[Help] House move advice

[Clive Walker]

Heres the situation. We have agreed the sale of our house and the house we are purchasing is due to be completed (new build) by 29th October. The person buying our house is an investor who plans to rent it out. He has for some reason just realised that stamp duty rates will increase from 1st October so has asked us to exchange and complete on the sale in September in order to save him a few £'s.

We don't want to lose the sale at this stage and the developer the house we are purchasing were very clear that only a simple chain would work for them which this one is. I have so far said that I would offer flexibility by moving the sale forward if he allows us to stay in the house until our new house is ready. I would like flexibility in terms of length of lease and I don't want to pay current rental market prices.

This would mean I could move (once) as planned and not have to go into a caravan or AirBnB which would cost about £4k plus the hassle of storage.

Any suggestions or elements that I've not considered would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Perkino]

Friends of mine in a similar position were offered the opportunity to remain in the house rent free until their new house was ready (approximately 4 weeks) to enable the purchaser to get a discount on stamp duty at the end of June

 

[Clive Walker]

Friends of mine in a similar position were offered the opportunity to remain in the house rent free until their new house was ready (approximately 4 weeks) to enable the purchaser to get a discount on stamp duty at the end of June

rent free? deal.

 

[knocky1]

I'd work out the exact saving he is set to make by beating the stamp duty deadline, if you haven't already. Useful when looking at options

 

[dejavuatbtn]

29th of October comes and goes without the house being completed? Builder goes to the wall? Basically, especially with a new build, I would have reservations on completion dates. If your purchaser is happy not to give you a leave by date then fine, but otherwise you could be out on the street.

 

[Clive Walker]

I'd work out the exact saving he is set to make by beating the stamp duty deadline, if you haven't already. Useful when looking at options

unbelievably it would save him £2.5k

 

[Seagull58]

I would ask for 1 month rent-free to take you up to the planned release date on your new place, plus an option to pay market rent if your move is delayed. He can still put it on the rental market while you are there in order to secure a new tenant although, of course, he could not commit with a new tenant until you have committed to a leave date.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

You hold all the cards. Get the solicitor to make it binding with rent free agreement. No reason you should be out of pocket by 1p to save them £2.5k.

 

[Clive Walker]

Thanks for the advice. While I like the idea of being rent free I’d assume after completion he’d have a mortgage to pay and if he is nervous about a £2.5k SD payment he would want some income to cover the mortgage too. If not it makes it a bit counter productive.

As I said I don’t want to force him to pull out but don’t want to be taken for a mug either.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Thanks for the advice. While I like the idea of being rent free I’d assume after completion he’d have a mortgage to pay and if he is nervous about a £2.5k SD payment he would want some income to cover the mortgage too. If not it makes it a bit counter productive.

As I said I don’t want to force him to pull out but don’t want to be taken for a mug either.

But then how’s he going to get any income for October anyway unless he has a tenant lined up to immediately go in..with furnishings?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Thanks for the advice. While I like the idea of being rent free I’d assume after completion he’d have a mortgage to pay and if he is nervous about a £2.5k SD payment he would want some income to cover the mortgage too. If not it makes it a bit counter productive.

As I said I don’t want to force him to pull out but don’t want to be taken for a mug either.

My son is in this game and says it is a seller's market presently. Hold your nerve.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I would be wary, personally of a buyer trying to force your hand for the sake of a £ 2500 saving which is very small fry in the scheme of things imo

 

[Springal]

Agree with the 2 above - especially as a buy to let. They will have no emotional tie to your property so would be early warning signs of problems. What does the agent advise? Given that’s what they get paid for

 

[Clive Walker]

Agree with the 2 above - especially as a buy to let. They will have no emotional tie to your property so would be early warning signs of problems. What does the agent advise? Given that’s what they get paid for

Agent says that the buyer is anxious as he’d always thought that it’s was a sept completion date even though with our being a new build it can only ever be open ended. The only date we have ever mentioned is end of October. Agent said that the buyer proposed the rental idea which sounds to me like he is looking for a solution rather than backing out.

 

[Elbow750]

I'd say hold your nerve. The buyer clearly wants your house and all this talk about thinking it was Sept exchange is BS to save them £2.5 k.

If you feel confident the new build house will be ready, and the seller starts getting agitated so you worry they might pull out then agree to Sept sale on condition you can stay rent free in your existing house for the month. If you have to negotiate offer to pay council Tax for that month, but no more.

Make sure you have a legal agreement to rent for at least 6 months, if the sale on the new build falls through due to the builder pulling out. Think bankruptcy, fire, jumbo jet falling on the new build etc. Offer to pay no more in rent than your existing mortgage is costing on your current house. That way you won't be out of pocket if it all falls through for no fault of yours.

Good luck.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Similar transaction 5 years ago

I offered to rent my sale property at 75% market rate (easily covered the mortgage for 2 months) on the basis I’m not exactly going to damage the house we had done up and to save their chain.

Worked perfectly for all parties and even allowed a 3 day over run due to last minute delays.

On the news build side, research your builders end of tax year date as this is indicative of a worse case scenario. Oh and employ a professional snagged, it’s 100% worth it


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