68 thoughts on “Delayed completion? That’s going to cost me a fortune!”
I bought a property this year. The exchange took place in January with completion scheduled in April due to chain involving the sellers. This was delayed to July and now September (with further delay possible). My agreement in principle expired and I had to get a new one which now has more interest and also involved paying the mortgage advisor their fees. My solicitor says they cant help and advised me to just wait. Please advise what rights do I have in this case since I have paid the 10% deposit and done everything from my side.
Thank you for contacting Cunningtons. Without reviewing the Contract you have entered into it is not possible for us to give you any specific guidance regarding your situation in this forum.
You should ask your solicitor to explain the implications of the contract you have entered into and whether you can rescind it as a result of the other parties’ delays.
We hope you manage to resolve matters to your satisfaction.
HI there I am having an unfortunate experience as a buyer because the savings account with all my cash in that said “unlimited withdrawals anytime” suddenly had a daily limit when I tried to take it all out to complete – and they dont do CHAPS (go careful with a Chase savings account!). So I ended up not completing and having to delay a week while i extracted my cash in daily max alowed lots (I have complained to financial ombudsman ongoing). So its nearly the day when I have it all transferred, and can exchange, when my ever helpful (not) solicitor pops up and suddenly says as well paying a £150 “charge” and 4% of outstanding amount above base rate I will also be liable for “claims made by all other members of the chain due to not completing on original date” – this 1. seems a bit over the top? and 2. can they just land this on me a day or 2 before completing, sort of bounce me into it?? I know it was sort of my fault because of the savings account (though definitely mislead) but it’s only a further week’s delay for goodness sake?
Thank you for contacting us with your question. Whilst you should always liaise with your own conveyancing solicitor on such matters, these things are contractually based. If you have entered into the Law Society’s standard contract used on the vast majority of property transactions, then this provides for penalty interest (usually at 4% above base) payable by the defaulting party (you in this instance) if completion is delayed beyond the contractual date. From what you have said you are the party at fault (albeit because your bank has delayed funds) and so under the standard Contract you would be obliged to pay the Seller interest as your solicitor has said. The penalty interest is included in the Contract as an incentive to both parties to complete on time.
Sometimes the contract includes a provision to also pay the innocent parties’ legal cost for delayed completion, so check this is the case with your solicitor. Your Seller is entitled to call for these sums if they are included in the Contract terms before completing, so we recommend contacting your solicitor to ensure you have paid all contractual sums due to avoid further delays with completion of your purchase.
So I signed all my contracts to move 1st April on 30th March, i paid my deposit on 30th March, cleared that day. I was bottom of the moving chain and my money didn’t get to buyers solicitors until 4.35pm on 1st and the solicitors refused to complete as my seller “has nowhere to go”. The property i am buying is round the corner from my current home and they have moved out. They received my money, why would they not have completed and given me my keys?
Thank you for contacting us, and we are sorry to hear about the problems you are having completing your transaction.
However, as in our reply to Hayley on March 29th 2022, these questions should be addressed to your current conveyancing solicitor to deal with, as it will depend on what was agreed in your Contract with the Seller. We would not be able to provide legal advice without the full facts and file of papers.
We do hope you manage to resolve the delays and move to your new home very soon.
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I bought a property this year. The exchange took place in January with completion scheduled in April due to chain involving the sellers. This was delayed to July and now September (with further delay possible). My agreement in principle expired and I had to get a new one which now has more interest and also involved paying the mortgage advisor their fees. My solicitor says they cant help and advised me to just wait. Please advise what rights do I have in this case since I have paid the 10% deposit and done everything from my side.
Thank you for contacting Cunningtons. Without reviewing the Contract you have entered into it is not possible for us to give you any specific guidance regarding your situation in this forum.
You should ask your solicitor to explain the implications of the contract you have entered into and whether you can rescind it as a result of the other parties’ delays.
We hope you manage to resolve matters to your satisfaction.
HI there
I am having an unfortunate experience as a buyer because the savings account with all my cash in that said “unlimited withdrawals anytime” suddenly had a daily limit when I tried to take it all out to complete – and they dont do CHAPS (go careful with a Chase savings account!). So I ended up not completing and having to delay a week while i extracted my cash in daily max alowed lots (I have complained to financial ombudsman ongoing). So its nearly the day when I have it all transferred, and can exchange, when my ever helpful (not) solicitor pops up and suddenly says as well paying a £150 “charge” and 4% of outstanding amount above base rate I will also be liable for “claims made by all other members of the chain due to not completing on original date” – this 1. seems a bit over the top? and 2. can they just land this on me a day or 2 before completing, sort of bounce me into it?? I know it was sort of my fault because of the savings account (though definitely mislead) but it’s only a further week’s delay for goodness sake?
Thank you for contacting us with your question. Whilst you should always liaise with your own conveyancing solicitor on such matters, these things are contractually based. If you have entered into the Law Society’s standard contract used on the vast majority of property transactions, then this provides for penalty interest (usually at 4% above base) payable by the defaulting party (you in this instance) if completion is delayed beyond the contractual date. From what you have said you are the party at fault (albeit because your bank has delayed funds) and so under the standard Contract you would be obliged to pay the Seller interest as your solicitor has said. The penalty interest is included in the Contract as an incentive to both parties to complete on time.
Sometimes the contract includes a provision to also pay the innocent parties’ legal cost for delayed completion, so check this is the case with your solicitor. Your Seller is entitled to call for these sums if they are included in the Contract terms before completing, so we recommend contacting your solicitor to ensure you have paid all contractual sums due to avoid further delays with completion of your purchase.
We hope this helps.
So I signed all my contracts to move 1st April on 30th March, i paid my deposit on 30th March, cleared that day. I was bottom of the moving chain and my money didn’t get to buyers solicitors until 4.35pm on 1st and the solicitors refused to complete as my seller “has nowhere to go”. The property i am buying is round the corner from my current home and they have moved out. They received my money, why would they not have completed and given me my keys?
Thank you for contacting us, and we are sorry to hear about the problems you are having completing your transaction.
However, as in our reply to Hayley on March 29th 2022, these questions should be addressed to your current conveyancing solicitor to deal with, as it will depend on what was agreed in your Contract with the Seller. We would not be able to provide legal advice without the full facts and file of papers.
We do hope you manage to resolve the delays and move to your new home very soon.