Doing work on a house you intend to buy

[catfeets]

Am I daft, or is it ridiculous for a buyer to expect to do works to a house they intend to buy from you before they actually purchase it?
We've had no end of issues with this buyer and they are complete CFs. Their new issue is that they want to do some work on the roof (not necessary works, just something they want done) before they will complete and are expecting us to continue to wait for them (paying for mortgage, bills etc for a house we don't live in plus increasing storage costs as they were supposed to complete before lockdown) until they have the house just as they want it.

As I see it, they should complete on the house and if they decide they can't move in until this work is done, they should stay in their rental property until they see fit to move. There is no reason to delay in my mind.

Surely there are issues around insurance as we haven't agreed these works and if the contractor causes damage, we could be left to pay for it. Someone would need to be there for up to a week while the work is being done, we are working full time and the buyer can't be there as they don't own the property (plus we don't want them there due to previous CF problems such as trying to force entry to the house because 'it's theirs' .

The estate agent seems to think it's common practice to let folks do work on houses they don't own whereas we really don't think it is. It seems too risky and in theory we could let them pay for the work and then pull out of the sale so why would they want to risk it either?

Tell them to jog on. The roofer could do damage to your property, and not make good. Alternatively the buyers could be aiming to "uncover" a bigger issue and negotiate price.
If you've exchanged give them a week to complete.
If you haven't exchanged relsit your property, they sound like chancers.

The estate agent is lying. That is not normal at all for the reasons already mentioned.

Your estate agent is talking complete and utter shit. Only a fucking idiot would pay for work on a house they don't own.

It’s normal that post a survey a buyer may ask if you’d let a builder take a look at any issues to price up a cost, however you can refuse.
Asking to do works before completion is extremely unusual, not recommended and I would refuse.

have you exchanged?

I'd allow them in to measure up for curtains, but that would be the extent of it. Your estate agent is wrong.

Do you have a mortgage? If so, you would need consent from the lender. I doubt you’d get it. You could use that as a reason - “lender says no“.

The survey has already been done and highlighted something that 'may be a problem in future'. It said they should have a roofer check the vents. They've had a series of people round without checking with us and we keep finding people trespassing on the property - all arranged by the buyer.

The latest builder told us they were given a list of things to look for but as there is nothing wrong with any of them, their belief is that they are trying to employ someone who will say there is an issue so they can reduce the price. The roof ventilation issue on the survey is also a non-job as there aren't any vents. It has just been advised to cut away the insulation a little so won't cost a penny. They seemed to accept this, then we heard about the new work they want done. They think that as they are paying for it, it doesn't affect us!!
They said if they can afford the work they want it down before they complete but if it's expensive then they will wait so they know they have enough to complete. Surely the financial check would have made sure they can actually bloody afford the house?

We are of the opinion that they should complete now or we re-list. They know we are desperate to sell and we feel like they are holding us to ransom.

@MooseBeTimeForSummer that is an interesting point and something I hadn't thought of. I think that will be a good excuse to use to make it a firm no.
We've already sent a large list of reasons why we don't agree to the work but haven't had a response.

Absolutely not, how strange

Tell them they can do all the work they want when they have completed on the sale.

Definitely don't allow it and tell the prospective "buyer" and estate agent that you will call the police if anyone else trespasses on your property. And follow through if they continue.

I second what others have said - they're looking for a way to knock the price down
If they want the work done before they move in then they'll have to wait to start the work until the sale is complete and you've moved out - not before.

No, that's really fucking weird.

I was living in mine (bought where I was renting) and still had to wait to do works until completion!!

We did work on a house we didn’t own

We rewired, plastered, painted, removed asbestos, maintained the garden. We also took down a wall.

We also paid the council tax during the time from exchange to completion.

We had 6 months between written into the contract.

I do know someone who did this. They were buying an empty property and knew the vender.

Vender screwed the original purchaser over and sold it to someone else with the additional building work mostly completed.

@Evilpea we had a clause written into the contract that was to avoid this.

We were desperate to buy the house but had lost our sale. They were happy to wait for us. No way would I do it without exchanging. Op it seems you e not exchanged. Tell them to jog on.

Yeah he did it pre exchange. I did say they were mental but the vender reassured them.

Expensive lesson learnt there.

I'm a property solicitor - definitely not normal and a really bad idea for all the reasons you've given! Stupid idea for a buyer too, given that you could pull out after they've spent money doing the work if you've not exchanged yet.

Your buyers sound like major CFs and I'd tell them via the agent and your solicitor to theirs that it stops now. If I was the buyers' solicitor and found out about this I'd definitely have a strong word with my clients!

As a buyer I wouldn’t dream of doing this. They sound bonkers.

As others have asked, have you exchanged?

No we haven't exchanged. We don't seem to be able to get them moving at all, it's been constant delays for months. We've been told they lost another house before ours because of their behaviour.

We had another CF before them that ended up pulling out because we wouldn't give them the contents of the house and garden for free .

Tell them to bugger off. No way.

I have done work on a house before completion ONCE, we installed driveway gates to have the back garden secure for dogs on completion but this was after exchange, done in a day and no access to inside of the property

Absolutely no reason to allow them to do works, if they want it done they can do it when it's legally theirs!

Set deadline for exchange or they’re dumped then. Very fair.

When I sold my last house my buyers were a nuisance.
First they wanted to check that the fence was secure enough in the garden to keep their dog in, which was in fact a bit weird.
Then they kept asking to send round structural surveyors, engineers etc as they were working on plans going forward.
I agreed, but only because I think they may have pulled out of the sale.
People should really wait until they move in and I would not have dreampt of being such a nuisance. Afterall they did not plan to move in until after the work was completed and that turned to be 12 months later.
On moving day they actually turned up early at the property and expected me to give to hand over the keys...I had not completely finished moving out. Before I left they then wanted me to go back in and show them how the boiler worked. I declined and felt they were really insensitive, this was not a happy move for me and my children due to divorce. Some people are so insensitive to others.
It would be a big no from me, you are very wise not to let them start any work before completion date.

@Aquamarine1029

Your estate agent is talking complete and utter shit. Only a fucking idiot would pay for work on a house they don't own.

This!

And you know what, this won't be the only problem you will have with them. You can bet that if they ever get round to actually buying it, you will have years of phone calls about things that they have found wrong about the place, and demanding financial reparation. They sound an absolute nightmare, and your agent sounds like a stupid idiot.
Give them a fixed deadline (soon) for exchange and completion (if you are feeling charitable), but if it was my house I would be putting it back on the market asap. I would also be making it totally clear that they are not to enter the garden/premises at any time, and that you will not enter into any further discussions re the sale except through your respective solicitors. Honestly, I really can't believe the cheek of some people. Be strong and be tough op, stop standing for this nonsense.

We had work done between exchange and completion- we were buying an empty flat and negotiated it right at the start of the process, we had 4 weeks, and our solicitor drew up a contract detailing exactly what we were having done (basically a deep redecoration, involving messy but not structural work throughout, so it was brilliant for us to not be living there, and it wasn't going to leave the place unsaleable!). The builder had to produce insurance and collect the key from the agent, we were not allowed to hold it. It suited our seller to push the sale into a new tax year, but if not I'd have willingly paid a months rent. In the end our seller was so keen for his tax year that he paid a month's rent to our buyers!