House buying annoyance

We made an offer on our first home. At the time, the estate agent said the seller was buying a family member's house so there is a chain but not the worst possible chain.

2 months in, after we have done, and paid for, all the searches, conveyancing, survey etc, we have found out through the seller's conveyancer that the vendor wants to exchange contracts now, and complete in 2 months because she needs to renovate the house she is moving in to. She didn't want to start until we were tied down.

I am quite annoyed by this because it seems the estate agent told the vendor we would be fine with this then roped us in by not revealing this to us until we had invested our money.

I have refused to have a 2 month gap between exchange and completion. I am not happy to insure a property while I don't live there, and take on the added risk of a crisis (e.g. mortgage being withdrawn or being made redundant during the gap) meaning I forfeit the exchange deposit.

Am I being reasonable here?

I think you are very reasonable, no way would I let someone live in the house I now own for free, while I take on the risk/cost.

You may have put in money, but it's not very much compared to the overall cost of the home. Don't feel like you're the one at risk without any option and stay strong.

The lfgss.com home owners support group thread is found here:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/156860/?offset=24525#comment14330170

You'll get much better info if you post this there.

Am I being reasonable here?

Yes. Tell them they have got three weeks, or they can find another buyer.

Thanks for your replies. I will post in the right place.