Unable to complete house purchase

[polly]

Can anyone give me any advice. I purchased a new build flat last year, was unable to complete in Dec 08 as I could not secure a mortgage mainly due to the fact that I had been unable to sell a property which would have released the required deposit for a BTL. Builder has just sent me a bill for £10,600 (I dont have it!) and threatens court action if I do not pay within 7 days. This was a Scottish purchase and missives were exchange which I understand is the norm after 16 days from the date of reserve.:tinysmile_cry_t:

[enaid]

Re: Unable to complete house purchase

Welcome to Beagles Polly, I found this bit of info from the Scottish Shelter site.


Once your offer has been verbally accepted, your solicitor will negotiate in detail all the conditions of sale with the seller's solicitor before ownership of the property is transferred to you. This process is called concluding the missives.
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Concluding the missives

Before the offer can be finalised, the solicitors on both sides must sort out any conditions of the sale (for example, what fittings and fixtures are included). They will exchange formal letters (called missives) until all these details are sorted out. Your solicitor will also examine the title deeds to the property on your behalf and report to you on anything of significance before missives are concluded.
Once both parties are satisfied with all the terms and conditions, the missives will be signed and the offer will be finalised. This process is called concluding the missives and can take any length of time from two weeks to a few months, depending on how complicated the sale is.
Once the missives are concluded, the contract (or bargain) becomes legally binding. Now neither you nor the seller can withdraw from the contract or vary the terms at all, unless the other party agrees or there is something in the missives that allows you to do so. Even if the property burns to the ground, you will still be legally bound to go through with the sale. This is why it's very important that you have a formal mortgage offer by this stage: if you can't afford to pay for the home, the seller can take you to court.

What if I want to withdraw my offer?

It is legally possible to withdraw your offer at any point until missives are concluded. To be safe, it is best to get your solicitor to formally withdraw your offer in writing and send this to the seller's solicitor urgently. However, in practice, it is not a good idea to withdraw your offer lightly. The important thing to bear in mind is that you shouldn't submit an offer unless you're really serious about buying a property and you know for sure that you can afford it and will be able to get a mortgage if necessary.
If you want to withdraw after missives have been concluded, the seller can take you to court as you will be in breach of contract. This could potentially cost you a lot of money and you may also have to pay the sellers' expenses (this might include paying high interest rates on bridging loans for example). However, if it is impossible for you to do this (for example, because you don't have the money), the seller may ask you to compensate them for the costs of finding another buyer instead. Speak to your solicitor immediately if you're in this position.

I would, as suggested on the last line here speak to your solicitor. Enaid x