We are buying a 800k house. We were clear from the outset with the estate agent that our deposit would be 2.5% of the total price. We are buying as part of a shared equity scheme with my employer. My employer will own 50% of the property and so will we and our deposit is 5 percent of our mortgage and 2.5% of the total value of the house.
Now, after the searches have been done, and we are talking draft contracts, their lawyers have started to dispute the deposit amount saying it should be 10 percent.
The estate agent led us to believe verbally at the time the offer was accepted that our deposit level was ok. We wrote it on the offer form that was shared with the estate agent and we assumed the sellers, and sent bank statements showing the deposit funds were in our account.
Ultimately if the sellers lawyers start demanding a bigger deposit we have to walk away. Am really panicking this is going to happen though I don’t see how this would benefit the seller - our mortgage offer has been approved, my employer is a large organisation, and we have made a good offer on the property that had been on the market for some months.
Can anyone advise?