To add insult to injury, the lending agent charged me interest on the money drawn down despite their incompetence contributing largely to the situation.
I spent half a day in town, going from solicitor to bank and back again. When you're spending the guts of half million euro on a house, I'd just bloody courier things and not post them. Again Willalex, try to take something positive from it.
"The lending agent issued FIVE versions of the loan offer before it was correct and my solicitor would let me proceed to sign contracts."
Your solicitor cannot stop you from signing contracts. He\she might have advised you not to sign until you had the loan offer you needed, but the decision to go ahead and sign contracts is yours - not your solicitors.
Possibly the 100% mortgage might have muddied this situation somewhat - but it was always surely open to you to raise short term finance elsewhere for your deposit.
As much as I may get shot for saying this you were indeed late in returning the contracts and even missed the final deadline as such. Whilst I can sympathise with you that the builder hasn't played as fair as you might expect as in you in good faith assumed there would be no problem with being late etc, it still remains that this was done as a result of your own problems with your mortgage. If this had not have occured you would have this house.
Lessons to be learned I suppose. If I was in the builder's shoes I would have completed the deal, but sign of society today that we place money ahead of values. Unfortunately I can't get loan approval for the extra €50K now required but on principle wouldn't do business with that person on these terms.