How likely is it that my new build will be ready on time?

[clare8allthepies]

Hi we are buying a new build house from Barratts and have just exchanged contracts. At the moment the estimated date for it to be ready is the beginning of May. As we have to give our notice on our rent renewal date if we want to leave here middle of May time we will have to give notice at the end of March.

In an ideal world we would have a 1-2 week overlap between getting the keys on the new place and leaving here as we need to get the carpets laid, curtains or blinds in every room sorted and get all our stuff moved!

I don't really want to be paying rent on this place for ages unnecessarily but I'm really scared that we'll give our notice, the letting agent will find new tenants then there will be a last minute delay and we'll be homeless!

Does anyone have any experience? Thanks.

[nbee84]

Have you been to visit your new house? How near to completion does it look? My boss bought a new build last year. It was supposed to be ready for the end of June and after lots of pushing from them they finally moved in at the end of September.

[clare8allthepies]

Eek! That's exactly what I don't want! I guess I'll have to keep bugging them. I'm tempted to leave giving our notice until the end of April. It will mean that we will be paying rent until the end of May but hopefully any delays will be obvious by then.

[LBOCS2]

In my experience of working with developers, it's amazing how quickly they can turn them around if they want to get people in.

Two suggestions - check when their financial year end is, and their half year. They'll want completions before then so will push to get you in before their dates.

Also, speak to the site manager. They're a lot more realistic than the sales team are about timescales. They're also extremely useful people to know in respect of getting snagging issues sorted!

[Crikeyblimey]

Ours was due to be build complete on 22 June (however when we signed up in Feb, estimated date was end May) we moved in 10 July.

[RoseDawson]

We just bought a new build. Supposed to move in April 2015. Moved in 17th of December. So I wouldn't hold your breath!

[TennesseeMountainPointOfView]

what stage is it at? Once they've got the roof on, the dates tend to be more accurate, as they do not tend to be so affected by the weather. I would expect that by March they should be able to tell you if they are likely to be ready to release the house in May, although they might not have the precise date.

[specialsubject]

are you on a rolling tenancy? If that's the case your notice is 1 month.

I wouldn't do it until the place is finished!

[smellylittleorange]

Oh god I am so worried about this and not even exchanged yet. The sales lady said Apr/May/June the other day...it can't go into July as DH will be 50 -then and it will mess up our mortgage somehow clueless the scaffolding is down which is good sign and we chose flooring Sunday. Eek we have to give 1 month notice and are resigned to living in two properties for a bit

[Crikeyblimey]

If the scaffolding is down and the roof is on timings will be more accurate. When we signed up in Feb they haven't even dug the footings out for the foundations, hence the variable timescales.
Keep on at them.
The inside work isn't weather dependent do stuff should move more steadily.
Don't panic.

[suzyrut]

We faced a similar problem when we bought our new build a few years ago. We resolved it by negotiating a fixed move in date rather than this 10 days after completion certificate business. We did this before we exchanged though so not sure if it will make a difference. It meant the house had been ready for about 4 weeks before we completed so they had some contingency and we had an overlap with our existing rental.

I would go up the sales chain a bit and try to negotiate the date you want to move in. Once you have that agreed I would also try to understand the milestones they need to be hitting to keep to that date e.g. watertight, first and second fit electrics and plumbing etc. so you can see early if they're behind and get them to divert resources to your house to meet your date.

It is possible to do it that way, it's just not the way developers like it. Good luck

[QforCucumber]

We were due our keys 6th December 2013, by 28th Nov it had just had the roof put on. Finally got keys 7th march 2014
Got loads of freebies from the builders though as we kicked up a fuss and said how much more money in rent and storage etc we had to pay out.

[stubbornstains]

I'm waiting to move into a HA new build ATM. And waiting...and waiting... Initial estimates were the end of December; we haven't even had a viewing yet. There was one booked for last week, then it got cancelled .

Since late November we've been visiting the site regularly on Sundays (small village development, no proper security) and peering through the windows. IT'S FUCKING FINISHED AND HAS BEEN SINCE THE END OF DECEMBER!!

Apparently there's an "outstanding planning issue" and the developer isn't going to exchange contracts w/ the HA until it's sorted. I very very much hope there's no way for the developer to back out of this deal, I've been so very lucky to be allocated a HA property, and to lose it would break my heart.

My only consolation is that my contact at the HA is going mad as well.

(rocks)

[LBOCS2]

Stubborn, that's as likely as anything to be a contract issue between the developers and the HA. If there are a lot of HA properties on the site they also like to hand them over in one block, so even if it's not your property causing an issue there may be a problem with another one - or something to do with the estate charges, or a TP1 term or similar. Unfortunately both sides communication is usually fucking awful a bit lacking which means that the information doesn't necessarily get to the person who needs to communicate it - in your case, the housing officer.

[stubbornstains]

Cheers LB....Actually, I do believe them about the "planning issue", because on the LA website they've put in retrospective planning for one of the houses (mine actually) to be turned through 90 degrees....at least, that's what I think it is.

It is one of a street of 5 houses that are all due to go as one though.

You're right about the housing officer knowing nothing, though- I've been giving her regular progress updates on the build, she hasn't even seen the houses yet .

Of course, then there might be another issue- this developer has form for being a bit of a Mr Nasty.

Has there ever been a case of a developer turning round at this point and going "Oh, actually I don't think I'll sell these houses to you, Housing Association?" Or am I just being a paranoid wreck???

[bishboschone]

Same here , we were told June but ended up the end of September. I wouldn't rush them , you want it done properly .. We told our buyers that they had to wait from the start and they did . I must admit we knew our house would re sell easily so I wasn't worried . I would have a back up plan .!

[smellylittleorange]

Thanks Crikeyblimey

[LBOCS2]

No, it's all part of the planning consent - they have to sell Xno of properties to the HA. The relevant HA will have been chosen before the build was even started, the properties will have been built to the HA's spec. This sort of thing happens a lot, I really wouldn't worry :)

[clare8allthepies]

Thanks for the replies, I think I'm going to wander down tomorrow for a nose round (if I can work out which one is ours!)

[stubbornstains]

Wait till Sunday clare, otherwise they might get all "Leave our building site! Elf and safety!"

(had a lovely time climbing in and out of drainage trenches and balancing on wobbly planks across them with baby DS2 in a sling when we went to have a look in November ).

[stubbornstains]

Thanks LBOCS, I knew that really, but it's so miraculous that we've got social housing (band E on Homechoice, but section 106 applies) that I keep thinking that I've been dreaming and someone's going to take it away from me....