How long will we be homeless after completion?

[24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed]

Any new build/housing experts?

Long story short, we own a house, but want to sell and upsize. We’re going to do shared ownership on a new build, but because we already own a home we can overlap the completion, so we need to have completed on our home before we buy the new build.

Had anyone done this and how long does it take to complete on the new build after compelling our sale? We’re not sure how to do it, where will we live once completed and how long for?

I’m waiting for a call back from the estate agents to ask the questions but thought I’d come to wise old mumsnet first to see if anyone can tell me if we’re going to be homeless for a while?!

It depends if you're completing on your sale and purchase on the same day. Is that the plan?

If that is the case then your solicitor will request the money from the mortgage company who will release it, normally I think this should be in place the day before completion. Then in the morning of completion your buyer's solicitor will call your solicitor and transfer their mortgage money and then your sale is complete. You no longer own that home.

Then your solicitor will phone the solicitor of the house you're purchasing and transfer the money across and then your purchase will complete, you then own your home. And so it carries on up the chain. As this is all normally done around lunch time there is often a couple of hours where you will be "homeless" because someone will have gone to lunch!

Ah okay so hopefully we can arrange for everything to complete on the same day.. I don’t mind being homeless for lunch! 😂

Hoping to avoid needing to sort temporary accommodation!

I assume you have a solicitor acting for your sale and purchase?

If so, make sure they know that you wish to tie in both transactions so that you complete the sale and purchase on the same day.

Your solicitor is the one to ask for advice, not the EA. EAs are not legally trained and are not involved in the legal aspects of the transaction, so while they can phone everyone to get updates, when they pass those updates to you, it is often a case of chinese whispers and something gets lost in translation.