Anyone else cutting it fine with Stamp Duty...?!

[Whattodo121]

Sold our house in October, found a house, got mortgage approved in early November, then our sale fell through. Managed to find another buyer by mid November. All seemed to be moving forward and then we’ve hit some paperwork delays now right prior to exchange - (someone lower down the chain requires another survey, obv they’re very busy so will take another week) and getting very nervous about meeting deadline as we’ll have to find another £15k if it doesn’t go ahead before 31st March. We will be able to ‘find’ the money, but am worried the chain will just collapse if we don’t hit the deadline. Anyone else in the same boat?!

catwithflowers that’s awful. You are living what we are all dreading. I am so sorry

Can you proceed with your sale (which gives you a bird in the hand in terms of SDLT-free purchase price, security against future price dips), go into rented for a short while and then loom again as chain-free cash buyers? Which would put you in a very strong position in a market which might dip to reflect SDLT, Brexit, ongoing COVID uncertainty etc?

Our transaction took over a YEAR! I absolutely couldn't believe how shit the system is. Probably the most stressful thing i've ever done. Our buyers were a nightmare.

Raining Sadly we can't do that. We have animals, cats, a dog, hens and we haven't even started to look at other properties, and although we do have a couple of viewings lined up for the weekend, I don't think either of them will be suitable

We also sold another house in December and are paying a lot each month for all that furniture to be stored so we are very reluctant to move into a rental (when we are currently mortgage free) and pay even more ☹️

Just really fed up and so disappointed with the vendors. I have remind myself that nobody died and it's just a house. Definitely need some zen vibes today! 🧘

@catwithflowers. I really feel sorry for you. It’s so awful and so awful that there is no penalty for those who do this.

A few years back, we had the people who owned the house we were buying from pull out on the day we were supposed to exchange. They basically just changed their minds.

The process is all wrong in this country- people shouldn’t be allowed to do this. There should be some kind of contract initially which penalises you if you pull out without a good (legal) reason.

I have a very strong suspicion that our current purchase is also going to fall through with the sellers changing their mind at the last minute (wish they would just get on and tell us that was the case instead of not communicating and just leaving us waiting/hoping).

That is terrible @catwithflowers
What goes through peoples minds, to let it go so far down the line abs then decide to pull out. Utterly mind boggling.
I'm really sorry.

Frustrated and stressed here too. Our sale and purchase have been going on for 8 months and we are held up by the top of the chain needing to find a rental and who won’t commit to any dates. It’s been over two weeks and they still haven’t found anywhere. I’m really worried that they are going to change their minds and then the chain will collapse. It’s so hard to think of anything else at the moment, I just want a date so we can start organising ourselves but it never seems to happen!

May I join the club? I am perma-frazzled by this deadline. Our buyers wanted an electrical installation condition report (EICR) and the spark told us we need to get UK Power Networks in to sink a new earth rod (what???) before he can take his readings. And our buyers now want money off if we can't get the report in time! The irony is I don't even have to worry about stamp duty as going into rented, but fear the buyer is going to use the lack of a report as an excuse to gazump us. And they've just requested another survey weeks after the mortgage is approved. They've already got a bargain price...

I don't mean gazump, I mean gazunder!

Dotdotdotdash - nerves of steel.

The SDLT deadline is a lever on them, not you. Refuse to lower the price and then they can decide whether to buy anyway and save stamp duty...or not. I have had some dealings with UKPN and I would say your chances of getting them to answer the phone before Mar 31st are slim, never mind getting a job done. But miracles do happen...

CatWithFlowers
"The vendors "hoped we would understand ""How utterly fatuous. They have no right to hope any such thing. Stupid fuckers.

Although I’m sorry to hear that other people are going through similar, I’m quite glad we’re not alone! So sorry @catwithflowers to hear about your house falling through like that, that’s completely awful. What on Earth possesses people to behave like that?! Heard from estate agent today and apparently some insurance thing has been sorted which is good news, so feeling ever so slightly more optimistic, but I can’t believe any positivity now, it’s been dragging on so frigging long!

@TomDickAndHarrods 😂😂😂😂. Couldn't have put it better.

The nice news is we have made an appointment to see a house on Monday which we hadn't looked at before, totally different in style to the one we lost but with loads of land and loads of light! On paper/on the internet, it looks really nice. No onward chain and hopefully the owners aren't as flaky. It's £100k cheaper too and fully renovated. Obviously we will miss out on the stamp duty holiday and will probably have to find another buyer for our house, but things are certainly looking more positive 😍

Sorry for anyone else in the same shitty position re the deadline and best of luck to all those still hoping to complete in time 🍀 🙏🏻

CatWithFlowers that sounds really promising!

Is the house you are looking at empty? They MIGHT consider renting it to you on a temporary holiday sort of agreement so that you could keep hold of your buyer? Always worth an ask, if you are keen and make an offer.

