Buying a home: I fear the sellers are delaying house sale

Q I am in the process of purchasing a home. The process is at an advanced stage and we are now at the point where we are about to exchange contracts. However, we have been at this point for quite some time and I am getting the impression that the sellers are delaying this part of the process because they have not yet found or are not ready to move into their new home. We fear this will delay the closing of the sale for another month or so. This would be terrible as we are quite anxious to move into this house. Who determines the closing date of the sale and have we any power to influence the closing date?

A This is a common issue in property purchases and most estate agents will have to deal with this on a weekly basis. There may be a perfectly rational reason why the process is taking longer than you had thought but many purchasers underestimate the length of time it takes to complete a sale under a normal private treaty process.

Sales by public auction are generally quicker as the contracts have been prepared in advance and are signed on the day the offer is accepted. Once the offer has been accepted it will typically take upwards of a month to issue contracts. If as in most cases the property title deeds are with a bank, it can take two to three weeks for the seller’s solicitors to take up the deeds.

During this period your solicitor can do nothing but it is important that you have your mortgage application (if required) formally approved and have completed any additional surveys you may deem necessary.

Ultimately it is the buyer and sellers who control the closing date but both need to agree this from the outset. In some instances a vendor may be in a chain and could try to slow a sale of their own property in order to remain in occupation until the property they are either renting or purchasing is available. Some vendors may not want to move close to Christmas, for example, or may have work or other commitments that prevent them from doing so.

If you are anxious to close the sale and take possession of the property within a specific period, you should have made this a condition of your offer. Now that the offer has been accepted, you have less leverage to exert to influence the closing date.

I would suggest, however, that you get in contact with both the vendor’s estate agent and your solicitor and explain that the process is taking too long and that you are anxious to close the sale as soon as possible. If ultimately this is still taking too long and you remain unhappy, and in the event that you have not exchanged contracts, you could pull out of the sale or at least threaten to do so.

The advice I would give to prospective property purchasers is be realistic with the time frames from the outset. Standard house sales will typically take three to four months to complete and typically one month if it is an auction sale. If the property is being sold by a bank or receiver the process can be even longer.

If there are any issues such as title, planning, a poor survey, boundaries or rights of way, these can all have an impact on the time it takes to complete a property purchase. Gerard O’Toole is a chartered residential surveyor and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland

Housing assistance

Q I have been on rent supplement for a number of years and I am on the social housing waiting list. Recently I heard that the Government have launched a new housing assistance payment. How does this payment differ from rent supplement which I am now receiving and what are the eligibility requirements for this new payment?

A Citizens’ Information is an excellent resource and you will find detailed explanations on rent supplement and other social welfare schemes on citizensinformation.ie. In summary, rent supplement is paid to people living in private rented accommodation who cannot provide for the cost of their accommodation themselves. The amount of rent supplement is calculated to ensure that income after paying rent does not fall below a minimum level.

In 2013 the Government approved a plan for a new housing assistance payment (Hap). This involves the transfer of responsibility for recipients of rent supplement with a long-term housing need from the Department of Social Protection to housing authorities. Hap is operational in several housing authorities and will be rolled out throughout the country this year.

Different rules apply for rent supplement depending on whether you live in a Hap area or in an area where Hap is not yet in operation. You will find a full list of the Hap area and non-Hap area rules on the Citizens’ Information website. A summary of the Hap area rules is that you are only eligible for rent supplement if you are a genuine tenant and meet one of the following conditions:

“You were getting rent supplement in the 12 months before the date of your application;

“You were living in private rented accommodation for at least six of the last 12 months,

“You could afford the rent at the beginning of your tenancy and you are unable to continue to pay the rent because of a substantial change in your circumstances which occurred after you started renting;

“You were living in accommodation for homeless people for at least six of the last 12 months.”

If you have already been assessed as qualified for social housing support you will be referred to your local authority to have your housing needs addressed (rather than being assessed for rent supplement). If you don’t meet these conditions you must contact your local authority to have your housing needs assessed.

If you are eligible for and in need of housing support you may be able to access housing under the Hap scheme or local authority housing. If you are currently getting long-term rent supplement (18 months or more) and you live in a Hap area you can be asked to apply for social housing support to your local authority.

You must apply within six weeks of being asked to do so. You may then be transferred to Hap or to another form of social housing support.

It appears from your question that you qualify for rent supplement/Hap under the Hap rules as you have been on rent supplement for “a number of years”. It is important that you find out, in the first instance, if your area is already in the HAP scheme.

Simon Stokes is a chartered residential surveyor and chairman of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland residential agency professional group

Got a query?
Send your queries to propertyquestions@irishtimes.com or to Property Clinic, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2. This column is a readers' service. Advice given is general and individual advice should always be sought