Buyers in new developments across the Republic could be risking their deposits by purchasing property without a protective clause in place should their loan approvals fail. In recent years contracts for new home buyers included a clause stating that the agreement was “subject to loan approval”. Despite a recommendation from the Law Society that buying without this protective clause in place would be “unsafe” for purchasers, an increasing number of new-build developers are nonetheless refusing to include the clause, which was once commonplace. It has meant that more and more developers of new builds are now not including the clause in their contracts for sale. “What I have seen is builders saying: ‘We will accept subject to loan clause, but a month or six weeks before this house is ready, that clause drops out,” says Thomas.

Source: The Irish Times December 12, 2017 05:03 UTC