Can I reduce my offer because of this?

[Junobug]

We had an offer accepted on a property 6 weeks ago. We knew it was a tricky sale but were assured by EA that the house would be ready to go in July and the vendors wanted a quick sale. Last week we found out that the vendors had only applied for probate 2 weeks after we offered. Today, after weeks of chasing, we have finally been told that the vendor’s solicitor has only just issued the initial paperwork to them. It has just been excuses and lies.
We have buyers who are ready to go. I don’t want to loose them. I would be prepared to break a chain but I don’t think I should financially loose out (we are mortgage free) because the vendor and estate agents haven’t been honest and are dragging out the process. I wouldn’t have offered what we did on the house if we had been told they hadn’t applied for probate. But there is nothing else out there to buy; we are still viewing other properties.
Can I legitimately offer less now? Although it’s them messing us around, I feel cheeky reducing my offer or threatening to walk.

Say you are going to have to break the chain and offer less the amount of a second removal cost and short term rental cost for three months. But be prepared for them to say no and lose the property.

Probate is likely to take 6 months or more.

Don't faff around with a reduced offer, they aren't ready, so withdraw and find another house.

DD’s purchase took over 18 months to go through probate

I'm an executor currently selling a property, and while I think your vendors should have been honest with the agents and prospective buyers from the outset, I doubt they'll be interested in reducing the price. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, it could be they didn't realise the time it can take to obtain a grant of probate.

The thing to remember is executors tend not to have to worry about timescales and if they're not in immediate need of their inheritance, they're unlikely to be too worried if you pull out. You need to consider how quickly they might find another buyer and decide how you'll feel if you lose the property. It's a really personal decision no-one can make for you.

Probate will take months. You either need to move into rented or find another property

Probate will take months - I think the current average is 6 months. The executors are legally required to get the optimum / appropriate price for the property for the benefit of the inheritees so will be unlikely to accept a reduced price at this stage - be prepared for a decline. The vendors however should have been honest up front about where they were in the process of obtaining probate.

DH is currently selling an inherited house. Probate doesn't always take months, especially if financial affairs are straightforward and it's under the inheritance tax threshold. Perhaps we were exceptionally lucky, but MIL's took about 4 weeks.

I think I would try for some financial compensation if you’re going to have to go into rental and have your heart set on this property. Our sellers were buying a probate property in a relocation and it took 8+ months. Luckily we had already broken our chain as we didn’t want to lose our very keen & impatient buyer and we did get our present house at a great price because we were cash buyers, no chain and were prepared to wait (just didn’t realise quite how long!). It was very frustrating waiting, but was ultimately worth it in the end as we got this ideal property for us at a fab price and had no stresses from a chain below. So yes, I think compensation is fair if you didn’t know this on your initial offer.

Thanks everyone. It is obviously a risk but at the moment there is nothing to loose. The house is a very sensible choice and suits our needs now but it is a definite head over heart house so I won’t be gutted to loose it.
the average probate times are currently down to 4 weeks but there is obviously no guarantee on this.
I will ring the estate agent tomorrow. I’m just so cross at the moment that they have put us in this position.

It depends how complex the estate is. I’ve known propane take years to sort out but that was a worst case scenario. Put the offer in with the reasoning - if nothing more it’ll give you the opportunity to voice your frustrations at the lack of clarity to those that haven’t been clear (not necessarily the vendors)

You could always have the discussion with the EA saying if probate hasn’t appeared in a certain time frame (meaning you’ll have to break your chain and go into rental) you’d like to reduce the offer to financially compensate you as this wasn’t made clear at the beginning.

How much have you paid on surveys and legal fees to date? They have already been deceitful / misled you, so there would be nothing to stop them accepting a reduced offer from you and then try for something better later on, especially if interest rates reduce. Until you exchange anything could happen.

Have you updated your buyers?

I feel for you. Having recently been through the process of probate, I can honestly say it never occurred to me to put the house on the market before receiving probate. It's not worth the hassle of having 2 processes going on at the same time and keeping fingers crossed the probate moves quickly.

I've been waiting for probate since April this year on a non complex estate under the IHT threshold. The estimate was 12 weeks according to the solicitor so hopefully it will be July. My parents probate took around 9 months.

Probate is a really tricky thing. Submitted one recently that took 2 weeks for them to receive the forms and three minutes (yes seriously) to be approved. It was a very straightforward estate, but others in a similar situation seem to wait months.

You can reduce your offer for any reason. They don't have to accept though.

I submitted for probate on the 15/5/25; then posted the requested documents a few days after and got probate granted on the 6/6/25.
A three week turnaround, It could have been quicker but I didn't go to the post office for almost a week.

I had to wait just over a week for the grant to arrive in the post.

The turnaround has improved massively since the delays from Covid.

www.gov.uk/government/news/probate-waiting-times-halved-thanks-to-government-push

You can buy the property anyway. You just need the vendors to apply to the Court for an Order that the sale will fall through if they don’t authorise the sale. That way the executors are protected in terms of their duties and they can sell the house and you can, despite the lack of probate, buy it with good title. Speak to your solicitors.

The application is a paper one, it shouldn’t take long.

Note this may not apply if there is no will or difficulty with the executors but I know it can be done.

When I was selling my mother's flat after she died our local council gave us an estimate of how long probate would take. It was only a few weeks - simple estate though under the threshold. The council did say a few months before we applied though that it was taking months. This was all during Covid.

Sorry, meant to add perhaps you can check with the council how long it will actually take and make your decision then.

I've missed something. Why would a council be involved in an application for probate?

I presume you did it yourself which I did for mum's estate.
The OPs vendors are dealing with a solicitor which always takes longer and it sounds like they haven't even applied yet.
I think it shouldn't be allowed to market a property until probate is granted. It wastes everyone's time. My DC is house hunting and viewed three properties which were advertised as "no chain" . Estate agents vague and blustery about probate. Turns out not one had actually got probate granted.

I think it depends how many people viewed it/how quickly your offer was agreed. If it sold quickly I would expect them to say no to a price reduction but if you are thinking of pulling out anyway then I would probably try it. Have you paid money already for searches etc?

@Theoscargoesto do you have a link to a website explaining the court application option to allow a sale before grant? I've googled but not found anything.