Any Conveyancing Solicitor's?

[Sugarcube84]

I'm after a bit of advice. Currently selling and purchasing-our buyers are FTB and our purchase property is empty, so a short chain. Our sale is being handled by one solicitor at the firm which seems to be straightforward our purchase on the other hand...

• Our vendors have built another house in the grounds that they are moving into, the title plan needs to be split between the 2, I've seen copies of the new red line boundary and I'm happy with it, my question is the transfer of part has not been provided by the vendors solicitors with the draft contracts. As they have already been very slow preparing the draft contracts and the vendors have raised a complaint what is acceptable to ask for in terms of proof of the vendors solicitors chasing this with land registry.
• Should our solicitor being doing anything to chase/expedite the above
• Is it normal not to request searches until draft contracts are received
• Is is normal to only send queries on the contracts once searches are complete
• Is it acceptable to not want to discuss any sort of timeline, they previously mentioned 8-16 weeks once in receipt of draft contracts

Basically i feel like I'm being fobbed off by our solicitor, that combined with the vendors solicitor being useless and the added complication of the transfer of title what should i expect in terms of communication, how much can i chase?

Any advice gratefully received.

From my experience of buying a house and now selling is and buying again in a medium sized chain, draft contracts are received and then searches are sent for. Whilst the searches are being done your solicitor should be going through the contract and raising enquiries.

My advice is to discuss a timeline immediately, that’s where I went wrong the first two times. This time I was explicitly clear from the beginning that I had a certain date in mind (January) and I made everyone aware of it. It doesn’t hurt anybody to start to discuss timelines now, don’t let them fob you off, some conveyancers are so lazy.

See that's the thing we were told 8 16 weeks from draft contact but we'll know better once we've reviewed the contracts, now we've got the contracts and they don't want to discuss timelines at all.

I don't want to be blindsided and find out further down the line that x/y/z hasn't been done and i could have been chasing it.

The number one lesson to learn in house purchasing / moves is that you determine the timeline you are contracting the solicitor - they work for you, it is perfectly reasonable for them to say - yes / no we can't meet a timeline - or to provide caveats around delays that can happen elsewhere - that is normal business, but they shouldn't be setting the timeline / telling you when it will happen / driving the process...

You need clarity up front about expectations - as a part of the agreement to provide services to you - and then they should meet those expectations, or you should be on their back as a minimum on a daily basis.

e.g. the last house we bought / sold was reasonably complex with two houses selling / one buying and a chain on one but not the other - however, we discussed timings with the estate agents / solicitors / others in the chain and had agreement in principle to aim for a specific date - and then we chased up and down the chain / the agents / the solicitors, all on a regular basis.

So often I see people asking why nothing is happening - and they seem to have just agreed to hand over wodges of cash to a solicitor with no expectation of a service level agreement the other way - take ownership, even now part way through. Start the discussion on the basis of we would like to exchange on x and complete on y - please confirm agreement with this, or if not possible, please provide reasons for why it should be delayed, and the earliest date post those when you can exchange / complete...

there is almost no reason why a solicitor would feel the need to act any faster - they get their payment anyway, why would they want pressure etc.? so you need to set the pace.

@akkakk yes I’ve already had the discussion about when we’d like to complete (end Feb) as I’m pregnant and don’t want to move in the last few weeks. Solicitors have refused to entertain discussions first was 8-16 weeks from receipt of draft contracts now it’s once we’ve compiled the report with contract answers and we’ve signed all the appropriate change/completion paperwork which is miles off as they won’t send queries without search results which are due back in the new year.

I’ve been in touch every other day requesting updates so I’m well aware of the need to push, also in touch with the vendors estate agent to chase from top down as well.

with respect - it is not for them to refuse discussion - they work for you.
ask for a meeting and tell them.

ask what is holding it up and how you can help facilitate unblocking anything...
then explain the deadline you initially specified and ask them how they plan to meet it...

there is no reason why they shouldn't be sending queries before searches are back - yes there may be additional queries at that point (but equally there may not be) and the process will be shortened - if they don't want to then escalate to a partner - and if you get no response - your next step is a formal complaint to the legal ombudsman...

ultimate fall back if they won't play ball - you would need to ditch them and find others - not impossible...

I think that a lot of people are intimidated by lawyers who imply that they are running it - but they are just another firm working for you - you need to take control of the process... and yes it can be tough, and yes they may try and resist, but it is the only way of getting quick transactions - one of the reasons (amongst a number) why transactions now take so long is legal firms where everything is being handled by a para-legal (secretary without necessarily professional experience), rather than a lawyer, and then a whole load of them get the lawyer to sign off on their actions every xx days - if you are lucky enough to actually be dealing directly with a lawyer, then even more reason why they should be professional and take your instruction (as long as you are being reasonable - and there is a wide range of timings from faster than reasonable through reasonable to delays...)

If the transfer of part hasnt been drafted by your vendors lawyers yet and sent across your lawyer doesnt have the title you will be buying to raise enquiries on. If it has there is no reason why any title and protocol form enquiries cannot be raised whilst searches are awaited.

If the seller is selling you part of its title, nothing will have gone to the Land Registry yet. You’ll take a transfer of part out of the seller’s title and you’ll apply to register that at the Land Registry when you complete.

The seller’s sols should have given your sol details of its title and a draft transfer (a TP1).

The TP1 has been issued to land registry by the vendors solicitor but we’ve no idea where it’s up to or if it’s been expedited due to the sale. We’ve got copies of the new red line boundaries for both properties .

My main problem is that our solicitor isn’t chasing anything as she’s got to ‘prioritise others with completion dates before Xmas’ but if she doesn’t chase anything then we’ll lose another month as she’ll still be waiting for the same outstanding items in jan!

A tp1 is a transfer of part. If it has been sent for registration it has to have been transferred from someone to someone else for the land registry to be able to register it. If for some unknown reason this is in progress before you buy as i agree with @GU24Mum - not normal- your conveyancer should have the title as was and the Tp1 that has been submitted to review. If they dont have the tp1 as above they dont have the title you will be buying so will not be able to raise title enquiries. If they have been sent it they can unless there is some reason to doubt what will actually be registered at the end in which case they will be waiting for the updated register and filed docs. Is it currently registered? Are you sure its a tp1 thats gone off the HMLR?

We thought it had gone to land registry as that’s is the info that had been passed from vendors solicitor to vendor to estate agent to us.

However we now seem to be much more informed after I asked to be escalated to a partner. The transfer of part form has been with the director of the vendors solicitor for approval and should be with our solicitors today/monday, then in the new year we can pass all queries on draft contacts/searches/transfer back to the vendors solicitors. A date at the end of Feb has been deemed not unreasonable although is not definite.

The TP1 form will be lodged with land registry by my solicitor following the sale and can take anywhere from 8-16 months to complete which should be a problem unless we need to renew our mortgage.

i think the problem here is the sellers solicitors but now everyone is aware we should be able to manage the situation

thanks for everyone’s help

Fantastic news. At least you know where the hold up is now and can keep the agent etc on it @Sugarcube84

OP the Land Registry will expedite an application if necessary because you're re-mortgaging, selling etc.