If you are currently selling and/or purchasing a property, we thought it would be useful to let you know what Clapham & Collinge, as a firm, is doing and what the standard contract for sale sets out with regards to completion.
What we are doing
As a firm we are and will be taking such precautions as we can to ensure continuity of business services. As part of this process we will take into account government and health guidance and the situation "on the ground" in Norfolk.
The firm operates across 3 offices, our head office in Norwich and offices in Sheringham and North Walsham. There are conveyancing teams in each of the offices and whilst we still work from paper files everything is scanned onto our case management system to which access can be gained securely from remote locations. We are reducing non-essential client meetings and have staff working from home on some occasions but we are hopeful that there will be little disruption to the service that we provide because of the remote access to the files and our telephone systems.
As you are aware, your case was assigned to a member of staff at the beginning of your transaction, who acts as your main point of contact. If that staff member is taken ill then the work will be allocated to another staff member within our conveyancing team who will contact you by appropriate means as soon as they are able. In the meantime, if you have any queries or concerns please contact your allocated staff member.
Standard Contract for Sale
What happens if you or someone in your chain is unable to complete on the due date because of COVID-19? The standard conditions for the sale of property (as drafted by the Law Society) state that if either party fails to complete on the day of completion, the injured party has the option to serve notice to complete on the other party. The period of the notice is 10 working days including the date of service of the notice. Under the terms of the contract there are a range of "penalties" which can include the payment of interest, damages, the loss of any deposit paid and the potential for a claim for other losses i.e the loss if a property is subsequently sold for less than previously agreed.
In theory, if a buyer fails to complete and the deposit is forfeited, if that deposit was less than 10% any balance of the deposit immediately becomes due on the day of completion. In practice, you must be aware that you may have to take legal action to recover these monies and if a failure to complete is as a result of illness (or even death) then you may have difficulties in recovering the monies in question.
Please note that parties to the transaction, including yourselves, are not committed until the point that exchange of contracts takes place and so a completion date is not set until that time. If any completion dates have been proposed, there is no guarantee that these will be achieved as the completion date is only confirmed on exchange of contracts.
The other point to remember is that, as a firm, we are reliant on others in a conveyancing chain and we cannot control other conveyancers, lenders, removal companies etc being unable to operate to their usual targets. In addition, we are all subject to any new regulations that may be made by central and local government. You therefore need to consider carefully, the length of your chain, the period you need to allow between exchange and completion and what arrangements you would need to make should you have to self-isolate.
We are hopeful that all transactions will continue as normal and can assure you that we will continue to monitor the situation closely.
Click here for more information on the conveyancing service we offer. Alternatively, contact us on 01603 693500 or email us using our 'Make an enquiry' form on our website. Appointments are available at our Norwich, North Walsham and Sheringham offices.
*This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or other professional advice.
