deposit paid,can he back out?

[chrissyannie]

my son has paid a cash deposit of £5000 to a "friend" for the goodwill on a cafe he owns.He was supposed to be taking it over from January.As he didnt have the sum of £14000 that his friend was asking he has borrowed this from his bank(as a business loan).The guy has now decided after messing my son about he doesnt want to sell.My son has a signed letter stating the details of the sale of the cafe to him,and has also taken on the lease(from Jan) from the owner of the building.How does he stand legally on this? Does he have the right to demand the sale go ahead,or at least make the guy cough up the interest charges he will now incur on the loan?
Any help appreciated.
thanks

[flyciderman]

I think bits of the detail are missing but starting from the beginning.
1) Has the seller returned the £5,000
2) You say the lease of the cafe has been assigned/transferred to your son, if this is correct then a licence to assign would have been entered into, three people would have to agreed to this a) The seller b) The buyer c) The Landlord.
3) To undo this, the same 3 people would have been involved.
4) Now if I were the seller I would not allow the lease of my business to be transferred until I had all the money in my bank.
5) If you are correct and the seller has transferred the lease to your son, then his only option is not to sell your son the fixtures and fittings, but equally the seller has no premises to trade from.
I suggest you get the full story from your son.