@RainingBatsAndFrogs Not empty I'm afraid. We haven't even seen the house yet and I'm excited! I hope we actually like it in real life 😂

Our offer was accepted in mid-November, mortgage approved and no chain. We're waiting for searches to complete but I'm far from feeling comfortable...

I sold December 2019... problem with chain all the way along. Wasn't too bothered at first as new build house we were buying hadn't been signed off until March 2020..complete nightmare with covid lockdown all types of excuses - chain breaking 7 times, developer dumping us for cash buyer (lost thousands as fitted carpet in new home - big mistake huge) . We walked away from the buyer and got new buyer whos chain broke 3 times. We found another house with no onward chain, but our buyer could just no find a new purchaser. So had to put house on market again in Dec. Now have first time buyers buying ours and have empty house to move to..all ready to exchange...bombshell today as buyer needs to wait for end of month pay slip....WTF.... removals all booked to end of March. Worst moving experience ever..is the universe trying to tell me something ??? (Karma..builder cash buyer still hasn't completed as they are having cash flow problems)

Nooooooo!! I wasnt worried until now (naive I know). We offered in November, searches sent off nearly a month ago, mortgage still not been offered (no actual issues just slow) and have no idea whats going on. We are currently renting and lady buying from found a place so 3 in chain. Shes desperate to move, we're desperate to move but the solicitors and mortgage people clearly not as desperate. Tbh I dont think I can afford the stamp duty and would feel awful to have to pull out. Not sure what to do:

1. Pull out now, so a tiny tiny chance vendor can sell to someone who can afford the SDLT
2. Hope there is an extension
3. Offer lower (SDLT would be region of 12k but we can afford half of that) if no extension
4. Hold out for properties that have fallen through that might have a search already returned and hope it completes ( dont want to do this as I would feel guilty for vendor)

@TomDickandHarrods you are lovely; and a very helpful comment re. UK Power Networks - I won't expect too much of them!

@catwithflowers I hope this new place is as good as it looks on the internet and that the sale falling through turns out to be a good thing

@juejaf you must have the patience of a saint by now. I can't believe what you have been through with your move. Everything crossed that you can exchange when the payslip turns up.

How long before the government wakes up at how appalling the system is here? Make offers binding (with contingencies), set deadlines for mortgage approvals and inspections, set dates out at the beginning. It works in the US, and they have the same issues as here.
Years ago I was a cash buyer, chain of two, seller keen to get on with it, clean survey and it still took four months!
And do you really need all the searches? What for? Have drains report really informed anyone (and very unlikely to have changed since last one), most houses are connected to public sewers and you'd know of it wasnt. Flood report unless in a flood prone area? Planning applications can easily be researched in a few minutes as can town development plans. The only real one needed for the vast majority is building regs, title deeds and debt ties. Waiting six weeks for any of these is beyond ridiculous.
A bank valuer can check the property online. If in doubt then a personal visit.
Your own surveyor is a good idea of course, but you can shop around to get one to fit your timeline.
Ah well one day maybe.

@Midlifephoenix - So true ...digital age has slowed everything down...we bought our current house 26 years ago 6 weeks from viewing to completion - all small local solicitors and excellent estate agents. Not pages and pages of reports of could happen within 100 years! bet pandemic wasn't considered!

Us too. Offer accepted late September, mortgage arranged mid October (only took 2 days!), building survey had to be put back til mid December because of company illness, enquiries competed mid January...and then we found out we're dependant upon a useless conveyancer and agent dealing with the property at the top of our chain. Grrr!

So sorry that happened @catwithflowers
The system is absolutely ridiculous
Having to Pay out all the money upfront with no guarantees is just insanity. They really need to reform it. I hope you like the new property in the flesh so to speak!
You're handling it well! I was gutted at losing a grand when we had to pull out if our purchase (no building regs for 4th bedroom/fire hazard)
We're still waiting to see if our offer gets accepted on another one.
Viewing 2 more tomorrow but one is a bit small and the other needs a shit load of work that I'm not sure I have the energy for.

Thank you everyone for your sympathy and good wishes for the house we are looking at next week. I'll post here if we make an offer 😊. I'm trying to be pragmatic and think that this happened for a reason, that the house wasn't for us and that something better is waiting. It is indeed a crazy system but hey ho, onwards and upwards!

Wishing everyone all the best with their deadlines 🍀🙏🏻

Best of luck @catwithflowers let us know what it’s like! We had a phone call from the agent on Friday saying that the final survey was going to be this week, not the following one as originally thought so feeling (cautiously) slightly more optimistic. Our house is half packed and we’re living in complete chaos. Lockdown/half term means i can’t escape the mess and DH still works out of the house meaning he gets to escape and go to work the lucky bastard! I am well and truly sick of this now. Just want to move and have a driveway and a nice garden and a garage and more living space and A CHANGE OF BLOODY SCENE! Have spent too long staring at the same 4 walls

The weekend was quite painful- I’m glad it’s nearly over! It feels like we’ve lost two precious days with nothing happening.

Roll on good news tomorrow!