Posting here as not much traffic in Property/DIY.
We had an offer accepted on a property end-March. The vendor had already had an offer accepted on their onward purchase, and we were led to believe by the agents that, with our offer accepted, the chain was complete. However, we later found out that this wasn't the case—the top of the chain hadn't yet found their onward purchase.
Twelve weeks later, there has still been no movement at the top of the chain. We've also learned that the property we're buying is unregistered, and the vendor is reluctant to start the registration process in case the chain collapses.
We need to move out by the end of September at the latest due to our buyer’s timeline. Additionally, we really need more suitable accommodation. DP is disabled and we're struggling in our current house.
The market for suitable properties has been fairly slow, but a property has recently come up that, at least online, looks ideal. The issue is the location.
Both properties are in the same town.
Property 1 is on a lane, two minutes from open countryside and ten minutes into town.
Property 2 is on a road that leads to a small housing estate and is twenty minutes from town, though still only a couple of minutes from open countryside. It's chain free.
My dilemma is that the estate has a bit of a local reputation for low-level anti-social behaviour, although looking at the crime stats on Street Check it doesn't look any worse that any other area in the town.
We're really not sure if we should keep with the current property and hope that the chain starts to move, or consider the other property