
We are sorry to hear of your circumstances but in reality, until contracts are exchanged with an agreed date for completion, there is no contractual liability to any of the parties. Up until exchange of contracts, either party is at liberty to withdraw or change the terms of the proposed sale. Put another way, there is probably very little prospect of you having a claim against the seller. If there was to be an increased financial liability to you as a result of any circumstances, it would really be for you to try to renegotiate the terms of any contract to take account of this, but the seller would not be obliged to agree to that.
I almost bought a 2 bedroom flat which had so many delays from the property management firm initially. The seller solicitors had difficulty getting service charge summary , fire risk assessment etc from them . I had my mortgage offer expire in August 26th 2023. The mortgage broker who works for the agents who manages the property for the seller was able to get a mortgage extension that ends October 2023 .
Only for my solicitor to call me on the 12th of October that every other thing has been done , but the current tenant of the property has till November to move out and they have not moved out . The property needs to be free and my solicitor says she needs 5 days to draw down the mortgage from my lender and she said this is not going to be possible considering the deadline.
I would like to know if I can get refund of money paid to the solicitor etc / refunds for wasting my time .
The eviction notice given to the tenant could have been earlier , it was just given to the tenant sometimes August . This makes me feel the seller /agent which manages the sale / rental of the property set me up for failure by not giving the tenant an earlier eviction since April 2023 after paying all charges .
Thank you for getting in touch, however from what you have said, it looks like you have not exchanged legally binding contracts with the sellers, and so don’t have any cause of action against the seller or their solicitor where there is now a delay in being able to proceed where the seller has not given notice to their tenant early enough in the process.
If you have in fact entered a legally binding agreement with the seller and their tenant will not vacate now before the Completion date in the Contract, then you may well have a cause of action against the Seller under the Contract. However from your description of events it would seem that an exchange has not taken place. This being so, we appreciate the frustration with the situation you find yourself in, however from the details you have given it looks simply as though the Seller did not give notice to their tenant early enough in the process.
Our advice would be to ensure that if in future you decide to purchase a property which is currently tenanted, you agree with the Seller early in the process the date they will serve notice to evict the tenant.
Hi, Very helpful article. Under offer Jan 23, told cash buyer no chain. Ended up being mortgage and delay after delay exchanged 13 July for completion 26 July. Day before told buyer cannot complete as paid a business bill with the cash funds. Agreed a rent and licence to occupy with delayed completion set for late September. Again, day before buyer cannot complete due to shortage in funds (initially told a small amount). Notice of 10 days to complete issued. 10th day arrives, buyer cannot complete but now the shortfall is 55% of the asking price. Now what are my options? I could rescind sale contract & re-market the property but I’m loathe to do that as market has changed due to high interest rates. Or I let them stay renting and set a new date for exchange/completion when they have all the funds, risky as they have no incentive to act or could even pull out. I am going to lose the house I am buying, am paying to live in an airbnb, storing my possessions and losing out on interest the house price would earn if invested. Can I apply for specific performance order? How long does that take? Or should I renew Notice for 10 more days or 2 months as they have requested. I cant help feeling I’ve been really let down by the agent/ conveyancer. Advice appreciated.
Unfortunately your query is just too specific that we could realistically provide any advice on our website. We cannot risk providing advice on our website only for someone later to suggest that we provided incorrect advice.
We can, however, provide some general guidance. There is a principle in law that a claimant cannot simply sit back, letting losses accrue, and expect the defendant to meet all of those losses. There is a ‘duty’ on a claimant to mitigate their loss. The word ‘duty’ is in inverted commas because it is less of a requirement and more of an expectation. The result of this means you are going to have to take reasonable steps to mitigate the losses that are accruing to you. By way of very basic example, staying in a 5 star hotel until completion and expecting the buyer to cover the cost of this in any breach of contract claim that might subsequently arise if completion does not then happen is unlikely to be a reasonable step, whereas temporary accommodation at a modest cost would be far more likely to be.
You probably have a number of options, including rescinding the contract or applying for specific performance. You could also agree terms with the buyer, perhaps sufficient that the agreed ‘rent’ or license fee covers your additional outlay. The practicalities of any particular option will depend on the specific circumstances and position of the parties. At a very basic level, if the buyer is in financial difficulties, there will come a point where they cannot afford to pay anything more and they may not have any assets to sell to do so.
Sometimes it is better to cut your losses than risking the position getting worse but we cannot tell you what to do, even if we were formally instructed. We could, however, explore your options and then implement your strategy, minimising risk to you as far as may be possible. What we would say is that your buyer sounds suspicious. We would suggest that before anything further is agreed, you ask for evidence of the buyer’s ability to complete and do not automatically trust promises that are given to you, especially not without supporting evidence.
Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to consider the matter further.
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Hi,
Great article, thanks. We purchased a house in England during the Stamp Duty Holiday in 2021. We had an offer accepted in April, and emails between solicitors of both parties point to a verbally agreed completion date towards the end of May. The vendor then stopped responding to their solicitor, estate agent etc leaving us all stumped. Eventually the vendor’s solicitor advised an updated completion date proposal of 22nd June. We accepted this but asked for provisions to be made relating to further delays and agreeing who would be liable for increased stamp duty fees. Long story short, we ended up completing in September 2021, with an additional £12,500 stamp duty to pay.
