Hi,
For context we have part-exchanged our house with the developer and have already exchanged contracts. the relevance of this will become apparent!
The developer called today to ask if we would like to set the completion date some weeks ahead, fast tracking the timeline set in the contract of sale. Where they are obliged to set the quarter, month, week and finally notice to complete, based on build milestones. Apparently this was to support our personal circumstances, where we might find it easier to plan knowing the completion date many weeks in advance.
Current build stage is the roof is nearly complete, but windows are not in. So next milestone would have been the month, given when the build is watertight
I said I'd think about it. An hour later I had a call from the estate agents for our current property (who have found a buyer) on an unrelated point, so I took the opportunity to ask what expectations the developer had set on completion. I was advised,
"oh we spoke to the developer today and they have moved from July to August, but won't give a more precise date - the chain is getting jittery and won't exchange until they have a completion date".
It turns out the developers interest in setting our completion date, apparently to help us, was so they could get the buyer of our property to exchange!!
Any thoughts on this anybody?
Our current thoughts are to decline the fixed date and stick to the contract schedule, largely because we don't want the developer to end up in a situation where they are rushing to finish and we end up with a major snagging list. If they work to the schedule the dates set have more chance of a better finish as they can't set the completion date until certain works are finished.
E.g they currently give the week of completion when the decoration is finished, where as, if they set the date now they could find they don't finish the decorating until days before and it all gets a bit rushed.
Looking at it from the other side, they should know how long it will take from experience and we can plan removals. Snagging survey, flooring etc with a fixed date.