To wonder why conveyancing takes so long

[UnderperformingSeal]

Any solicitors here who would care to stick their oar in, I am all ears.

For context, it's my first property sale selling a flat I bought a million years ago and it's dragging on, at least in part because it has been hard (don't ask me why) to get answers to the buying conveyancers' queries from the property management company. Even then some of the questions are in themselves questionable, some have been referred to me and I've had to bat them back because they are management company business and I simply don't (and shouldn't be expected to) have the information, and yet several of them have still landed in my inbox more than once.

I'm not so naive as to think it could all get turned around in a week, but even if everything goes as well as it possibly could why does it have to take as long as it does?

There isn't any real reason unless there are issues with the survey etc, my 2nd house purchase went from offer acceptance to completion in 6 weeks, including Easter, my current house was 8 weeks which was over summer between acceptance & completion..
There is no reason, other than solicitors trying to justify their fees (unless there are issues with the survey or anything else) for it to take too long.

You've gone a long way towards answering your own question!
It's reasonable for the buyers to want to know what they are letting themselves vin for as far as maintenance costs and liabilities are concerned, as these could potentially run into tens of thousands. So a prudent buyer would want to know whether there is a sinking fund, who has control of it, what works have been carried out historically and in the more recent past, whether these have been billed and paid for, whether any payments are outstanding, what works are likely to arise, whether there is enough money in the pot to cover it, etc etc. That is just off the top of my head, there's a lot more they might want to know, or their lenders might want to know. As the solicitors could be liable if they miss anything, you can understand why they will be asking a lot of questions.
I'm wondering why you think you shouldn't have to answer - you might not know future plans but you probably do know about pas t issues and should have been noti died or consulted about upcoming works and cyclical maintenance. There is also the issue that not all maintenance is dealt with in the same way, and until you ask, as a solicitor you won't know. Some of the people purportedly organising maintenance don't always have the right to do that, which can lead to massive problems, and in other cases those with the legal responsibility are not doing their job.There is a lot that can go wrong, and paperwork is often not up to date, or vital signatories can be out of contact.
It would help if sellers consulted solicitors to get the ball rolling before/ as soon as they put their property on the market, but that means committing themselves financially, which some people understandably don't want to do.to
People often don't realize how difficult it can be to get information about maintenance, especially from non professional freeholders.

My last house move took 6 months! 3 of us in the chain, all cash buyers no mortgages involved. No problems with surveys etc was first told it’ll be 6-9 weeks, but solicitors were terrible, mine was never in the office I dealt with his secretary and they were so incompetent that they had me signing forms as the removal lorries were loading that I’d signed in their office weeks before hand and the secretary had witnessed them for me! I’m not moving again.

@DelphiniumBlue I'm wondering why you think you shouldn't have to answer

Because the queries were about things like the building insurance, which as a leasehold tenant I am not responsible for upkeep of, and the planning permission for the dropped kerb, which was applied for years before I bought the place and in any case is common to the building and isn't part of my documentation.

Last time I asked this (over a decade ago) I was told that "searches" can't all be done online - there are so many archaic rules/laws about land that they have to be checked manually. there's no such thing as a central online register that can be checked, so someone has to go to the council offices (or wherever) to check info. Not sure if that was true, but that's what I was told when I bought a flat.

Then solicitors work on several cases at once so they possibly only have yours scheduled for review every other Tuesday, and will just get their secretary to field calls until your file is next at the top of the pile.

I live in the US now - it took 3 weeks from offer accepted to moving in, and our realtor thought it had been a slow completion.

But you still need to provide the information. You should have proof that the building is insured for your own benefit, and the only way that the buyer will know that the dropped kerb was done before you purchased would be if you tell them. It's not unreasonable for them to ask, although they might need to take a view once they've got a clear response from you. If, for example, the council insisted on the kerb being reinstated, who would b e responsible for the cost of that, or more likely the cost and hassle of arguing it? If you can demonstrate that because vth ed council agreed to the work in the first place, that clears up that potential issue. The management company will doubtless be entitled to recover all their costs from the leaseholders, so this would be why the questions are being asked.

Conveyancing Executive here. The most common reason these things take so long is the conveyancers/solicitors involved. Unfortunately there are companies where you never speak directly to your representative, either a different person answers the phone every time or you always speak to an assistant. Leasehold can also be slowed down by unresponsive managing agents. Your estate agent should be helping your lawyer chase the managing agents and if you feel like the questions need to go to the managing agent but your lawyer's not doing this, ask them directly. While this is no help or consolation to you during this transaction the best advice I can give you is not all conveyancers are created equal, next time you move home please research the company first. Online reviews are priceless and speak directly to someone at the company on the phone before you agree to use them. You may find the lawyer you are most comfortable with/has the best reviews is a little more expensive but this means they are taking on less cases so will have more time to deal with yours. Having done your homework the fee should be worth it. I really hope your matter proceeds more smoothly from now on.