Is there any scope for us to either A) apply to HMRC for a (partial) refund or B) submit a claim against the vendor?
Thank you for your comment.
We are sorry to hear of your circumstances but in reality, until contracts are exchanged with an agreed date for completion, there is no contractual liability to any of the parties. Up until exchange of contracts, either party is at liberty to withdraw or change the terms of the proposed sale. Put another way, there is probably very little prospect of you having a claim against the seller. If there was to be an increased financial liability to you as a result of any circumstances, it would really be for you to try to renegotiate the terms of any contract to take account of this, but the seller would not be obliged to agree to that.
Hi ,
I almost bought a 2 bedroom flat which had so many delays from the property management firm initially. The seller solicitors had difficulty getting service charge summary , fire risk assessment etc from them . I had my mortgage offer expire in August 26th 2023. The mortgage broker who works for the agents who manages the property for the seller was able to get a mortgage extension that ends October 2023 .
Only for my solicitor to call me on the 12th of October that every other thing has been done , but the current tenant of the property has till November to move out and they have not moved out . The property needs to be free and my solicitor says she needs 5 days to draw down the mortgage from my lender and she said this is not going to be possible considering the deadline.
I would like to know if I can get refund of money paid to the solicitor etc / refunds for wasting my time .
The eviction notice given to the tenant could have been earlier , it was just given to the tenant sometimes August . This makes me feel the seller /agent which manages the sale / rental of the property set me up for failure by not giving the tenant an earlier eviction since April 2023 after paying all charges .
Could you please advise on what next to do?
Thank you for getting in touch, however from what you have said, it looks like you have not exchanged legally binding contracts with the sellers, and so don’t have any cause of action against the seller or their solicitor where there is now a delay in being able to proceed where the seller has not given notice to their tenant early enough in the process.
If you have in fact entered a legally binding agreement with the seller and their tenant will not vacate now before the Completion date in the Contract, then you may well have a cause of action against the Seller under the Contract. However from your description of events it would seem that an exchange has not taken place. This being so, we appreciate the frustration with the situation you find yourself in, however from the details you have given it looks simply as though the Seller did not give notice to their tenant early enough in the process.
Our advice would be to ensure that if in future you decide to purchase a property which is currently tenanted, you agree with the Seller early in the process the date they will serve notice to evict the tenant.
Hi, Very helpful article. Under offer Jan 23, told cash buyer no chain. Ended up being mortgage and delay after delay exchanged 13 July for completion 26 July. Day before told buyer cannot complete as paid a business bill with the cash funds. Agreed a rent and licence to occupy with delayed completion set for late September. Again, day before buyer cannot complete due to shortage in funds (initially told a small amount). Notice of 10 days to complete issued. 10th day arrives, buyer cannot complete but now the shortfall is 55% of the asking price. Now what are my options? I could rescind sale contract & re-market the property but I’m loathe to do that as market has changed due to high interest rates. Or I let them stay renting and set a new date for exchange/completion when they have all the funds, risky as they have no incentive to act or could even pull out. I am going to lose the house I am buying, am paying to live in an airbnb, storing my possessions and losing out on interest the house price would earn if invested. Can I apply for specific performance order? How long does that take? Or should I renew Notice for 10 more days or 2 months as they have requested. I cant help feeling I’ve been really let down by the agent/ conveyancer. Advice appreciated.
Thank you for your comment.
Unfortunately your query is just too specific that we could realistically provide any advice on our website. We cannot risk providing advice on our website only for someone later to suggest that we provided incorrect advice.
We can, however, provide some general guidance. There is a principle in law that a claimant cannot simply sit back, letting losses accrue, and expect the defendant to meet all of those losses. There is a ‘duty’ on a claimant to mitigate their loss. The word ‘duty’ is in inverted commas because it is less of a requirement and more of an expectation. The result of this means you are going to have to take reasonable steps to mitigate the losses that are accruing to you. By way of very basic example, staying in a 5 star hotel until completion and expecting the buyer to cover the cost of this in any breach of contract claim that might subsequently arise if completion does not then happen is unlikely to be a reasonable step, whereas temporary accommodation at a modest cost would be far more likely to be.
You probably have a number of options, including rescinding the contract or applying for specific performance. You could also agree terms with the buyer, perhaps sufficient that the agreed ‘rent’ or license fee covers your additional outlay. The practicalities of any particular option will depend on the specific circumstances and position of the parties. At a very basic level, if the buyer is in financial difficulties, there will come a point where they cannot afford to pay anything more and they may not have any assets to sell to do so.
Sometimes it is better to cut your losses than risking the position getting worse but we cannot tell you what to do, even if we were formally instructed. We could, however, explore your options and then implement your strategy, minimising risk to you as far as may be possible. What we would say is that your buyer sounds suspicious. We would suggest that before anything further is agreed, you ask for evidence of the buyer’s ability to complete and do not automatically trust promises that are given to you, especially not without supporting evidence.
Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to consider the matter further.