Builder dragging out completion date

Hi folks,

not sure if right post but anyway here goes. I purchased a new property last year, which was due for completion 18 months later. That date was then amended to 24 months which we were made aware of . Since then the date has now been extended to 29 mths or maybe even more.

Builders solicitor is saying that we have absolutely no right to our deposit back or way out of this and if we did pull out we would forfeit deposit and possibly be liable for more money to builder if they have to resell at alower price.

Is this right, has anyone experience of this.

What has your own solicitor said?

I haven't read a building contract recently enough to say what your rights might be. Doesn't seem fair that they could drag it on indefinitely though I have yet to come across a new build that finished within 6 months of the original "completion date"

You have to talk to your own solicitor, ask for a copy of the Contract/ Building Agreement that you signed ( to check the completion period) and discuss with your own solicitor if this is the case. The Developers solicitor may be right. Equally he may be wrong.

mf

My own Solicitor just sent us that letter from builders solicitor saying what I put in original post , have tried contacting my solicitor but have had no response so far. i just wanted to see if anything similar happened to anyone else.

We were a year late moving into our 1st place.

I believe it is standard enough that the building contract ( which is drafted and or amended by the builders team to suit their needs ) often has clauses to state that completion dates, specifictaions and many other things can vary.

Your brochure will likely outline that none of the particulars within are binding either !

monkeyboy said:

We were a year late moving into our 1st place.

I believe it is standard enough that the building contract ( which is drafted and or amended by the builders team to suit their needs ) often has clauses to state that completion dates, specifictaions and many other things can vary.

Your brochure will likely outline that none of the particulars within are binding either !

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I know that these times can be extended , but surely there must be some stage where the line is drawn??

Sorry to tell you but it appears that the buyers rights are almost non existant. You can check out a couple of my posts from earlier this year but to cut a long story short. The builder assured me of completion on a number of different occaisions until finally we reached the final date for completion as agreed in the contract. It passed without comment from the builder and my own solicitor said that hmm yes it appears strange but assured me that there was nothing really he could do. One year further down the road and we are about to take possession but with absolutely no recompense.
We had also been told, even by our own solicitor that had we at any stage broken the contract (we suggested holding back on certain payments to see if it would spur on completion) that we would lose everything.
While I'm not a fan of even our own solicitor, I believe he was correct in what he says
Hang in there and grin and bear it

foxylady said:

My own Solicitor just sent us that letter from builders solicitor saying what I put in original post , have tried contacting my solicitor but have had no response so far.

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Am shocked! Get on the phone to them all day every day. Your (going to be) paying them for their services here. Do not accept this - they must answer your question one way or the other.

FInally got response from solicitor but not really the one I wanted.
Whats worse is the devlopers are blaming the bad weather in the summer for the delays.
This development was put on sale last year by the way.

Iam having same problem, its been long time since me and my partner put a deposit on a property. The builders promised that the property will be ready in 1 year but its almost 2 years now.

It goes bad to worse for me, my partner lost the job and we are finding very hard that we will be able to repay the mortgage. So we called up the developers and told them that we want to pull out.

The developers came back to us and our solicitor and said that we will loose and deposit and the solocitiors on developers side said that they will sue us to close the deal.

I really wish that this system was reguated by any body. At this stage developers have started to make it look like a joke.

Any suggestion or advise in this regard is most welcome....

thanks

In the standard Building Agreement the developer has 18 months to build the property. A lot of solicitors acting for builders have extended this to 24 months and put in a proviso about circumstances outside the developer's control delaying things. Some have even removed a time limit altogether.

No matter what the developer says about when the property will be ready, only the building agreement and contract cover the deal.

If the time limit as specified in the building agreement has expired then it is possible to pull out and recover your deposit. However, if you have agreed to extend this time limit then you are stuck with the extended time. Also if there is no time limit then you must simply wait and cannot pull out.

In respect of the rain over the summer, the developer is, by the sound of things, using this as the reason why they have run over the time in the building agreement. If you really want to pull out and the time limit in the building agreement has passed you could consider asking your solicitor to seek advice from a barrister specialising in property.