Are all solicitors useless?

[BusyTaupeBiscuit]

I'm a first time buyer and I'm purchasing a new build house in N. Ireland. The builder has said my completion date is this friday, in line with our current tenancy agreement.

I informed my solicitor of this on Sept 5th and received a reply that that was great news and then heard nothing for a further 17 days.

I emailed twice in the past week, I called the office twice yesterday and had no response until this morning. When he has now informed me that it won't be possible to complete as he has outstanding documents.

My main gripe is, why was this not communicated to me sooner? If I had known this last week I could've contacted the EA to chase. Myself and my partner have booked time off work to move as we were never told that the completion date was not possible. Family members have booked time off work, moving vans have been booked.

AIBU in thinking it's not normal to inform me the week of completion that we are missing documents?

No

Yours is though

They’re all like this from my experience

No they aren’t, but yours is.

Myself and my partner have booked time off work to move as we were never told that the completion date was not possible. Family members have booked time off work, moving vans have been booked.

despite not actually having any confirmation from your solicitor whatsoever?

Can’t believe you’ve booked a moving van and booked time off but you had had no confirmation!!

what’s the outstanding docs?

Completion dates are target dates, not set in stone

From my 10 years working in banking and specifically mortgages and my personal house purchases/sales - yes the main reason the house buying process is so warped is down to ineffective and inefficient conveyancing - that is with both the English and the Scottish system

Sorry you booked time off work and a van on the basis of the builder giving you a completion date? The builder doesn't set the completion date, solicitors do. If you're buying a new build then there is a whole raft of extra stuff needed, and it's good these are being chased as a quick google will tell you all the issues with new build estates in NI if due diligence not done. That said, your solicitor should be responding to your contact- time frames are set by the Home Charter Scheme and you should have a copy of same in your retainer letter.

Bloody hell you jumped the gun booking time off, getting family to commit to help on a certain date and even moving a moving lorry..,, even though you’d had absolutely zero confirmation of any such date OP!!!

and what documents would be requested from the EA that you wouldn’t have or wouldn’t have been made aware of the request for?

Don't assume anything until you've exchanged contracts, and even then it can fall through. Most solicitors need chasing ime.

Absolutely 100% yes, they are utterly useless. And this is from direct experience of working with many, many solicitors (I work in property).

Well if I have had no contact for over two weeks on the completion date being anything otherwise then I wouldn't have booked the time off! I need to know so I can inform clients that I won't be available and arrange cover. All I had to go off was a date from the estate agent and the solicitor had been aware of this since the beginning of September. I had also asked last week if any of the outstanding documents had been received and I did not receive a response.

The documents are a transfer map, and other certificates that I quite obviously can't obtain myself. As the estate agent has direct contact with the builder they can push for movement.

In NI completion and exchange happens on the same day

No contact generally isn’t the green flag for…. It’s all on! 😆

What is a “transfer map”?

I had a fantastic one for our house move in 2020 and also for a busiest transaction a few years back (used the same firm). I had heard horror stories, but it was all good. So no, not all are useless.

This isn't a rule though, just something that can be done as opposed to must be done.

And even if it is.,,, to go ahead and rope in family and a moving lorry for a particular date when no confirmation has been received seems… reckless!

Well I wouldn't like to hammer this point with OP it can be very confusing if you're buying your first property. OPs solicitor should have explained at the outset that they will agree the completion date with the other side's solicitor.

And the solicitor has broken the Home Charter Regulations which set out very strict guidelines on timelines for responding to client contact.

I do hope you can transfer your removals booking but do wait for your solicitor's green light on a date, and also you can insist on exchange and completion on different days if you wish - some solicitors don't like it, but I think it's better and less pressurised myself, especially if you're buying a new build so there's practically zero risk the builder will pull out.

Source- am a solicitor in NI, don't do conveyancing at the minute, thankfully!

In my experience new builds sales managers will say the plot is ready knowing full well it isn’t

The problem with conveyancing is most people don't want to pay much so choose a cheap /bulk conveyancer. It's likely a secretary or paralegal is doing most of the work, and also has.a very high case load.

Clients can be rubbish at using solicitors too -not passing on information swiftly, "assuming " something is going to happen rather than double checking etc

(I instruct solicitors a lot, for work)

Yes this too, similarly estate agents who will cheerily lie to keep buyers on the hook

No, but some clients are impatient and don’t appreciate that they’re not the solicitors only client!

After myself and 3 family members buying new builds- I would have thought the likelihood of the house being ready for completion date would have been very slim....
Honestly solicitors can be slow- but the house builds often are late which is why the paperwork sometimes gets slowed down....
For mine the gas and water mains hadn't been put in for completion day- it was delayed by a month
For another it was 6 months delayed
Another was 8 months delayed due to issues with the site....
The other was delayed by 3 months

I've had mixed experiences with solicitors. The worst was when I sold my mum's house after her death. The solicitor sent me a photocopy of an important document. He then contacted me to ask me for the original, which I didn't have. I'd thought he had it. A few days later I got a letter from a building society- inside was the original document, with a covering letter saying they didn't know why my solicitor had sent it to them, so they were sending it to me as executor. When I saw the solicitor, I told him what had happened and he said "I don't believe you". I saw red!