FTB in rented no chain advice on timescales please

[PuzzlingRecluse]

Hi All

Im after some wisdom please!

FTB in rented, I’m under contract so the agent has advised I will pay rent until the day the new tenant moves in (when they have one it’s anticipated to rent quickly as they always do here)

offer on home I’m buying is accepted. The house I’m buying is currently empty (ex rental) owner lives overseas. So I’m not waiting for any up chain.

I need a bit of wisdom around expected timelines to complete. I don’t mind small overlap but definitely don’t want a long period of paying rent & mortgage. appreciate there are alot of unknowns, if rented goes on market tomorrow they could have a tenant ready to go by end of next week (yes they do go that fast). I would need to give a date I’ll move out by for them to move in.

what would you do?

I would work on about 12 weeks, how much has been done so far? In terms of survey/questions etc.

Thank you, just at point of instructing solicitor mortgage approved - so early days!

Depends on your Local Authority searches - I have some that are taking a couple of weeks and others that have been outstanding for months.
The other sticking point is the things the title search throws up... Covenants, odd access arrangements, easements, charges. All can add time and depends on the vendor and a third party getting their side sorted.

The best person to ask is your solicitor.

Depends where you are in the UK? In Scotland the process is quicker and takes around 8 weeks. When I sold in England (chain free, about 2.5 years ago) it took almost 5 months.

Definitely don’t do anything until you’ve exchanged/signed missives.

thank you, I’m in England

As PP stated, don't serve notice on your rental until you've exchanged. Even if you think you are close to exchange, things can go wrong at the last minute, which then push things back by weeks. It only takes a last minute enquiry during the final review of the file to derail things. Bank on 3-5 months as guide timeline, but there are plenty of examples on this forum of things taking far longer. If you serve notice, make sure you have a backup e.g. staying with family.

I was a FTB. Offer made end of July, finally completed mid-Nov.
Despite being told there was no chain and the people we were buying off had found an onward purchase, both facts were not correct.

Between notice on rental, changing childcare etc it was a bit of a nightmare.

I'd say keep pushing to make sure things progress. I accepted being fobbed off more than I should have.

How much notice do you need to give?

Buying a house in England always takes forever, it's painfully slow. Keep things moving by booking the survey asap and appointing an efficient solicitor (get recommendations if you can, ask the agent as they might have a steer about good solicitors or ones to avoid).

It is absolutely crucial that you do not give notice on your rental property until you have exchanged contracts. This is because an alarming proportion of house sales fall through or get delayed. I have a colleague who had to move in with his parents for months because he gave notice on his rental before he'd exchanged contracts, and then the exchange and completion were delayed. All very stressful and he massively regretted it.

Worst case scenario, by waiting until you've exchanged contracts before giving notice, you'll have 4-6 weeks overlap of paying both rent and mortgage. In the grand scheme of things it's worth paying it so you are less stressed about the move. It's actually really handy to get the keys for your new house before having to hand in the keys for the old one. You can clean and even decorate the new place before moving all your stuff in. You can move stuff gradually or just in less of a stressful rush on completion day. And you can go back to clean your rented place before having to give back the keys.

Don't give notice until you exchange contracts. You can set a completion date upon exchange.
Most people complete within 2 weeks of exchange but the seller may be flexible.
If you have a month's notice to give, budget for the overlap with paying rent plus a mortgage for that time.

Thanks everyone really appreciate the advice :-)

Also don’t exchange and complete on the same day. We have bought 2 houses previously and both times our solicitors, vendors and buyers have pushed for this.

It’s a nightmare. Never again!

DS, FTB and renter, recently completed on a chain free property. Made a successful offer on 4 September completed 10 days ago. They could have completed just before or after Christmas but the dates didn't work for both parties. They had to give formal notice on their rental and did this on the day of exchange though they had given the landlord the heads up on likely completion date earlier in the process. Good luck on your purchase.

My DS recently bought his 1st house. The vendor was not in a chain. It took just under 3 months from offer to completion (although goodness knows why!)

I had a house fall through at 6 months (sellers dragging feet, refusing to instruct solicitors to sort things) and another at 1 year into the process (probate and repossession).

It really can take any amount of time. Auctions usually have a 28 day clause, same with corporate sales (although they can go longer) but standard house buying has an unlimited time frame which can be affected by the other party.

Goodness it’s a how long is a piece of string question isn’t it! 🙈 sounds like the best plan is wait for exchange then hope there is a tenant here quick!