Hope this is the right place to post this. I am selling a 4 bed detached in the Midlands which I have owned since 1998. We exchanged contracts on a new build bungalow back in August but the new build is not due for completion until February 2027, so I sold the family home with a long completion date to match. Everything was going smoothly until last week when the buyer’s solicitor contacted mine to query a discrepancy on the Memorandum of Sale. It turns out my solicitor listed the wrong completion date (they put 12 January instead of 12 February) and also failed to include a clause about the fixtures and fittings which we had agreed separately with the buyer. My solicitor has admitted the error verbally on the phone but has not put anything in writing yet.
My first question is whether this kind of mistake is grounds for a formal complaint, or whether it is just one of those things that gets corrected and everyone moves on. My second question is whether the buyer could use this discrepancy to try to renegotiate the price, because the market has clearly softened since we agreed terms in July (I noticed the transaction figures were down again in September). Third question, should I be asking my solicitor for a partial refund of fees given the error, or is that unrealistic at this stage.
I am currently living in temporary rented accommodation while the new build finishes so every week of delay costs me money. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
Get them to issue a corrective memorandum in writing today. Thats all this needs. A formal complaint takes weeks and achieves nothing while your sale is live. The buyer wont renegotiate over a typo unless their solicitor is looking for an excuse, which is a separate problem. Worry about fee refunds after completion.
The Memorandum of Sale is not a binding contract. It is a record of the agreed terms issued by the estate agent, and it has no legal force until those terms are incorporated into the exchange of contracts. A clerical error on the memorandum does not give the buyer any right to renegotiate. If they attempt to do so, that is gazundering and has nothing to do with the error. The correction is straightforward and should take your solicitor about ten minutes.
@frankposter thanks, that is helpful. My concern is that the error on the Memorandum has caused my buyer’s solicitor to raise additional enquiries which have added two weeks to the process. The estate agent admits it was their mistake but says they are not liable for any costs arising from it. Is that actually correct or is there a route to claim the additional solicitor fees back from the agent?
The agent is almost certainly correct that they are not contractually liable to you for the additional solicitor costs. The Memorandum of Sale is issued as a courtesy document and the agent’s duty of care runs primarily to the vendor, not to you as the buyer. That said, you could make a formal complaint to the agent’s redress scheme, which will be either The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme. Whether they would award costs for a delay caused by an administrative error is another question, but it costs nothing to try.
@frankposter I take your point that the Memorandum has no legal force and the agent is probably right that they are not contractually liable. My frustration is not really about the money, it is about the fact that the agent issued a document with incorrect information (they had the wrong tenure, stating leasehold when the property is freehold) and this caused my buyer’s solicitor to spend two weeks raising leasehold enquiries that were entirely unnecessary. The agent has not even acknowledged the error in writing. They just said on the phone that these things happen. My question is whether raising a complaint through the Property Ombudsman, which I believe is the redress scheme they are registered with, would at least create a paper trail and put some pressure on them to respond formally. I am not expecting compensation but I would like the error acknowledged. The sale is still proceeding but completion has slipped from early December to potentially January now. Thanks for your thoughts on this.
The Ombudsman takes 3 to 6 months minimum. Your sale will be done or dead by then. Complain afterwards if you want but dont let it distract you now.