Signed contract but vendor won't sign

Last April we decided to buy a holiday home on the south coast.

We paid the auctioneer a booking deposit and a sale notice was issued specifing the end of May as a closing date.

Since this we have had constant problems in trying to complete the sale.

The vendors solicitors did'nt issue contracts until June despite saying they wanted to close in May and only issued them after much effort by our solicitors.

We signed the contracts within 48 hours and our solicitor returned them to their solicitor stating we were ready for immediate closure.

It is now September and we have not got signed contracts back and last week our solicitor was told by the vendors solicitor that they had not been signed by the vendor as he was "busy".

We are now fed up and our solicitor has written to their solicitor telling them we wish to withdraw due to "inordinate delay"

However she also tells us that because the house is a new build and we signed a contract to construct the house that the standard contract gives them 12 months to build even though the house was actually built before we bought.

We are now in the invidious position that we have signed even though they haven't so they control the timing of the sale or whether the sale actually takes place at all.

Having paid down 10% we really cant buy somewhere else without our deposit back.

My solicitor also says that they having admitted it is not signed that no legal contract exists but what is to stop them signing at any time and backdating it.


Even taking into account the housing slowdown the houses are in a very good area and a large long established mobile home site is closing down for redevelopment so there is plenty of interest in them. One theory we have is they want the best of both worlds where we are committed but they can get out of the deal if they get a better price.

We have also heard locally that the builder is supposed to put a new water treatment plant in position as part of the planning permission and he hasent done that yet.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what options we might have?

HighFlier said:

We are now in the invidious position that we have signed even though they haven't so they control the timing of the sale or whether the sale actually takes place at all.

Click to expand...

Surely a contract must be signed by both parties for it to be effective/binding?

My solicitor also says that they having admitted it is not signed that no legal contract exists but what is to stop them signing at any time and backdating it.

Click to expand...

Would that not be fraud and would the fact that your solicitor knows that it was not signed and never previously received a countersigned copy count here?

Yes Clubman you are right that it must be signed by both parties to be binding. I suppose the question is knowing it was not signed we told then we wished at this stage to withdraw but do they have the right to sign it now and make it binding even if they date it correctly?

Surely your solicitor is the authority on this question?

Yes but I have lost a bit of confidence especially as we were not informed that signing a building contract had as standard a 12 month period to build even though it was already built. I know that land purchase and building contracts being separate are commonplace and have tax advantages for the builder but we bought on the assumption that we would have the house for at least some of this years summer. I am stuck with the solicitor and need her cooperation to sort this out I was just looking if anyone else had ever had a similar issue. Tks for help.

The 12 month building agreement completion date is a red herring. Focus on what is important. You do not have a signed contract. The vendor has admitted this. That means you CAN pull out. Is that what you want to do? If so get your solicitor to send notice by reg post seeking return of deposit immediately.

If you want to go ahead then make it on your terms. The 12 month clause can be changed. Also there is a standard clause in the BA whereby you can give notice that the 'works are complete' therefore if the house is finished you can still close even if the 12 months are not up.

If I personally were in this position I would find the vendor and talk personally with him- this is the only way you'll find out the true story.

I understand how you are frustrated. Is it that no longer want the house or is it that you are annoyed about the process. If you want the house then I would talk to the Vendor about it directly explain that you want to move in asap but if you are really no longer interested then look at other options. It seems that perhaps you still do want the house and are happy with the house it is legal/vendor factors that are frustrating you.

At this stage both myself and more importantly Mrs. HF are totally disillusioned and have started to really turn against it. Also there is very little progress in completing other sections of the development and if the slowness continues it will be a site for the next two years, so yes we want to pull out if we are entitled to do so and look at something else.

The latest update on this is that my solicitor wrote to them last week stating that as there was no signature from them that no contract was in place and demanded the deposit to be returned forthwith.

Lo and behold after three months of silence my solicitor recieved signed contracts this morning.

Luckily they did not backdate the signing date which was Saturday last and this was after they had recieved our message that we were not proceeding which hopefully means something.

My solicitor has now again written to them returning the contracts and referring to the previous correspondence again asking for the return of our deposit.

I asked her where we stood legally and she said Quote: " we are on somewhat delicate ground - lets see how it goes"


I am as wise as ever and still down €44k!

HighFlier said:

We have also heard locally that the builder is supposed to put a new water treatment plant in position as part of the planning permission and he hasent done that yet.

Click to expand...

It was either a condition of the planning or it wasn't. There would be no such thing as a gentleman’s agreement between the builder and the council. All councils have websites where you can look up the planning permission and get a copy of the grant of permission. If it states in there that he must build a treatment plant before commencement IMO no bank will lend on the property as it fails to comply with the permission. Although if your buying with saved cash that's not an issue - until you come to sell!

Even though he has signed contacts he may not be able to close, as he may not have a connection to the public sewer for the house yet. It might be a long wait. The summers over anyhow at this stage so he has until next Spring to sort things out.