FTB, offer accepted - when to give notice on rental?

[Mcmcmcmc]

First I wanted to thank everyone that posted on my previous thread where I was deciding between two properties in South London - you were so kind to share your knowledge, experience and opinions and the thread was really helpful.

DP and I have made an offer on a property and it has been accepted! It’s a chain-free sale of a 2 bed flat in a Victorian mansion building (about 14 flats in total). It’s currently unoccupied. The EA has now contacted our solicitors and I’m keen to get everything done as quickly as I can, allowing time for the searches and surveys etc.

We are currently renting on a 2-year contract which expires in about 1 year, and have a 2-month notice clausule if we decide to leave early. I am keen to leave the rental ASAP due to costs and due to other problems with the flat (carpet moth infestation which affected our clothes but landlord refuses to accept responsibility or even reply to emails)... but I also don’t want to risk giving notice now and if the sale takes longer to complete we will have nowhere to go!

I know nobody can be sure/guarantee a time etc, not even our solicitors, but in your experience, when would you give notice on your rental? Should we wait for the exchange of contracts?

DH and I are currently in a v similar situation, OP, and from further down the line we say - hold your horses for now! We too thought we were storming straight down to exchange/completion, then survey came back worse than anticipated (similar age property) and since then there've been so many twists and turns I don't know where to begin explaining - and would probably cry (again) if I did. What I will say is, budget for an overlap of at least one month between rental and mortgage, because dates don't always match up neatly, and you don't yet know what work might be needed on the new place. Best of luck!!

SparkyTheCat thank you for this! I’m sorry to hear that your purchase is not going through as quickly as you’d hoped... this is my fear too! The flat seems to be in good condition and has new wall paint and carpets, but who knows what the survey will bring up... is it mostly the survey/property condition that have been delaying your completion? Have you exchanged contracts yet?

I’m also currently trying to decide between a Home Buyers report or a full building survey... is there a point in a full building survey for a flat in good condition in a large building (as in, its not a smaller Victorian house with 4 flats, it’s a larger 4-storey building) where the surveyors may not have access to some building areas?

Yes it's been the property condition. Obvs you expect something with a property that age, but it was worse than expected - and telling that the vendors immediately knocked £10k off without even blinking... After much soul searching and number crunching we're probably still going ahead, and hopefully yours will be much more straightforward, but I'm just trying to say be prepared. Our full building survey has been money very well spent - we now know what we're taking on, and had we pulled out we'd have had peace of mind knowing we'd done the right thing.

And I would say yes, have the full survey done even if it looks okay. Our surveyor picked up on stuff - including a hasty cover-up paint job - we would never have spotted.

I wouldn't think of giving notice until you exchange. You'll end up with some overlap, but house buying is so unpredictable you don't want to end up having to move out with nowhere to go if there are any hold ups or the purchase can't go through for any of the million reasons it might

Fresh finishes can hide a multitude of sins. Full survey or no survey in my book... don't rate homebuyers

I’d wait until exchange. The seller might well be happy to have a little longer to move as well and at least then you are covered.

Absolutely do not serve notice until contracts have been exchanged. Any number of things can can wrong or cause delays. At this stage no-one has a clue how long the transaction will take or if it will even go through. If you've got a 2 month notice period for your rental then you can always ask now if your sellers are willing to have a gap of, say, 6 weeks between exchange and completion, which would only give you an overlap of 2 weeks or so on your rent/mortgage. In my experience, sellers are much more willing to accommodate requests like this if it's clear from the outset what the buyer's expectation is regarding completion. They aren't likely to agree to it if it's raised at the last minute. If they say no, at least you know where you stand.

joining the chorus - no notice until exchange.

demand landlord address and write a letter, keep a copy, send with free proof of posting requesting pest control action.

Yep - give notice once you have exchanged and have a completion date. Our Lettings Agent knew we were looking so once our six-month tenancy came to an end, moved us to a rolling tenancy. She emphasised the importance of only giving notice once we had exchanged, she had dealt with some awful situations of purchases falling through once new tenants had been secured.

Our completion date changed on the day of exchange. Thankfully I had waited until the day of exchange (despite being super excited) otherwise we would have been homeless for a week. We are moving close by so are giving notice for a week after we move so we can clean properly once the boxes and furniture have gone.

Thanks all - can I ask, what really happens between exchange and completion? I thought all documentation would have been sorted by the time of exchange...

All the legal documentation is sorted by exchange. That's the point at which the sale becomes legally binding and the parties actually enter into the contract. So there are financial penalties on any party which doesn't then complete on the agreed date.

Completion can be the same day as exchange, although it usually isn't if people are actually moving house. Usually there's a least a week to give solicitors time to order mortgage funds and do the final admin bits and pieces, and for buyers/sellers to sort out removals, finish packing etc. Most people don't want to book and pay for removals until they've exchanged and they know their buyer/seller is legally committed to complete. And they don't want to pack their whole life up into boxes until they know the other party can't change their mind.

You can agree a completion date of one month or longer after exchange if the other party is happy with that. It's worth asking. But definitely don't give notice until you've exchanged.

between exchange and completion is when you finalise everything that you could not do before as nothing was definite. landlord notice, removals, post redirect, broadband and phone, g p, dentist, school etc.

that is YOU - nothing for the solicitor to do except make sure all money ready. put the two too close together and you make massive work and stress for yourself.

Many people exchange and complete within a week. You need to string it out as long as possible but your vendor might be unhappy about this. Do get a full survey. The flat must be over 120 years old so you really do need to know of any shortcomings. Is it an ex council block? There were plenty built at the end of the Victorian Era by the London County Council.

Our leasehold purchase took 6 months, partly due to an issue with the plans on the lease. I would really advise not to give notice til you have exchanged, unless you are able to move elsewhere if needed. You can ask for a long-ish period between exchange and completion, your vendor may say no but may agree as you'll be locked into the sale anyway. An overlap of a week or two is quite nice as you can deep clean / do any decorating before moving your furniture.

Agree - no notice until exchange as anyone can pull out before then.

forgot to say - as you are in a rental and no-one is moving out, set completion for any day that ISN'T a Friday. Far less chance of money delays or solicitors pissing off early to the golf course. If you also move on a not-Friday it will be cheaper to get removals.

while paying for two properties is extra cost, it really will make life easier and possibly save you money elsewhere.

We had several hiccups with exchange due to people further up the change messing about. We were also on a two month notice so had to issue on exchange, have 4 weeks to complete and overlap for a month (as it was the only way to guarantee that we would still have a roof over our heads) until completion

We gave a polite heads up to our landlord that we were looking to buy (we weren't on negative terms with them - just were finally in the position to buy) and move on but didn't give notice until we'd exchanged contracts if I recall correctly (but we'd budgeted for the double-month of outgoings). We were moving a very short distance (3 doors down the street!) so doing it ourselves and it meant we could shift gradually and get things properly sorted - but obviously a fairly unique set of circumstances there.

One thing I started to do before exchange as it was an ongoing thing easy to sort - was to make lists of contact numbers, account numbers and anything relevant for anything that was coming through the door so I had a list of people just to sit and ring around to change addresses once we were in. Was much easier than suddenly trying to remember all the shit that comes through the post randomly.