Buyers pulling out and sending me a Whatsapp to tell me!

[Stillnotslept]

So AIBU day before exchange buyers whatsapp me to tell me they are not buying as they dont want to join the management company (its a 8 year old house on an unadopted road of 15 houses) apparently they didn’t think to read the documents until today and googled the national management agency and read horror stories - all docs signed not dated. I get that people change their minds but they have found my number through school mums and whatsapped me rather than talk to the estate agent. They are avoiding the estate agent. We have asked them if they can contribute to our costs not least as we are devastated and will loose the house of our dreams, miss the SD deadline and now cant really afford to move all the conveyancing is done hence the fees applying we paid for the management sales pack for them as a goodwill gesture (£400 as our purchase is time sensitive for personal reasons to the owners of the house we want, we offered them all our white goods as she cried about not being able to afford any and we wanted to be nice people and i felt generous as they didnt seem huge things to be getting upset about at the moment) So we have now asked them to talk to our solicitor and EA rather than send me whatspp messages and apparently we are being nasty. Am i being unreasonable asking them to offer us something...even if its £50 towards the pack which they should have purchased and is irrelevant to us unless we can sell this weekend and by asking them to stop messaging me as i feel its unprofessional. Thank you

The buying/selling system in England is rubbish, it doesn’t work on so many fronts and I wish it were updated.

We had a not dissimilar experience. We accepted an offer at the end of November & the buyers wanted to move by Christmas which pressured us into finding a rental (with all the associated costs) came and measured up for furniture & curtains, spent ages with us helping them re insurance as it was in a flood risk area - our insurers were fab and v helpful - and gave every indication that all was good.

However on the day of exchange the husband signed the documents, his wife wobbled and they pulled out. We were livid, the estate agents were too and I wrote the buyers (c/o their solicitors) a letter explaining in very polite terms exactly what we thought of them and how much money we stood to lose by trying to accommodate them. We weren’t asking for money back but just thought it might make them realise that they had behaved badly. The estate agent refused to show them any further houses, but they bought somewhere locally in the end as we kept seeing them around, cold stares all round!

As ever it worked out in the end but it cost us a lot of money, never mind the stress.

Oh, OP, this takes me back. It's utterly shit and horrible behaviour. Selling buying and property is so stressful - you'll get there in the end.

Bastards. But agree with what others have said, they are hoping you will become desperate and drop the price. Our buyer pulled a stunt at the last minute and managed to get another 5,000 off on top of the 15,000 she’d already negotiated. I’d certainly be directing them to the agent.

@DifficultBloodyWoman

Hmmmm. There is something that strikes me as off about what you posted and I am not sure what it is.

Do you think they might be fishing for a last minute reduction in price? If they know how desperate you are to move, they may prefer to negotiate with you directly rather than the agent.

I assume that they will still be looking for somewhere to move to so they should really want to be upfront with the estate agents who can help them. Avoiding isn’t a tactic I would go for.

Please remember that, as you haven’t exchanged, they can pull out at any time for any reason and they owe you nothing. I wouldn’t ask them for a contribution in your shoes. Don’t even engage with them, especially if they are calling you ‘nasty’!

Just instruct the agent to remarket ASAP.

I think Difficult is right.

They want a (big) price reduction.

Tell them (via the estate agent) you're sorry they feel like that, and you are have been in touch with another viewer/ prospective buyer who is still interested, but that you are considering court action re:out-of-pocket expenses as you had bent over backwards to accommodate them.

Don't reduce the price unless you can a) afford to and b) are really set on the other house. Get a bridging loan instead. (Dear, but you aren't being blackmailed_

If you explain to the people you are buying from then surely they will give you some leeway? They are unlikely to be able to magic up another buyer either.

So sorry to read this Op - it really is shitty behaviour on their part. Hope you find new buyers quickly.

Sorry I still disagree. If they did not know until they received the Report on Title that they (via the management co) would be responsible for the costs of the upkeep of the road and all that would entail and the potential massive liability that could involve then it is not unreasonable to not proceed with the purchase. I wouldn't touch a house that came with that liability (ie. potentially £1000s for the length of the ownership) and the detrimental effect it would have for onward sale.

There are different types of service charge.
If it is an estate rent charge most lenders are now not lending against properties subject to an estate rent charge unless certain criteria are met which usually involves a deed of variation.

Op if you house is subject an estate rent charge a future buyer will undoubtedly want this resolved so move forward this so as to not cause future delays.

