Advice on house move

I would welcome advice and information please. Although probably better posted to the Plusnet Communities forum I thought I might get some useful advice here.

My daughters are each in the process of purchasing houses in London SE23 (coincidentally in the same road but at opposite ends) and are due to complete their purchases later this month. Both want to go with Plusnet (they are current Plusnet customers, albeit ADSL, in their present shared flat which they will vacate at the end of the month). Both wish to go with Plusnet's 40/20 FTTC product which shouldn't be a problem, one is 200m from the PCP and its FTTC twin and the other even closer, the PCP and FTTC twin being immediately opposite.

Their question isn't one of price but rather procedures regarding their respective moves and timing. One of the properties had an FTTC connection prior to the sale. I/we have no idea as to the identity of the previous phone supplier or ISP at either property. Does this matter?

a) At what point should they contact Plusnet for the provision of a phone line? Can this be done prior to completion and if yes, how soon before?
b) What is the likely timescale for the phone to be connected.
c) What is the likely timescale for the FTTC connection to be enabled 1) for the property where the previous owner had FTTC, and 2) for the property with no previous FTTC connection.
d) Can the FTTC connection be ordered at the same time as the phone? (I believe the answer here is yes.)

Thanks

I'd suggest ordering as soon as contracts are exchanged and to make sure that there is at least two clear weeks between exchange and completion to allow this and other other arrangements needed to be put in place.

Is it definitely FTTC as there is some FTTP around that area also?

In reply to a post by Ribble:

Is it definitely FTTC as there is some FTTP around that area also?

Yes, FTTC for both. My younger daughter missed out on a house nearer to Honor Oak Park station which had FTTP.

Edited by deleted (Wed 03-Sep-14 10:15:35)

In reply to a post by pcoventry76:

Don't do anything until completion, if it falls though, which we all know is possible then it's a waste of money. I put a phone line into a property and had to leave 3 days later.

Why leave it until the day you move in (completion) which will almost certainly mean a period with no phone or broadband - probably at least two weeks.

Unless you were using a totally useless solicitor if the deal falls through after exchange of contracts because of the action of another party you will get full costs reimbursed.

I believe only and up until moneys have been transferred is everything complete and only costs associated with the transfer are recoverable.

Anything the buyer does outwith the contract, ordering things for the house, are surely not the responsibility of the seller?

Edited by deleted (Wed 03-Sep-14 19:38:42)

After exchange there are usually fairly strong penalties for failing to complete on the given day (failure by either buyer or seller). Exceptional circumstances such as death might override those. Before exchange you should assume nothing.

But it sounds as if pcoventry76 has had some pretty bad recent experiences, so maybe he knows the realities of things better than I do.

You are correct.

I moved just over a year ago and our solicitor made it very clear about the penalties of failing to complete on the agreed date once contracts had been exchanged.

My guess is that (like may people do) pcoventry76 cheap-skated and used a conveyancing firm. I made that mistake once in the past - they were useless and we suffered a loss (thankfully not very big) as a consequence. Also the vendor for our recent purchase used a conveyancing firm which delayed the process unnecessarily by about a month - our solicitor had to do a lot of extra chasing.

There is a reason why conveyancing firms are cheaper than solicitors!

Edited by jelv (Wed 03-Sep-14 21:21:53)