Deed of variation- Crest Nicholson

[violetcuriosity]

Hi

I am in the process of putting my house on the market and have been warned about a deed of variation that needs to be drawn so that the new buyer won't have to worry about the developer/management company seizing their house if they can't pay. Has anyone had experience of this and offer any advice/tips please? I've heard the process can take months before the developer signs the DOV, thank you.

Hi we need one from Crest for our buyer. Responded to our solicitor within a week and it will cost £250. It's standard these days.

A lot of new build estates now need a Deed of Variation to amend the terms. Is it freehold/leasehold property? If it’s leasehold you will more than likely need one, so you could ask your solicitor to get on with it asap. If it’s freehold but with a maintenance charge for communal areas etc then in my experience, it’s pretty 50/50 whether the buyers solicitor will flag it as an issue or not. They can add another 8-12 weeks onto the completion timeline but it depends on the developer. If they have a lot of experience with them they could be quicker.

I'm buying a property with this issue and it's been dealt with by buying an indemnity for £92 so it took no extra time at all. Mine is a freehold with a communal service charge. I think I might pursue getting the deed of variation done when I move in so it isn't a worry in future.

Fab, thanks for responding all.

I've already instructed a solicitor to start that process even though the house isn't being listed until next week. It's reassuring to hear that Crest have responded in a timely way.

It’s quite common it seems, if you are buying with a mortgage. We didn’t have it when we bought our previous house, because we didn’t have a mortgage, but our buyers mortgage company wanted it. The solicitor sorted it fairly quickly.