To give notice on rental before exchanging contracts?

[buyingahousee]

First time buyers. Our vendors want to exchange and complete two weeks from today.

We need to give 4 weeks notice on our rental. I’m reluctant to do this until we exchange contracts just in case anything falls through, although we are in a housing association rental so I’m sure they’d be flexible.

However, I really don’t want to be paying for a property we’re not living in? What to do? My parents live nearby and we could move in with them for a week or two if it came to it but then there’s the question of where all our furniture would go that we want to move with us

Exchange and complete won't be at the same time. There is usually a week or two inbetween.

I agree it is a risk to give notice before you exchange. If you can manage it financially, I would wait for exchange but ask for a longer gap between exchange and complete - say 2-3 weeks if they agree. Then give notice on exchange. Yes you will have an overlap of 1-2 weeks but this means you can pack and move at leisure. Don't underestimate how much cleaning and packing there will be to do, and you will have flexibility to move and go back and clean which is great. Obviously there is a cost of 1-2 weeks rent, but moving home is never cheap, and you won't have to do it again for a long time.

It's definitely not worth moving into temporary accommodation as the cost of two lots of removals/van hire, plus self-storage for such a short time will be more than 2 weeks rent. Good luck.

I would wait until exchange. Until then the whole thing could be off at any point. And I wouldn’t rely on LL flexibility here.

Our vendors want to exchange and complete two weeks from today.
Dates are as much open to negotiation as price is.
Push back and tell them that you want a gap between exchange and completion.

You really don't want to be exchanging and completing same day unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

When I did it, I negotiated 2weeks between exchange and completion and enjoyed being able to clean / decorate etc and move my stuff over bit by bit. So much easier

I exchanged and completed on the same day with my first house. Someone in the chain messed around and strung so much stuff out for so long that my conveyancer advised it in the end.
Even after exchange a sale can still fall through for so many reasons. I wouldn’t give my notice until those keys were in my hand and swallow the cost of a crossover (your first mortgage payment isn’t usually until the following month anyway, plus you should then get your rental deposit back around the same time), but definitely not until at least exchange.

Avoid exchange and complete on the same day if at all possible. It's a potential nightmare.
I've had a sale with 6 weeks between exchange and complete- it's very negotiable and you can try to get the whole month. No harm in asking.

Echo others - don't exchange and complete same day. We were supposed too - except someone in the chain went awol and it didn't go through. Vans loaded with all my gear and no-where to go. I cried. I was the only one having to move - the rest were 2nd homes / empty homes/new buyers. Lots of extra cost for me!

My solicitors were crap.

And don't hand notice till exchanged - too risky. Anyone can pull out, and you will have no where to live till you find somewhere else - which could be months.

Just ask for a gap between exchange and completion, we had a month gap which we asked for. And also you usually won’t have your first mortgage payment until the month after you complete. Only hand in notice once you have exchanged as there’s no guarantee before then. And it’s good to have a bit of cross over so you can clean or decorate new place whilst it’s empty

It’s quite possible for exchange and complete to happen on same day - mine did 18 months ago and a few people I know who’ve bought recently. The estate agent said it’s becoming more common so maybe not just possible but likely even 🤷🏻‍♀️