Bizarre seller behaviour - Would you pull out?

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This, to me is bizarre, and I'm 95% sure I'm pulling out of buying this flat.

Just wondered what other sane people would do in this situation?

• Offer accepted March 28th
• End of May seller says their mortgage offer is expiring on 26th June
• I almost kill myself trying to push it through on my end by this date
• Get close to date and I say it's looking unlikely, can you get an extension on your offer
• Seller says ok, but HSBC will only give max 5 days (should be enough)
• 10 days later seller says HSBC want a letter from their solicitor to consider the extension and they're working on it
• Yesterday agent calls out of the blue and says seller has "double checked" their mortgage offer and it actually expires in July.
• Today I tell the agent I need the exact date and he gives me it saying "the seller is very sorry HSBC made a mistake"

How on earth could HSBC make a mistake with the expiry date? He's also forgotten he already told me the seller "double checked".

Feel like I've lost all trust in everyone and they've lied to try and push through the sale quickly.

Would you pull out?

Some people are dickheads. If you like the house and you can afford it, why pull out?

most people are more dickish during the house purchase / sale time, it’s very stressful. Hold your nerve. Good luck

Thanks @Allthegoodnamesarechosen I should add it's leasehold and I'm scared they've been trying to push it through quick by lying about the expiry date because there's some horrendous charge on the horizon they know about...

I don’t understand why you would pull out over this unless you have cold feet re the flat & want an excuse?
Just because your seller is acting flaky doesn’t mean you are obliged to do so too.

@Twiglets1 Its just not flakiness though. They've deliberately lied in order to try and push it through. My question is why? Is there some horrendous problem or service charge not yet apparent? I can't answer that.

I don't need an excuse to pull out. If I want to pull out, I can - we've not exchanged contracts.

But I've never purchased a property before, it's in the middle London so quite expensive, and i'm now concerned I've overlooked something.

If it’s leasehold please check out national leasehold campaign on FB
you might want to post the details of your lease on there and ask a few questions in particular ask about the ground rent

my son was buying a flat and right at the last moment the sell fell through due to a ground rent issue and none of the flats in his building can sell without a deed of variation to the ground rent which the freeholders refuse to do

If they have deliberately lied to push it through
ask yourself why

there is a massive massive issue with leasehold flats atm
most people can’t get sell them due to ground rent

all new builds built after July last year don’t have ground rent or have a peppercorn rent of £1 and 999 year lease

honestly have a look at national leasehold campaign on Facebook ( I know 😂) but they are very knowledgable and helpful

if your ground rent is more than 1000 a year in London and 250 a year outside of London then it can be a major issue

HSBC are known to be the biggest dicks in the market when it comes to really harsh mortgage terms. Had I read this about another lender, say Yorkshire Bank, the Co-op, a little friendlier organisation such as those, I would be raising an eyebrow. But, because it is HSBC, I think ALL of this is plausible.

Usually mortgage extensions are for a month, but we are not living in normal times, and, again, HSBC seem to be the most jittery, the most likely to say no, the most likely to pull unreasonable stunts such as ‘you have five days or go elsewhere.’ HSBC were the first ones to pull their entire mortgage line with four hours’ notice to brokers this month.

Have a search through HSBC on MN under property. Read some horror stories.

Re: something horrible around the corner, If your conveyancer has done their job properly, stuff like that should have already become apparent in their searches and you should know about it.

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I do appreciate it.

Honestly I feel completely clueless if any of this is normal, as it's my first time doing a purchase.

It's of course completely possible that I'm being paranoid for no reason, but it just felt so strange...

@Im99912 thanks for your reply

The ground rent is currently £350 on a 999 year lease and linked to RPI. I thought this was ok because First Direct didn't have a problem with it.

I'm going to check the lease now and check exactly what it says about ground rent increases.

I meant an excuse to yourself so you don’t feel guilty about pulling out.
Of course you can pull out if you want to but most people feel they need a good reason to do so. And I don’t see anything so awful in their behaviour to warrant you pulling out. To get so nervous about something relatively small is typical FTB behaviour but by all means do the checks.

