‘The government has told people not to buy and sell houses’
The government has asked people to stay at home. You are only allowed to leave your home for one of the essential reasons. Moving home does not fall within the definition of essential movement and the government has urged people to adapt and be flexible in the current circumstances when it comes to moving home.
You should adapt to your own personal situation, it’s unlikely you will be able to book removals or rent a van to physically move your furniture to your new home. However, you are still permitted to complete on your sale and/or purchase legally. If you are a first-time buyer or you are selling a vacant property, it may still be possible to complete during lockdown.
Where possible the government has asked people to adapt and agree new dates for completion for when the lockdown is likely to be lifted.
In exceptional circumstances (for example where you are tied into a contract), the government has allowed an exemption for critical home moves where you are permitted to complete your move.
‘My seller is threatening to withdraw the property from me if I don’t complete during lockdown, but I can’t move house?’
If your seller is in a chain where you are contractually obliged to move, you may be classed as a critical home move. You should speak to your solicitor or estate agent to check what the chain’s circumstances are and whether a new completion date can be agreed.
If you have not exchanged contracts yet and your seller is threatening that they will withdraw the property, in practise, your seller could pull the property from you, but realistically where would that leave them? They would have to remarket the property for another buyer to come along, and they would need another six to eight weeks to get close to agreeing an exchange and completion date with their new buyer. They would likely still not be able to complete on the sale of the property until after the lockdown has been lifted.
‘Lenders aren’t lending?’
Some lenders have made changes to the types of products they are offering, i.e. certain buy to let deals or desirable tracker mortgages. However, many of these lenders that have made changes are not the big high street lenders so you should still be able to find a suitable mortgage for your needs.
Getting a mortgage right now might take a little longer purely because everyone is working with staff shortages and at a reduced capacity due to the lockdown. Lenders carry out valuation surveys prior to issuing mortgages as well, which might not be achievable right now as surveyors may not be able to attend the property you are buying.
The government is working with lenders to ensure that where individuals have already exchanged contracts, they can arrange for extensions on mortgage offers in case the completion date is delayed because of the lockdown.
‘My house is on the market, how am I going to get an offer during the lockdown?’
You will probably find a lot of interest shortly after the lockdown is lifted, as people may be putting things on hold for now; but a long period of time stuck at home will likely lead to people wanting a change of scenery!
For the time being, you shouldn’t be having any visitors to your home, whether they are potential buyers or estate agents, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t still market your property digitally. Some estate agents have been advertising digital viewings via FaceTime or Zoom and you can certainly get started on the legal side of things while in lockdown.
You can use this time to gather all the paperwork on your property, make any pre-sale repairs or start clearing out the loft…
For more information and to find out how we can help you, please contact our Residential Property Team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and a member of our Team will be in touch.