Some buyers just don't want the expense of paying service charge. Was this disclosed at the outset to the buyers?

Who are the directors of the management company. Tbh I would be very wary of buying a property where there is a large
managing agent involved.

@Blankscreen

There are different types of service charge. If it is an estate rent charge most lenders are now not lending against properties subject to an estate rent charge unless certain criteria are met which usually involves a deed of variation.

Op if you house is subject an estate rent charge a future buyer will undoubtedly want this resolved so move forward this so as to not cause future delays.

Some buyers just don't want the expense of paying service charge. Was this disclosed at the outset to the buyers?

Who are the directors of the management company. Tbh I would be very wary of buying a property where there is a large
managing agent involved.

So @Blankscreen every new build house has this charge attached to it so most lenders wont lend on any of the new houses being built or built in the last 15 years? I think a debate on service charges is probably better served elsewhere this was about how she had known for 3 months then had a problem the night before we were due to exchange - so mortgage in place etc. Anyway we just have to hope for another buyer and have decided even if she wants a price reduction would rather sell to someone else cheaper.

The service charge won't pay for any road repairs though not a £100 a year. They realised that when the bill for any road works come in they could be asked to pay out £1000s.

Yes although many builders have built in this way in the last 10 years it has onky fairly recently come to light how onerous this form of charge is and is why people are avoiding

Yes that right The UK finance lenders handbook has been updated to reflect the issue

My point to the OP was if that is her situation she might find the house hard to sell to anyone so try and get the issue resolved.

You never know in a transaction what has actually been reported to the buyers by their lawyer.

@Blankscreen

Yes that right The UK finance lenders handbook has been updated to reflect the issue My point to the OP was if that is her situation she might find the house hard to sell to anyone so try and get the issue resolved.

You never know in a transaction what has actually been reported to the buyers by their lawyer.

Even more upset now and more crying required over this not being an issue when we brought 8 years ago. Other people have moved on this street tho so it must be possible...

The issue has received more publicity as the problems have come to light so now most conveyancers are more alert to the problems their client may face and have a duty to explain the implications.

Have you at any time been asked to pay into a reserve to cover future road repairs at all?

We just viewed a new freehold house where the charge was £300 per annum . The houses are selling quickly and people moving in all the time . So seems odd to me .

OP not every new build house has this charge. But you are correct there has been a rising trend. It is often used in the same situation as yours where the council will.not adopt the road, the builder does not want the responsibility of it and shifts the burden to unsuspecting homebuyers.

Unfortunately for you your buyer's solicitor did their job properly and explained the issue which usually happens when they do what is called a report on Title prior to exchange. In effect this is one final report to their client setting out all.the information they have obtained about the property during the conveyancing process including the fact they were taking on this liability which is for an unquantifiable amount and also reliant on all your other neighbours contributing when asked.

Your current conveyancing solicitor should be able to advise what steps you need to take.

@Unsure33

We just viewed a new freehold house where the charge was £300 per annum . The houses are selling quickly and people moving in all the time . So seems odd to me .

If you decide to proceed on one I woukd definitely ask your solicitor to check this point at the very outset before spending any money on surveys etc to see what other liabilities it brings.

@SeasonFinale

The service charge won't pay for any road repairs though not a £100 a year. They realised that when the bill for any road works come in they could be asked to pay out £1000s.

Yes although many builders have built in this way in the last 10 years it has onky fairly recently come to light how onerous this form of charge is and is why people are avoiding

Yes, our solicitor warned us about this.

RE unadopted roads, there is usually a bond in place organised by the construction company that details that the LA will be adopting the road (usually within 2 years) and this is how the initial purchases go through.

But the roads have to be a certain standard to become adopted by the LA. The Managenent Company often have it written into the deeds that they are not responsible for the unadopted road however, so it stays unadopted if the LA seems it isn't up to scratch and then the homeowners are liable for what could be a huge hefty bill - if any repairs need urgently doing the LA have to do them (unadopted or not) but you will be given a shared cost which could be thousands. Unlikely but not a risk I wanted to take so I pulled out on a 5 year old new build whose road hadn't been adopted by LA.

Is it a service charge or an estate rent charge on your house? If it's the latter then it is definitely an issue and I'm not surprised they did pull out.

@Garlia
You've got the info somewhat confused in your response.

