Hi,

Sorry for the details but its been a long stressful journey that never seems to get better.

We started the process of buying a new build property using the shared ownership scheme in early July.

We used the builders recommended mortgage brokers and conveyancing firm.

This is where the problems started.

The mortgage broker messed up our income calculations and we ended up with a hard credit search from a lender that would not have lent to us.

They then could only find 1 more lender who deals with shared ownership but needed 5% more deposit.

We managed to get the extra 5% with help from family so continued with the purchase.

We instructed the law firm and got a fixed quote.

Later on they said they made a mistake and asked for more money after we had instructed them.

All of this we can live with.

But now,

11 weeks after we first instructed the law firm,

the housing association who is part of the shared ownership transaction has said we must exchange next week and complete 2 weeks after this or they will withdraw from the sale, leaving us homeless if this does not complete as we are currently renting.

Our conveyancing firm said they had been waiting for replies from the other side but did not chase them up even though it had been 20 days since they sent the queries. This left it too late for us to exchange and complete on time.

We need advice as to where we would stand legally if we do not complete on time?

Do we have a case to claim against someone for our financial losses so far?

I can provide more details if needed.

Cheers

Digots

Hi.

Di the lawyers sat it's too late to exchange and complete? When we sold our last house, exchange and completion happened within a week. And unless it's changed, you can exchange and complete on the same day.

HB

Hi.

 

 

Di the lawyers sat it's too late to exchange and complete? When we sold our last house, exchange and completion happened within a week. And unless it's changed, you can exchange and complete on the same day.

 

 

HB

Our lawyer wont commit to any date. We have asked directly if they can meet this deadline set by the other side but they refuse to answer, we assume so that they don't commit to anything. The problem with that is the other side have given our law firm until 26th Sep to send the contracts/lease for us to sign and 2 weeks from this date to complete or they are withdrawing from the sale/purchase. Our law firm has sent out the documents but we haven't received them yet. This gives us very little time to raise any queries on the documents.

The builder has pretty much washed their hands of it blaming the 2 law firms involved. I think the builder is responsible as it is them who marketed and arranged the sale.

Just to add, if the sale falls through we are out of pocket by at least £2k and with 2 hard credit checks done on our credit file. We have been ready since the start of July, all funds in place, mortgage sorted etc. It is all out of our control.