Agreed to buy a house beginning Nov 07, paid booking deposit and was assured a quick closing date approx 6 wks. Turned out vendor needed planning permission to retain an alteration to the house which only went to council end Dec (8 wks after sale agreed). Council have 8 wks to decide so contracts will only be sent from the vendors to our solicitors end Feb. So realistically it'll be March before we can move. Is there anything we can request from vendor to compensate us for staying longer in the rented house and inconvenience of having to re-apply for the mortgage? Reducing the offer would be just plain mean (though tempting in a falling market).