Offer Agreed - Information Not Disclosed to Us

[Russet Grange]

Hello all, some thoughts appreciated.

We are currently selling my wife's mother's house. She's in a home now, we have POA etc.... An offer was accepted around early September, and I am fully aware that until contracts are exchanged, all we have is someone prepared to buy the house, but not legally obliged to do so.

The reason for the post though is that our buyer's buyer (a FTB, so three parties in the entire chain) is partly funding their purchase via a Help to Buy ISA. That ISA does not mature until 31st January 2026*. This of course means that our buyer cannot proceed until that date either.

Had we known about this, we would never have accepted the offer in the first place. The estate agent knew about the Help to Buy ISA but didn't tell us.

I'm pretty sure this is a case of "tough luck" but the PH collective is a wise collective and as above, thoughts appreciated.

Thanks.

• My understanding is that a Help to Buy ISA has no maturity date, you just get a bonus of 25% when you cash it in an use it to buy a house.

[interstellar]

You either suck it up or blame the estate agent and tell them you want half their fee waived for withholding information.

I would certainly try the latter

[Russet Grange]

interstellar said:

You either suck it up or blame the estate agent and tell them you want half their fee waived for withholding information.

I would certainly try the latter

Yes, that's exactly the conclusion we came to, we are certainly going to be pushing for a fee reduction.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

I would say the house is still "Under Offer" and should remain on the market with the estate agent especially if the offer is less than the asking price. Certainly not "Sold subject to contract"

[jimothyc]

If you can get all the paperwork in place, searches done etc ready to exchange contracts by 31st Jan then I think you’d be doing pretty well as far as conveyancing goes.

[Alex Z]

The end of January isn’t far off now, and how much delay is it actually causing? Will everything else be in place and ready to go now?

If you wanted to find a different buyer then there’s little chance of getting someone to complete so just complain to the agents and ask for a discount.

[Scarletpimpofnel]

A chain of 3 is not bad. You could look for another buyer and end up with a much longer delay. If everyone has their paperwork in place then you could exchange on 31st Jan.... not bad bearing in mind the holiday season etc.

[Russet Grange]

Re the above, everything is done and in place. Searches, contracts signed, surveys done and questions answered. Up until a few hours ago we were hopeful of exchanging next week and had no reason to think otherwise.

[Newc]

Exchange next week anyway, go on a relaxing holiday break over Xmas, complete end of Jan ?

[MitchT]

jimothyc said:

If you can get all the paperwork in place, searches done etc ready to exchange contracts by 31st Jan then I think you d be doing pretty well as far as conveyancing goes.

This. I instructed my conveyancer on 25 July and the st show is showing no signs of concluding.

[MitchT]

Russet Grange said:

The reason for the post though is that our buyer's buyer (a FTB, so three parties in the entire chain) is partly funding their purchase via a Help to Buy ISA. That ISA does not mature until 31st January 2026*. This of course means that our buyer cannot proceed until that date either.

I've never heard of a Help to Buy ISA having to "mature". You pay in up to £200/month and the government will add 25% to a balance of up to £12,000 at whatever point you choose to use it.

[Russet Grange]

MitchT said:

I've never heard of a Help to Buy ISA having to "mature". You pay in up to £200/month and the government will add 25% to a balance of up to £12,000 at whatever point you choose to use it.

Indeed. Of course this is second hand info, it may be some other type of ISA that does have a maturity date, or it may be that the ISA holder will take until that point to pay in the max £12k to get the full £3k bonus.

Just annoying really, but the first reply did confirm my thinking that it's a case of suck it up or push hard for a discount. Asked on here as there are some very sharp minds on such matters, and there might have been a lightbulb moment.

Thanks all.

[MitchT]

I reckon it's something else.

I have a Help to Buy ISA. I took it out just before they were ended. I reached the £12k limit ages ago. According to my provider you close the account, they pay the money and within seven days they send a certificate which you have to pass on to your conveyancer who will use it to get the government bonus.