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Hi Benny.
Have you done any research on resonable delay, I have been told this is hard to prove the length of time that would be aceptable as resonable delay due the current climate.
I still think one good fighting point is we would never have entered a contract if we knew this was going to happen and should have been informed that this could happen.
Here is a clip I got from property week
John Hitchcox pays nominal £1 for Manor Mills and Manyoo, with help from Bank of Ireland
Yoo, the residential design and development business run by entrepreneur John Hitchcox, has taken control of the landmark projects it had worked on as joint ventures with KW Linfoot, the Leeds-based developer that went into administration earlier this year.
Hitchcox told Property Week that Yoo has completed the acquisition of the Linfoot stakes in the Manor Mills and Manyoo developments in Leeds and Manchester respectively.
Yoo Capital, the group’s property investment arm, has paid a nominal £1 for the stakes but has agreed a three-year, £28.5m facility with Bank of Ireland to proceed with the projects. Under the terms of the bank arrangement, Yoo is also investing £3.5m of its own money.
Completion of the transaction finally removes the uncertainty surrounding Manor Mills, although Linfoot indicated at the time it went into administration in February that it had ‘transferred’ its financial interest to Yoo.
As lead developer, Linfoot had sold all 277 flats in Manor Mills off plan but the failure of many buyers to secure mortgage finance and complete their purchases speeded the collapse of the company.
Construction has just been completed at Manor Mills and Hitchcox said that 100 sales have completed. However, with some purchasers still struggling to get finance, Yoo has arranged for Bank of Ireland to offer 75% mortgages. This would mean buyers need to find another 15% of the purchase price on top of their 10% deposits.
‘We’re asking them to complete but we’re expecting a number of them not to and if they don’t, then what we’ve agreed [with Bank of Ireland] is a long-term rental facility, which strategically is exactly what we want to do because the demand for rental in Leeds is very good,’ Hitchcox said.
The outlook at Manyoo remains unclear because the site is divided into two and Yoo’s deal with Bank of Ireland covers half the site. Linfoot had exchanged but not completed on the acquisition of the other half, which is owned by Peel Holdings. Each half has planning permission for 512 homes.
Hitchcox claimed Manyoo is the ‘highest potential location in the country’ because of its proximity to the Media City development in Salford, where the BBC is due to relocate in 2011.
‘Our expectation is that we will start work on the site in the next three years. But it’s fair to say that today we’re reviewing the position in Manchester and what is the best way forward, and we’re attempting to bring Peel into these negotiations. Until development funding comes back into the market, I can’t imagine we’ll be starting the project that soon,’ he said.
The refinancing also marks the end of any involvement of Kevin Linfoot, the founder of KW Linfoot.
Following administration Linfoot told Property Week that he would still have a role in the management of Manor Mills. But Hitchcox said: ‘There is no current involvement although the relationship with Kevin still exists – the door is always open to any proposal.’
