74 thoughts on “Delayed completion? Your Costs, Compensation & Legal Remedies”
My completion was due on a Friday, but the bottom of the chain did not request their funds in time. The funds came through at 4.50pm when the solicitors were closed and it was then too late to complete. The funds were then transferred late on the following Monday incurring a 5 day delay. I have had to pay out a second removal company and storage of my possessions, plus interest on my mortgage. Can I claim these costs and what is the best way?
Thank you for contacting Cunningtons and we are sorry to hear of your problems with delayed completion. Whilst your own conveyancing solicitor is best placed to advise on the specific Contract you have entered into, if it is based upon the Law Society’s Standard Terms & Conditions, then this provides for penalty interest in the event of late completion. Other expenses you have incurred as a result of late completion usually can be recovered from your buyer if they are at fault, but it will usually mean taking action via the courts (and depending on the size of any claim that may be the small claims court) to recover such sums.
I am moving home and I paid for the removal company. 16 hours to the move, I receive an email to say my buyer is not in funds and there will be a delay. I have had to cancel the movers and they have fined me for this. 2k. Who is liable for this cost?
Thank you for contacting Cunningtons and we’re sorry to hear you have had problems with your completion.
The position as to who is liable for those costs will depend on whether or not you have exchanged legally binding contracts for the sale of your property with the buyer. Your conveyancing solicitor is best placed to advise in this regard, but if you have exchanged Contracts then you may have a claim to recover these costs from the defaulting buyer. If you have not exchanged Contracts and were due to simultaneously exchange and complete on the same day, then unfortunately your buyer would not be responsible for those costs.
That does not mean, however, that you could not then renegotiate the agreement you have with the buyer if they have caused you unexpected costs. Provided there’s no legally binding exchange of Contracts then either party can withdraw, or seek to change the agreed price right up to the point of exchange.
We are currently in a position of selling our house due to the increase in mortgage rates pushing our mortgage up by £900 a month. Making it unafordable The sale was agreed back in September. The buyer is in rented accommodation and we are moving in with family. So there is no long change.
The buyers solicitor keeps no responding to estate agents or buyer. They claimed no to have received inquiries twice when all in the email chain had can see they had been sent. When they do respond they keep promising to send out contract to exchange the next day but its been 2 weeks and no response and no contracts
We stated this need to be completed by middle of December and the buyer agreed ,but we are still waiting and the buyer still hasn’t received contracts.
This has now cost us the seller, 2 months of increased mortgage, plus house hold bills. Leaving us in financial difficulty.
There is little you can do except change your buyer, or encourage your buyer to change their solicitor if they’re not happy with them. You don’t have any legal recourse against a buyer for not exchanging, or against their solicitor. Your buyer could raise a complaint against their solicitors to see if that prompts them into action, but there’s no monetary claim you can make. The only other option would be to seek to agree a higher price with the buyer to take account of the extra you are now paying out for the property, but you’d need to speak to your estate agent about whether the buyer is likely to agree, or if they can find a new buyer at a higher price.
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My completion was due on a Friday, but the bottom of the chain did not request their funds in time. The funds came through at 4.50pm when the solicitors were closed and it was then too late to complete. The funds were then transferred late on the following Monday incurring a 5 day delay. I have had to pay out a second removal company and storage of my possessions, plus interest on my mortgage. Can I claim these costs and what is the best way?
Thank you for contacting Cunningtons and we are sorry to hear of your problems with delayed completion. Whilst your own conveyancing solicitor is best placed to advise on the specific Contract you have entered into, if it is based upon the Law Society’s Standard Terms & Conditions, then this provides for penalty interest in the event of late completion. Other expenses you have incurred as a result of late completion usually can be recovered from your buyer if they are at fault, but it will usually mean taking action via the courts (and depending on the size of any claim that may be the small claims court) to recover such sums.
I am moving home and I paid for the removal company. 16 hours to the move, I receive an email to say my buyer is not in funds and there will be a delay. I have had to cancel the movers and they have fined me for this. 2k. Who is liable for this cost?
Thank you for contacting Cunningtons and we’re sorry to hear you have had problems with your completion.
The position as to who is liable for those costs will depend on whether or not you have exchanged legally binding contracts for the sale of your property with the buyer. Your conveyancing solicitor is best placed to advise in this regard, but if you have exchanged Contracts then you may have a claim to recover these costs from the defaulting buyer. If you have not exchanged Contracts and were due to simultaneously exchange and complete on the same day, then unfortunately your buyer would not be responsible for those costs.
That does not mean, however, that you could not then renegotiate the agreement you have with the buyer if they have caused you unexpected costs. Provided there’s no legally binding exchange of Contracts then either party can withdraw, or seek to change the agreed price right up to the point of exchange.
We are currently in a position of selling our house due to the increase in mortgage rates pushing our mortgage up by £900 a month. Making it unafordable The sale was agreed back in September. The buyer is in rented accommodation and we are moving in with family. So there is no long change.
The buyers solicitor keeps no responding to estate agents or buyer. They claimed no to have received inquiries twice when all in the email chain had can see they had been sent. When they do respond they keep promising to send out contract to exchange the next day but its been 2 weeks and no response and no contracts
We stated this need to be completed by middle of December and the buyer agreed ,but we are still waiting and the buyer still hasn’t received contracts.
This has now cost us the seller, 2 months of increased mortgage, plus house hold bills. Leaving us in financial difficulty.
What are our options?
Thank you for your comment.
There is little you can do except change your buyer, or encourage your buyer to change their solicitor if they’re not happy with them. You don’t have any legal recourse against a buyer for not exchanging, or against their solicitor. Your buyer could raise a complaint against their solicitors to see if that prompts them into action, but there’s no monetary claim you can make. The only other option would be to seek to agree a higher price with the buyer to take account of the extra you are now paying out for the property, but you’d need to speak to your estate agent about whether the buyer is likely to agree, or if they can find a new buyer at a higher price.