Anyone heard of a Covid Clause?

[Bakedbrie]

Just that really. Any views or experience of this in the buying / selling process? Is it a get-out Clause in case of job loss or original mortgage offer being invalidated due to job loss from the economic down turn?
Any views appreciated. Thanks.

[mumsy27]

it seems to be the new "clause" going around.
to avoid it exchange and complete in same day.

[DeeplyMovingExperience]

We had a covid clause written into the contract for the house we are buying. The reasoning is that once contracts are exchanged, the buyer is legally bound to complete on the property on an agreed date. So if the buyer gets sick or other covid/pandemic developments happen that are outside of their control, they are pretty much screwed.

The covid clause built some flexibility into the standard contract, so that both parties would allow each other reasonable leeway if either of them are affected by illness or unforeseen circumstances.

Initially, the vendor got very shirty about it, but I think that's because he didn't really understand what the clause meant (and he's not been a very nice person to deal with generally). But once it had been properly explained by the lawyers, he agreed to the additional clause.

Our solicitor is excellent, and a specialist property lawyer. Some conveyancing services are manned by non-lawyers and I think the vendor was using a cheap conveyancing service that didn't really understand the legals.

[museumum]

I’ve seen one in building works / renovations. It basically says covid measures invalidate everything else. If either party needs to isolate or lockdown returns nobody pays a penalty for missed deadlines.

[Bakedbrie]

other covid/pandemic developments happen that are outside of their control

If the clause is tight and limited to illness or Govt enforced lockdown preventing completion on a specific date, I get it. But could this include job loss or redundancy in the current unstable climate?

[DeeplyMovingExperience]

The clause is specifically about covid. Job loss and redundancy can happen to anyone at any time, and of course house sales fall through for all kinds of reasons. We did also build in a compensation clause so that the vendor would receive some compensation if it all went belly up.