Exchange and complete same day?

[Itoldyouiwasill]

I accepted an offer earlier this year and things are progressing well although slower than usual obviously.
I'm not buying right now but my buyers solicitor has apparently strongly advised we exchange and complete on the same day.
I've never done this before and it all sounds far too stressful.
Can someone explain in simple language why they are suggesting this please? I think the buyers mumbled something about Covid19 but that was a two months ago and I didn't pay much attention at the time. Now were nearer the move I'm not sure what the pros and cons are of exchange and complete on same day

It is due to C19. The thinking is that if you exchange with say, 10 days before completion and during that time either party is potentially exposed to the virus and has to isolate for two weeks that party would be unable to move and would breach the contractual agreement.

By exchanging and completing on the same day all parties are able to be sure that they will be able to move before contracts are exchanged.

Hetty thanks I get it now.
So now I'm in a quandary as removal companies have advised me not to do it. Ah well at least I understand the reasoning now

Where are you moving to? If you are going to rental do you want to sign up to be legally committed to an AST of at least six months on the basis of a deal which might fail at the last minute?
If the rental doesn't cost (friends/family) then there is no risk so I'd comply with your buyer to keep them sweet.

My daughter moved recently and had to exchange and complete on the same day. It was nerve wracking but happened ok. Only problem was that her buyer asked for £500 off first thing on the day 😡

Granny tbh I'm sort of half preparing myself for something similar to happen with the money.
I'm moving in with parents for a period until I find something I like. I know it's not ideal given the virus but I'm not wanting to lose this sale.
I do wonder though how people's nerves can stand having a removal company packed up and waiting and you have to wait knowing the sale might not go through! I guess then you'd have to be unpacked and stall pay the company

I'm moving in with parents for a period until I find something I like. I know it's not ideal given the virus but I'm not wanting to lose this sale.
Move now then! Then the house is vacant and there is no quarantine risk from your end of the deal.

Ah just like my daughter then. She moved in with us a week before exchange/completion. Man with a van brought all her stuff here to store. We cleaned her flat, gave the keys to estate agent so it was vacant and ready to roll. It was the only way the solicitors would agree to the deal going ahead.

We exchanged at 5pm one day and completed the next day which was very stressful as we had to book the removal van etc and hope nothing went wrong.

As you are moving into your parents it shouldn't be any problem and it sounds sensible.

Senua
I don't want to move in just yet as storage is going to cost so much. Also my work is based near here and my parents live around 20 miles away though it's an hours drive in rush hour.
Now that I can understand the reasons behind this I'm not as nervous about it

Obviously there's not exactly a rush hour atm but our roads are getting a lot busier this week

I exchanged and completed on the same day back in Feb (so well before any COVID implications). Wasn't stressful at all, the solicitor just had everything lined up and ready.

Just to add to this..
A lender can apparently pull mortgage offer between exchange and completion if circumstances significantly change e.g. loss of job/ income, value of property drops..
I imagine this is rare but as often stated, these are unprecedented times.

The law society issued advice telling conveyancers to exchange and complete on the same day a couple of months ago, and this advice remains unchanged as far as I’m aware.

We are hopefully exchanging and completing tomorrow - I have requested this from the beginning as we offered on our house just as Covid and lockdown kicked off. I was worried our circumstances may change between exchange and completion so I wanted it all done together.

Our solicitor has just emailed to say all the funds are in and she will call us tomorrow to make sure we want to go ahead (I think this must be standard) and then we will complete.

There has been a few hicups along the way, but mainly because of the current climate.