The government have now clarified their advice for home movers which is as follows:
- Home buyers and renters should, as far as possible, delay moving to a new house while emergency measures are in place to fight coronavirus.
- If moving is unavoidable for contractual reasons and the parties are unable to reach an agreement to delay, people must follow advice on social distancing to minimise the spread of the virus.
- Anyone with symptoms, self-isolating or shielding from the virus, should follow medical advice and not move house for the time being.
Where contracts have not yet been exchanged, unless clients are happy to complete but not move in, we are advising our clients to set flexible completion dates to begin after the government restrictions have been lifted.
Where contracts have already been exchanged, we are liaising with all parties in the chain to come to an arrangement to avoid people physically moving. Unfortunately, sometimes people are unwilling or unable to vary the contracts. In this case, people have no choice but to move or be in breach of contract, and the guidelines are enabling these people to move.
Sadly, many property law firms have already been unable to continue to operate in the current market. We are very fortunate to have outstanding systems in place to allow all of our staff to work remotely in the safety of their own homes. We are here to help anyone in the unfortunate situation where their lawyer is no longer able to help them.
Please do not hesitate to give us a call if you are all concerned or confused about your property transactions at this time, on 0330 200 017, 0330 0583 205 or email angela@jamiesonalexander.co.uk or laura@jamiesonalexander.co.uk