What Happens If a House Seller Can Not Move Out?

You’ve exchanged contracts, you’ve packed your bags, but your house seller hasn’t moved out! This is the ultimate nightmare scenario that most home buyers hope will never happen to them. After months of going back and forth between estate agents and conveyancers, you don’t want your move to go haywire at the last hurdle.

However, if your seller hasn’t moved out by completion day, there are actions you can take.

It is true that many people underestimate how much stuff they own and how long it takes to pack-up everything and go. If you’ve arrived at your new property and find that the former owners are frantically packing up, chances are you don’t need to worry. These are signs that they’ve just been a little disorganised but have every intention of moving on.

While this is frustrating, you can always arrange for your estate agent to visit the property and assess how long it will take the occupants to be fully moved out. From there, you can make a decision about whether you should wait around or arrange to go somewhere else for a while.

What if the seller cannot move out?

Once the contracts have been exchanged and the money transferred, the property is legally yours. If you have any issues with former occupants dragging their heels, then you should speak to your conveyancer. There is no legitimate reason that the seller should not move out once the sale has been completed, especially if the contract specifies that the property should be sold with ‘vacant possession’. If they have sold their property without arranging to move to a new place, they should shoulder the responsibility of that decision, rather than making it your problem.

Ultimately, if the seller is reporting that they are unable to move out, you should speak to your conveyancer to know the best way to proceed in this instance.

What about if the seller has left their belongings behind?

Another huge frustration of moving day is finding loads of unwanted items cluttering up your new home. You can ask the seller to remove the items they’ve left behind, however, if they are unable or unwilling to take them away, then you will need to arrange to have them removed yourself. If the removal of the items incurs a cost, you can try to recover this from the seller. If they don’t pay-up, you can seek legal action, however the time and money might not be worth it in the long run.

Find a mortgage advisor today

Speak to Agentis today to arrange your free initial consultation to discuss your mortgage options and get professional advice to make your house move that little bit easier. We can speak to the conveyancer and estate agent to help make the buying process as stress-free as possible.