Re: Contract signed, deposit paid but contracts not returned
Has your deposit cheque been cashed? If not, then the developers are presumably keeping their options open ( i.e. to sell to someone else at a higher price) rather than just being a bit slow.
I would appreciate if anyone could tell me if there are any time
limits to how long the vendor can hold onto my deposit without responding ?
No - its the same as how long is a piece of string and ultimately it comes down to what you're willing to do. Keep your fingers crossed and hope all goes well or take the bold step and demand either signed contracts or your deposit back - unless of course deposit cheque was not cashed in which case you should be able to cancel it.
And finally, this is the wording that both sets of solicitors use when engaging in pre-contract negotiations:
Please note that we do not have any authority either express or implied to bind our clients in any way and we must emphasise that neither this correspondence nor any negotiations had between our clients shall constitute a note or memorandum within the meaning of the Statute of Frauds until such time as both contracts are signed, exchanged and a full deposit is paid.
mf