68 thoughts on “Delayed completion? That’s going to cost me a fortune!”
Hi, we reserved a new build in feb 2021 and exchanged contracts July 2021 for an October 2021 completion. There was a long stop date of September 2022. It is now January 2023 and the property is still not ready. I know if we walk away we can get our reservation free back but what about all the fees paid for searches and solicitors etc? Can we make a claim against developers for breaching contract and not completing by the long stop ?
Thank you for your comment. What can or cannot be recovered will depend on a number of circumstances, but primarily whatever was contractually agreed between the parties.
hi, I have a friend who is currently trying to sell her flat. It is on an interest-only mortgage, which has expired, and her bank has indicated that they will foreclose if she doesn’t pay the outstanding amount, which is about £36,000. She had a buyer, but the deal fell through because the freeholder failed to provide the necessary paperwork. She then managed to get an offer on a lifetime mortgage, but this deal also expired because the freeholder failed to provide the necessary paperwork, even though they had six months to do so. Is there anything she can do to put pressure on the freeholder? Do they have any legal obligations in this situation? It doesn’t seem right that they caused two done deals to fall apart simply by failing to respond in time.
Thank you for your comment. While we cannot give definitive advice based solely on this without having seen the documents, whether action can be taken against the freeholder will depend on the terms of your Lease. Often leases contain provisions that assignment of the Lease requires the consent of the freeholder, but that such consent is not to be unreasonably refused or delayed. Given that this wording is also used in commercial rented premises, there is a significant body of case law as to what can constitute an unreasonable refusal or delay in the granting of consent. However, given your deadline and the threat of possession proceedings from the mortgage lender, we would not guarantee that we could convince a Court to force the landlord to act within such a timeframe.
Regarding threats of possession from the mortgagee, have proceedings been issued on this?
Hi my offer was accepted and went ahead the end of May 22. i immediately did all the necessary things like appoint a solicitor, mortgage advisor and also got my mortgage agreed by July 11th . i was then later told after the fact the house was in probate and i had to wait for docs to be sent before i could proceed with any searches on the property. i never received the probate docs till late September and now after futher legality issues with the power of attorney sellers side i am still no closer to completion. we have exchanged draft contacts and my mortgage is due to run out on 8th december.
what rights do i have to pass on costs such as new survey fees, storage costs, additional cost of mortgage (itll be costing me £200 more a month) and also just compensation in general for the stress ?
Thank you for getting in touch, and we are sorry to hear of the delays you’re experiencing with your transaction. Unfortunately under the English legal system the seller has no liability to you for wasted costs, or indeed for extra costs incurred in renewing searches, surveys and the like. It sounds as though you have not exchanged legally binding agreements, and that being so, so your only recourse would be to seek to renegotiate the purchase price to take account of the extra cost you have, or will incur.
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Hi, we reserved a new build in feb 2021 and exchanged contracts July 2021 for an October 2021 completion. There was a long stop date of September 2022. It is now January 2023 and the property is still not ready. I know if we walk away we can get our reservation free back but what about all the fees paid for searches and solicitors etc? Can we make a claim against developers for breaching contract and not completing by the long stop ?
Thank you for your comment. What can or cannot be recovered will depend on a number of circumstances, but primarily whatever was contractually agreed between the parties.
hi, I have a friend who is currently trying to sell her flat. It is on an interest-only mortgage, which has expired, and her bank has indicated that they will foreclose if she doesn’t pay the outstanding amount, which is about £36,000. She had a buyer, but the deal fell through because the freeholder failed to provide the necessary paperwork. She then managed to get an offer on a lifetime mortgage, but this deal also expired because the freeholder failed to provide the necessary paperwork, even though they had six months to do so. Is there anything she can do to put pressure on the freeholder? Do they have any legal obligations in this situation? It doesn’t seem right that they caused two done deals to fall apart simply by failing to respond in time.
Thank you for your comment. While we cannot give definitive advice based solely on this without having seen the documents, whether action can be taken against the freeholder will depend on the terms of your Lease. Often leases contain provisions that assignment of the Lease requires the consent of the freeholder, but that such consent is not to be unreasonably refused or delayed. Given that this wording is also used in commercial rented premises, there is a significant body of case law as to what can constitute an unreasonable refusal or delay in the granting of consent. However, given your deadline and the threat of possession proceedings from the mortgage lender, we would not guarantee that we could convince a Court to force the landlord to act within such a timeframe.
Regarding threats of possession from the mortgagee, have proceedings been issued on this?
Please therefore feel free to contact our Braintree office for a confidential discussion.
Hi
my offer was accepted and went ahead the end of May 22. i immediately did all the necessary things like appoint a solicitor, mortgage advisor and also got my mortgage agreed by July 11th . i was then later told after the fact the house was in probate and i had to wait for docs to be sent before i could proceed with any searches on the property. i never received the probate docs till late September and now after futher legality issues with the power of attorney sellers side i am still no closer to completion. we have exchanged draft contacts and my mortgage is due to run out on 8th december.
what rights do i have to pass on costs such as new survey fees, storage costs, additional cost of mortgage (itll be costing me £200 more a month) and also just compensation in general for the stress ?
thanks
Thank you for getting in touch, and we are sorry to hear of the delays you’re experiencing with your transaction. Unfortunately under the English legal system the seller has no liability to you for wasted costs, or indeed for extra costs incurred in renewing searches, surveys and the like. It sounds as though you have not exchanged legally binding agreements, and that being so, so your only recourse would be to seek to renegotiate the purchase price to take account of the extra cost you have, or will incur.