Property brought from plan is behind schedule
I have a query, as I am currently a first time buyer in the process of buying a brand new property. We are purchasing the property from plan and have placed a holding deposit with the builder. At the minute, the roof of the property is 3 weeks behind schedule, so it is likely we are to move in at least 1 month later than advised by the builders. At the time of placing the deposit, we were advised that the exchange date would be 3 months prior to the time of completion. How much dictation/control does the builder have over the day we exchange? We are keen on the property but do not feel happy with exchanging so early on, do we have to go with the date the request, or can we advise a more suitable time for us?
There are no fixed rules on what dates you can negotiate with the builder – how hard you can negotiate depends on how badly you want the house and how badly the builder wants to sell to you, but if you have already paid a deposit you are clearly already fairly committed. I would push hard to get the builder to agree to your date, but you may not have much choice if they won’t budge. You might try exchanging on the basis that you complete “on or before“ a date in the future so that if the builder is late he is penalised and if the property is finished earlier then you are able to complete earlier. Talk to a solicitor.
Back to Legal»