Accepted offer on our house mid-April (3.5 months ago!). Our buyers are first time buyers and had offer in principle from their high street mortgage lender. Survey came back minor damp issues and £1600 of work to do (unsurprising, classic Victorian property). It has taken this long for said lender to say that the new damp proofing has to have actually happened (including replastering etc), before they will even make the final mortgage decision (!).
A retention I was very prepared for, get the work done before completion would have been OK, but get it done and only then we'll kick-off decision making (and then they might even still decide against) seems very harsh and unusual (is it or AIBU?).
I don't mind the cost at all - it is the stupidly long amount of time this is taking that I am now so frustrated by.
Our buyers say please get the work done. My EA says re-market immediately and get new buyers (but this will surely take time anyway and we won't know mortgage situation of new buyers). DH says tell buyers you have 2 weeks to get a new lender or we re-market. Or I could plunge on and get the work done but this will be a lot of inconvenience and no guarantees that it will actually result in a complete chain! (The sellers of the house we are buying are being patient so far but that can't last forever...).
Very frustrated - WWYD?