New build completion dates - can they be relied on?

[Mooserp]

There is a house I am interested in. The vendors are buying a new build retirement home which is due to be completed in November.

I have no experience of new builds, so am wondering how likely it is that they will actually be moving in November or could it be much later?

In my experience it's very unsual for them to be completed by the original dates. A friend has just moved into their new build 5 months later than planned.

I'd be very surprised if your vendors were able to move into the house this year, and think spring 2023 or beyond is very likely.

Think it just completely depends. I know a few people who have moved in bang on time and other people who've been delayed a couple of months. I think spring 2023 would be unusually pessimistic. We've reserved a new build and expect to have to move out of our current house before we move in though, we plan on staying with family and wouldn't expect our buyer to hang on waiting for our completion date. Is it possible they plan something similar?

Thanks for the replies.

I've been told the vendors will not be able to move into temporary accommodation and will only move once the new build is complete.

Ours was five months delayed but this was partly due to snow so maybe less if it's over the summer?

Mine was delayed too

In our experience, developers have learnt from COVID & material shortages and have added some time to their projected completion dates.

We moved into our newbuild earlier this year but reserved / exchanged almost a year previously.
Early on the proposed completion date was Easter 2022 but as we got to the end of 2021 the date started moving, first to an earlier date (Jan) and then out again (March). As it was we ended up completing in Feb (so in the middle of the two revised dates) but at no point was it thought it would extend beyond the original date of Easter.

Massively delayed on ours. Almost a year. The whole thing was so stressful.

Building materials supply is an issue and costs are rising, do not rely on the provisional date.

I think if it’s November (only 4 months away) you’ve got a good chance of the completion date being pretty accurate. Had the build started yet (I would hope so!) I would find out more about the projected timescales and what’s left to do. This will give you more info to understand whether the November date is achievable

We were told early Feb, date was moved 4 times until a completion at the end of April....so probably 3 month delay for us.

Ours was on time, but that was a few years ago. We had to rent for six months, but knew that the buying and selling wouldn’t match, so that was ok.

If I like it from the viewing I will ask for the actual location of the build so I can find out what stage it is at.

For those that were delayed, if you had a property to sell how did you manage that?

The general expectation nowadays (whether buying a newbuild or older property) is to have sold and be in temp accommodation.
It was laid out in black & white that this was the process with our newbuild, unless you had the funds to cover the full purchase price you had to sell and move into temp accommodation for up to 12-months.
When we later sold my late parents house (where we lived in the intervening period) potential buyers didn't even get through the front door for a viewing if they weren't already sold and chain-free.

The whole housebuying process has changed out of all recognition since I last moved.

Moved out and lived with relatives for 6 months.
Buying a new build is a bloody nightmare to be honest and not the easy option I thought it was

We actually did a part exchange with the developer, dont know how we would have managed in a chain.

Ours was actually 2 months early.

We reserved last summer for a May completion and actually completed in February this year.

Our previous house went on the market in November and sold STC at the beginning of December. We reserved our current house at the same time. We moved to temporary accommodation at the end of March and into the new house at the end of August, which is what the schedule was.