New Build - Signing the contract

[mumma24]

Hi, my daughter is buying her first home a new build which is due to be ready to move into end of May. She has received all the legal papers to sign and solicitors are asking for the deposit. When would you normally sign contracts on new builds. She hasn’t seen the house or been on site yet

Get her to google Fleecehold first to make sure she knows what she’s signing up to.

It depends on the stage of the build, but essentially yes, the builders will expect exchange of contracts before the house is built. We exchanged on ours in May and still haven't been in the house yet! If the build is already finished then they would likely let her see round.

We just bought a new build and exchanged soon after reserving but about 4 months before completing/moving in. We could see the house through a fence as it was being built, but did not get into it to see it until a week before we moved in.

The legal paperwork will have a vague completion date (eg Apr-Jun) and then the actual date will be confirmed nearer the time (couple of weeks before). This is different to buying non-newbuild when a set completion date is given when you exchange.

Builders hold all the cards... frustrating (very!).

This is my experience (in England) anyway.

I’m very happy in my house now