A long-stop date is the latest date by which the developer must finish your new home. If they miss it, you can usually withdraw from the purchase and get your deposit back. It’s often well after the date you’ve been told to expect, so if you’re selling your current home, plan for a gap, and choose storage that doesn’t need a fixed end date.
How it works
When you buy a home that isn’t built yet, your contract usually gives an estimated completion date and a long-stop date. The Home Owners Alliance explains that the long-stop date is “the date the developers must be finished by, or the buyer can withdraw and get their deposit back”, and that it’s often six months after the expected completion date. So a home you’re told will be ready in March might have a long-stop date in the autumn.
When the home is finished, the developer sends a notice to complete. The Home Owners Alliance says buyers usually then have between 7 and 10 days to complete, so the final move can come at short notice.
Your conveyancer can explain the dates in your own contract, and it’s worth checking that your mortgage offer lasts beyond the long-stop date.
Planning around the gap
If you sell your current home before the new one is ready, your belongings need somewhere to wait, possibly for several months, with only a week or two’s notice of the end. That’s exactly what storage with us is built for:
- No end date needed. The minimum stay is just two weeks. After that, your storage carries on, paid every four weeks, for as long as the build takes.
- Simple to end. Once you know roughly when you’ll complete, email us your end date, normally with 14 days’ notice, and we refund any days you’ve paid for but won’t use once the unit is empty.
- Fetch what you need. Access is 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, so you can collect winter coats or paperwork during a long wait.
- Safe meanwhile. Every unit has its own alarm, and our sites are watched by CCTV monitored around the clock by a professional monitoring company.
If you’re moving into rented or family accommodation in the meantime, store what won’t fit and keep the essentials with you.
Part-exchanging?
If the developer is taking your current home in part exchange, the timing of your move out is usually tied to the new home’s completion. Ask the developer and your conveyancer how the two dates fit, and book storage if there’s any chance of a gap.
To find the right size, call us on 0800 2545585, or get a price online.
Related questions
- Can I keep my unit longer than I planned, or leave later than my date?
- How do I give notice to leave my storage unit?
- What happens after I book, and can I move in the same day?
- Can I move house if I can’t sell mine yet?
This page explains how long-stop dates commonly work in England. It isn’t legal advice.
Further reading
- Home Owners Alliance: New build completion delays