If the developer is constructing the road with the intention of the road becoming adopted, he enters into an agreement with the local authority and pays a bond. The design of the road needs to be to their standard, is checked and will get technical approval. The road then has to be constructed to the LA standards and the technically approved design. There will be a number of inspections during construction to confirm it meets the standards. When the construction is complete, there will be a maintenance period, usually 12 months, at the end of which the LA will adopt the road.

If the developer doesn't construct to the appropriate standards, or fails to repair any defects at the end of the maintenance period, the intention is that the LA will use the bond to repair the road, the bill would not be passed to the homeowners under these circumstances.

When the homeowners will be liable for the maintenance and repair of the road is when there has never been the intention to have to road adopted, therefore no agreement with the LA and no bond.

It's true that more and more developers are now designing and constructing their estate roads to remain private, but this should be clear from the outset. If a developer is intending for the estate roads to be adopted, they "should" have the technical approval in place prior to the start of construction. They can start work at risk without the technical approval in place but the application should be with the LA prior to construction and they wouldn't construct the road fully as there are a number of inspections required for it to be approved and adopted which need to be carried out at various stages of the work.

Private roads and management companies are not always a problem. It's if it's been reserved as Estate Rentcharge that causes the problem.

Op you need to find this out

Yes some houses may have been sold but this is a big problem and it is just going to get bigger for more and more people as the lenders handbook now specifically refers to this. Most firms were not previously aware that it was an issue.

You can hopefully get a deed of variation to resolve it though. You just need to start that process now to avoid future delays

www.eversheds-sutherland.com/global/en/what/articles/index.page?ArticleID=en/Litigation_Support/rentcharges

OP - your own conveyancing solicitor should have warned you that this may have been an issue. And indeed should be able to advise you about how to go about getting a Deed of Variation.

@Stillnotslept I mentioned this thread to my DH (also a solicitor) and he seems to think there may have been some really recent case law which mean these rentcharges will not be allowed to be used in the future and that the holder of one will have to agree to variation so your solicitor should look into getting this sorted so you can go full steam ahead with a future purchaser.

@SeasonFinale the new changes to the Rentcharges Act 1977 will provide that all existing rentcharges will be extinguished on 22 June 2037 and no new rentcharges can be created. This will unfortunately not apply to estate rentcharges, although the OP hasn't actually confirmed that she has an estate rentcharge.

[quote CoxwellHuge]@Garlia
You've got the info somewhat confused in your response.

If the developer is constructing the road with the intention of the road becoming adopted, he enters into an agreement with the local authority and pays a bond. The design of the road needs to be to their standard, is checked and will get technical approval. The road then has to be constructed to the LA standards and the technically approved design. There will be a number of inspections during construction to confirm it meets the standards. When the construction is complete, there will be a maintenance period, usually 12 months, at the end of which the LA will adopt the road.

If the developer doesn't construct to the appropriate standards, or fails to repair any defects at the end of the maintenance period, the intention is that the LA will use the bond to repair the road, the bill would not be passed to the homeowners under these circumstances.

When the homeowners will be liable for the maintenance and repair of the road is when there has never been the intention to have to road adopted, therefore no agreement with the LA and no bond.

It's true that more and more developers are now designing and constructing their estate roads to remain private, but this should be clear from the outset. If a developer is intending for the estate roads to be adopted, they "should" have the technical approval in place prior to the start of construction. They can start work at risk without the technical approval in place but the application should be with the LA prior to construction and they wouldn't construct the road fully as there are a number of inspections required for it to be approved and adopted which need to be carried out at various stages of the work. [/quote]
Absolutely, explained far better than my attempt :)

With the house I pulled out of, there was no intention for the road to be a private one but it remained unadopted; my solicitor advised me not to proceed due to potential mortgage issues when I came to sell (I was a cash buyer).

Now I'm very wary of new build properties/estate management companies and stay clear!

I've always paid for the management pack when selling, so not sure what you are on about there.
Yes it is bad form to pull out so late, but it happens and while you can always ask, they too have spent money so will hardly feel obliged.
I had sellers pull out just before exchange (simply changed their minds) and I got nothing. My only satisfaction was when they eventually did sell a couple years later it was for £10k less than the price we had agreed!

Thanks @Gemma2019 He did mention something about 2037 as you said but as with all things conveyancing I glazed over. To be fair he is a corporate lawyer and just gave a potted version of something he had read last week but I thought it offered hope for the OP and hopefully her solicitor is on the ball.as you