Thanks @Twiglets1 sorry I don't know what "FTB" means?

First Time Buyer

Thanks @Twiglets1

Genuine question, I'm not being feticious - is lying about this kind of thing typical non-FTB behaviour? It just seems such a strange thing to do.

It makes me feel like I've been conned, and rightly or wrongly makes me wonder if I'm being conned over anything else.

I'm actually pretty desperate for a home, I have 10 days left on my rental contract and nowhere to go. Last week I had been praying to be moved into this new flat this week.

What does your solicitor say OP? They should have looked at the lease and the terms. It doesn't sound shady just unorganised or they tried to play a game to push you for any of a million reasons. If you like the flat and the searches check out I'd move forward. There is amazing amount of bollocks with most sales.

People say all sorts of rubbish to get to exchange quickly. Our sellers said they absolutely needed completion by x date and we were put under a lot of pressure . We completed 5 months after that date! Just go at your own pace and if you like the flat and your solicitor has checked everything then I'd try and overlook an idiot seller.

It is quite common for people to tell lies in the house buying & selling process I’m afraid. People aren’t always as transparent as they could be about stuff. But your solicitor should check things like the lease & ground rent and tell you if anything looks wrong.

OP, IANAL but your conveyancer should have absolutely checked everything in terms of the leasehold situation and be advising you accordingly.

Similarly I presume you've had a survey done which can reassure you as to whether the flat/building is sound and in good repair?

It is buyer beware with houses as with everything else, but you have experts on your side who would surely be waving red flags if there was an issue beyond this mortgage weirdness...

If no flags are being waved then in your shoes I'd proceed - and ask your conveyancer and the EA to ensure that you will exchange and complete within your timeframe, so that you're not left homeless!

Wish you all the best of luck.

By now you should have all details of the lease. 999 from when? Really £350 and RPI?

personally I wouldn’t.

It’s the ground rent doubling and when as it’s often linked to the RPI
you also need to check if there are any section 20s - I think that’s what it’s called for work needing to be done
my sons mortgage company Barclays didn’t have a problem with the ground rent either

my sons had read his contract and no ground rent was mentioned
but it was in the lease
his solicitor then asked for the ground rent to be removed as it wasn’t in the initial agreement of what he was buying or to change it to a peppercorn GR

freeholders refused and now none of the flats can be sold as they all have this on going issue it’s a very common problem that isn’t really a problem until it is

it's a business transaction and don't ever take it personally.

https://nationalleaseholdcampaign.org/?amp

have a read of this

@howrudeforme sorry got that wrong, it's 300 from 2018 (I've lost my place in the lease so don't have the exact date to hand).

Its RPI-linked, increase every 10 years, and as far as I can this is for the remainder of the lease.

My solicitor has given me zero guidance on this, and I thought 300 quid in London didn't so too bad, so I thought it was ok.

I'll see if I can figure out the calculation, but it's quite complicated.

This doesn't haven't anything to do with OPs purchase though. The campaign you reference estimate it may effect up to 1 in every 250 properties. Not exactly 'very common'!

OP i would talk to you lawyer about what they've checked. It's required as part of selling a flat with a service charge or a leasehold to declare any major works scheduled. Your solicitor will have these details which should reassure you.

Just calculated the ground rent increase from commencement to today. Up £130 quid already to £430.

It's actually reviewed in 2026, so by then even more.

That's after 10 years of 999 year lease...

People are saying it's a problem for getting a mortgage if it goes over £1000.

Have you given notice on your current tenancy? Tenancy agreements don't end they become periodic unless you give notice or a court grants possession.

Simplest explanation is they did what I do to my partner, tell him we need to be there at 7pm when really it's 7:30 because he is always late and it saves me a bit of a panic by factoring I'm some leeway. A new mortgage would be much more expensive so perhaps they felt it was their best option (not great for you granted).