I live & work in the UK. A few weeks ago, I had a verbal offer accepted on a house (I am a first time buyer). I had initially offered a bit lower than the asking price, that offer was rejected, and I ended up offering the asking price- and asking the sellers to include some fixtures & furnishings. This offer was accepted.
Since then, the coronavirus has broken out in the UK, and the markets have all dropped considerably (I was intending to put money saved in a Lifetime ISA toward the deposit- so this has obviously lost considerable value). Most things I've read are saying that we have no idea how long term the impact of the coronavirus will be on the financial markets, or whether it will impact the housing market in terms of house prices. Mortgage rates are already very low, so are unlikely to get any lower, particularly now that the Bank of England base rate has been dropped to 0.1%.
I'm unsure what to do regarding the offer I have put in on the house. I am not buying for any reason other than owning my own home, and to establish that for myself and my family. I am fortunate that my job is relatively secure- even if there were to be a recession, and even if I were to lose my job, I have a trade to fall back on which is still in a growth industry in the UK. My experience to date has been that it generally takes me between 1-2 months to apply, interview for & receive an offer for a job.
So, given that I am not looking at the house for any reason other than to establish a home (i.e. it is not primarily a financial investment), should I contact the vendors to reduce my offer, given all the uncertainty going on at the moment?
If so, how would it be best to approach this, and how much should I reduce my offer by? If not, why not?
Are there any other factors that I should be taking into consideration here? If it makes a difference- there is no chain on the sellers' end, and I heard recently that they had also had an offer accepted, so was expecting to hear on completion dates relatively soon.