Breaking the chain

[Pippinsdiary]

We are due to complete on a house in a couple of weeks, but now it’s been pushed back a month due to the couple we are buying off awaiting their new build being ready. From another source I’ve been told people are now being pushed back months due to a problem with planning permission. Although this may not be the case for us, we want to prepare if this happens.

Has anyone asked their vendors to break the chain and to move into rented or with family? We are so worried we will lose our buyer if this happens, and also conscious we won’t have moved for my daughter to start school in September.

Thanks

Would you be prepared to break the chain and move in to rented? If not, don’t expect your vendors to. But you can ask if you want.

I think we would if it was our property was holding up the chain and there was a risk of it all collapsing. If our buyers pull out because our vendors new build is pushed back, they will lose the new build anyway with their deposit and all the extras they have paid (they told us this themselves and are very nervous)

I would ask them to break the chain if they can. It sounds like it would benefit them anyway if they are risking losing their new build

I can sympathise, the process in the country is a shambles with no security for buyers or sellers

Sound out the estate agent. Their commission is on the line. See what they suggest.

Yeah I’m going to phone them tomorrow. I’m not necessarily needing them to break the chain now, it would just be reassuring to know they would if it was necessary

We are being asked to break the chain where our seller is not yet quite ready to move but the two buyers below us (and us) are ready and legals are all done. One set of buyers has children and took ages to sell their flat so don't want to lose their buyers and also want to be in before next term starts. For us it would be a lot of upheaval, extra costs and potentially save only about 4 weeks of waiting time. Unless our buyers are going to up their offer to cover our costs of renting (would need to be an AirBnB, during peak summer), storage, extra moving costs etc, we aren't going to be doing it. We will find a new buyer easily.

I did this. Fortunately, I was able to move into a rented place for a month, but that was luck.