It's a huge purchase though isn't it. Our solicitors asked some questions we were a bit confused by, but looking back they all make sense as we are glad they did. The thoroughness means they found something historical which could have left us in an extremely vulnerable situation had it not been resolved. It is a very frustrating process though, but asking questions means they are very serious probably!

I don't fully understand the conveyancing process and why it takes so long, but do know that the fees the solicitors charge are well earned. They have so much more to cover and risks to close off, that the fee they earn can be justified.

Of all the fees associated with the moving process, I have most sympathy for the solicitors.

Quite how an estate agent could justify their fees baffles me!

RainbowMum11 has nailed it, most of the time it's just solicitors deliberately dragging things out to try and justify there fees and make the whole process appear far more complex and involved than it really is.

I actually think solicitors fees are fairly reasonable (at least compared to the obscene money for nothing fees that unqualified estate agent spivs charge) so I don't know why solicitors always feel the need to play these silly charades of dragging everything out unnecessarily.

@DelphiniumBlue you still need to provide the information

I would, if I had it, but I didn't and while some documentation showing that the building is insured would provide me reassurance that is all it would have done. It's a large city-centre development so the management company would be taking a monumental risk to let it lapse. And it would never in a million years have occurred to me that I might need a copy of the planning permission for the dropped kerb. It just seemed odd to get asked for these when there were already so many other things the solicitors would have to ask the management company for, and there's far more chance of them having the information than me.

@sall74 most of the time it's just solicitors deliberately dragging things out to try and justify there fees and make the whole process appear far more complex and involved than it really is.

Yeah, this did cross my mind when the buyer's solicitors requested a modification to the lease because apparently it doesn't explicitly provide exclusive rights to use the balcony that's only accessible from my flat. I'm pretty sure it doesn't explicitly provide exclusive rights to use the bathroom either, because why would it need to?

I'm a solicitor and work in conveyancing.

It is a long process and as others in the job have said it depends who is on the other side too. On one recently I have waited just over 8 weeks for replies to enquiries even work us and the agents chasing, but there are certain bulk conveyancing firms that have a reputation for slowness and who would groan if you hear they are in the chain.

The quickest I have had was about 10 days from start to completion, but that was a cash purchase with no searches so it can be done.

There is lots that take longer. If you have searches they usually take 2-3 weeks here, longer at certain times of years and longer in other areas (I remember local searches taking 8 weeks in one Council at one point).

If you have a mortgage you have to wait for the offer to come through and report to the mortgage company. The mortgage companies have a handbook of all the requirements we have to comply with. Confirming there is insurance on a leasehold is one of those.

That is before you even factor in other firms taking time to reply and having some clients who call and email for updates a lot which puts you behind (after all there are only so many hours in the day to get work done).

The fees do not really cover the time spent on conveyancing, so volume is the only way it works without massively increasing fees. We don't get paid more for taking longer and it costs us more so we want it done quickly too. However, the liability is massive as we get sued by clients and lenders if we don't do the job properly and don't want that so have to be thorough and what we have to check (especially if you have a mortgage company) has massively increased over the years so it does take time.

You're probably right, it may not be your responsibility for some of the questions but the real question is, how much do you really want to move?

In reality the management company doesn't care if you move so isn't motivated to provide the information, whereas you do, and I'd assume you were motivated to speak to all the third parties you NEED help from to move this forward.

If you don't start being proactive, chasing and actively getting information and moving this forward its likely to take a very long time or you'll risk the sale falling through completely.

It's not fair, but it's reality.

It already has taken a long time, buyer and seller are both getting frustrated with it but it's now so close to completion that nobody wants to go back to square 1.

Management company have apparently only one individual able to handle these matters and when she isn't there it all grinds to a halt, but latest update said that all required answers have now been given. The issue seems to lie between the two sets of solicitors; buyer's people keep returning with queries that my people keep telling me have already been answered. Twice in some cases. Doubly annoying when they are sitting at opposite ends of the same office (one firm is handling both sides of the transaction, which - one would think - should make things easier, not harder).

Is the solicitor in question a large one beginning with C? If so, we had exactly the same issue and you are going to have to get the sellers estate agent to ring them up and ask them what they're playing at.

It's the only thing that got ours moving, they wouldn't speak to us as we weren't their client.

Treacle, I am the seller. The conveyancers aren't who you think they are but they are a nationwide operation at a single location, which probably means they're a bit too detached (see what I did there?). I doubt I'd use them again.

I’d definitely agree with the big “callcentre” type solicitors being a pain in the arse where your case disappears into a black hole.

My original mortgage (first time buyer) took less time than my remortgage because the former was done with local solicitors and the latter was dealt with by the remortgage lender’s solicitors - a firm called Optima who it turned out are part of Capita. They were absolutely useless and didn’t bother responding to emails. I only completed on time because my mortgage broker kicked up on my behalf.