House Completion / Moving date

Presumably your house sale has been dealt with by a solicitor. Can you not just ask them?

I think you should contact your lawyer. When I was in a similar situation many years ago, I had to take out a bridging loan to cover. I think I needed to pay council tax on both properties and I took out house insurance to cover both properties for the time. I wasn't in the situation for long but my lawyer advised me

It is complicated and you should ask your solicitor for advice. However if your buyers are getting a mortgage, which is likely because they are first time buyers, the lender will insist that you vacate on completion and their solicitor will be duty bound to report to the lender any arrangement to the contrary. So basically, you either move out on the pre-1 April completion date or you and your buyers will have to pay the increase in stamp duty. We have known about the rise in stamp duty since last November so all concerned should have been working towards completing before 1 April.

This happened to us when the hurricane hit in 1987. Nobody could move into their next house for a few days so we all stayed put.

You need to agree through the solicitors though, not just privately You need to insure the bungalow but the couple need to insure your house from the date of purchase and inform the insurance company that you will still be there.
You can’t insure it because you don’t own it any longer but you may want to take out a temporary lability insurance.
Likewise the council tax is theirs but I expect you will refund them so you will end up paying two lots for a while.

It is complicated. To be honest it would be easier if you just took a bit of bedding to the bungalow and “moved in” legally and then returned to your old house with the owners permission to sort stuff out.

Then you just insure and pay council tax on your own properties as soon as you own them. Personally I’d still refund the council tax but that’s up to you.

I don’t know about the legal stuff but I imagine mortgage brokers would be concerned as to liability in case of a fire etc? Not at all like I know but still. Possibly other factors too in play as ‘tenants’. I’d move out. Yes a right old muddle in your bungalow but it’ll sort.

You can’t buy peace of mind.
Good luck!

I'm no legal expert but I've done more than a few moves.

As has been said upthread, if your buyers are taking out a mortgage you could be in very muddy waters. You'll be getting into the realms of "Licence to Occupy" and all sorts of complications with insurances, council tax etc. etc. Costly and complicated.

You must have known about planned holidays, and your buyers certainly knew a baby was on the way! Unfortunately, you can't just move when the fancy takes you and to suit your current circumstances - most people aren't really ready and all manner of personal and family issues can rear their head during the conveyancing period - you just have to get on with it. Lots of people have to live with work being done in their new home.

You haven't exchanged so nothing is binding but your solicitor is the best person to advise you - I'd be on the phone to him/her straight away. If completion is this week then the exchange process must be imminent.

Good luck with the move whenever it might take place.

Don`t complete unless you are ready to move out.

Completion means that the buyers own the property and you don`t. Maybe you could quickly find a large vacant rented property so that you and your belongings can be `dumped` there.

Alternatively you book storage for your possessions and go and live with a family member

Naturally the buyers will say anything to secure the property

Your situation op, sounds far too rushed. Don`t sign anything until you have spoken to your solicitor and I hope you did not go the cheap route via a bog-standard conveyancer

I share your hope karmalady. A false economy.

Most property contracts require 'vacant possession,' meaning the property must be empty of people and possessions by the date of the contract - especially so where mortages are involved.

Whatever you do, do not agree anything without a written contract.

You could talk to your solicitor about a licence to occupy (as ferry23 mentioned). Don’t depend on a budget conveyancing firm to get this right if you are using one of those.

However, be very aware …

A licence to occupy can cover early occupation as well as late. In either case HMRC may treat the date of occupation as ‘substantial completion’ for Stamp Duty (SDLT) purposes. That means Stamp Duty is payable from the date of occupation instead of the date of completion at whatever rules and rates are applicable on the date of occupation.

Thanks for all the advice.

I haven't done this but my son did once. He "rented" his "old house for one month from the new owners.

It was signed with the sale deal.
If you don't leave and don't have a formal agreement there is a massive penalty.

I think if they are happy to let you stay foe x weeks you can make a legal agreement.

Good luck with the move.

If your buyers have a mortgage they are unlikely to be allowed to complete, unless it is confirmed that they have vacant possession.

DD has just bought a house that was tenanted and she had to visit the house the day before completion to confirm that the tenants were no longer there.

However, I think that it is possible for your solicitor to arrange for you to have a licence to stay in the house a specified period longer. But the people to advise you on this are not all the non-experts on GN but your solicitor, go and speak to her .

We moved out of our home last Friday, our new home will not be available to us until possibly May due to a probate issue.

We are living between our holiday let and our daughters until then.

We had to vacate and store everything to save the chain from breaking down.

We have exchanged on the property we are buying and are therefore insuring it.