Buying new build - When to sell/what to do with mortgage

[JCKST1]

Evening guys,


We recently renewed our mortgage with Santander and had no intention of moving home until a new build development popped up near us and we would like to move. After speaking with the developer they are going to market the plot we want around May time with the house being ready to move in November/December.

Financially it works better for us to sell our house, by doing this they can offer more incentives compared to if we PX the property.

The problem we have though is if we reserve the plot we will market our house immediately, and if we do find a buyer which I think is likely before moving in what will happen in regards to the mortgage?

There is no point in paying the high early termination fee then to apply again shortly after. Can we move the mortgage to the new home even when its not 100% complete and start paying it (in the mean time we can move in with my parents) or perhaps have a holiday period in between selling and buying this one while still maintaining the mortgage?

Hopefully the above makes sense. I dont want to drag the sale on until later in the year and potentially lose a buyer if we get one.

Any help appreciated.

[Sarnie]

Santander will allow you to port the mortgage.......but they will charge you the ERC when you complete on your sale......but they will refund it when you complete on your purchase........but you need to check on what the grace period for this is........with some lenders it's 3 months....some it's 6 months.....

[kurt535]

one small point - check with developer where the social housing is relative to your plot. if its within a few metres of affordable rent houses, walk away and don't look back.

[FiF]

Have you discussed the fine details of dates with the developer? Not sure how common this is, but the one new build house we bought the developer wouldn't commit to and date other than a general "about month1/month 2 aim point but not guaranteed" commitment. This was to take care of delays outwith their control, weather, supplier problems and so on.

But here was the rub, in the contract there was the clause that when they gave a date you were committed to completing in ten weeks or they could take the option of remarketing the house. Talking to our agent they said this was normal for the area. In reality the developer had a sort of part exchange scheme.

As for mortgage, it just ported across with a top up.

[pb8g09]

FiF said:

But here was the rub, in the contract there was the clause that when they gave a date you were committed to completing in ten weeks or they could take the option of remarketing the house.

I’ve been stung by this in the past. The developer makes you pay a £1-2k deposit but if for whatever reason you don’t meet their (usually unreasonably short) date they stick it back on market and you lose the deposit. Absolutely infuriating after you’ve conducted all your conveyancing.

[alistair1234]

When we were looking at a new build with Redrow recently we were told that in order to reserve a plot we would have to have had an offer on our own, or be able to complete without having to sell ours.

Given that this was 9 months before they were expected to be finished we couldn't do the first option and definitely couldn't do the second.

Might be worth seeing if it's better to sell, pay the early redemption and then do help 2 buy and get the 20% interest free.

[A205GTI]

Also ask about maintenance charges and whether the council will adopt the road, otherwise you will be paying towards the upkeep.

Be mindful you will have no control over the company and charges levied for maintenance

just type in "Maintenance charge new build" into google to fully understand what you are getting into.

[FiF]

Should one mention ransom strips?