conveyancing help!

[crappyday2018]

I won't go into detail as this would take up pages... Basically I'm having massive problems with the conveyancing on sale of my property.
No chain, just one seller and one buyer.
This should have all been wrapped up and completed last week but queries keep being raised by buyer's solicitor. We answer, she queries again and round and round.
My solicitor blames his and his solicitor blames mine. I have no idea who is not doing their job properly and every day I am losing money on Mortgage interest. I'm looking to be £1k out of pocket due to all these delays.
Any advice on how to complain when I don't know who is to blame?

A small chain doesn't necessarily mean a quick process.
What are the queries? Is the reason the buyer's solicitor is querying them again, because the replies are not satisfactory?
Give us some sample queries and your responses and then we can advise you better. You can only complain to the client care team of your solicitor, but be sure that your complaint is valid and not down to lack of responses or evidence on your part.

Yes I do realise that but when I bought the house from brand new 2 years ago it was done in 8 weeks.
Just one example is the buyer's solicitor (BS) has asked for confirmation of payment of rent charges (to property maintenance company). We have now told her 3 times that I've not been billed so I cannot provide a receipt. I've now had to get 3 separate emails from the company (with different wording) to confirm this.
Fair enough she doesn't want her client chased for the money but she just kept asking for a receipt over and over again.
My solicitor is adamant that the BS is not 'specific' enough in her queries. If she isn't happy with responses, she simply says " you have not answered the question/you have not provided what I've asked".

The BS also asked for 'previous planning application' even though she has the latest/most up to date one. She only asked for this yesterday!!!
Why would she need these?? I've obtained them anyway but its ridiculous at this late stage.

You need to pay the outstanding rent charge - I am surprised your solicitor hasn't advised you: they are payable whether demanded or not. Sounds as though your solicitor needs to buck their ideas up. Have you asked what you should do to resolve the issue?

No I don't need to pay it @wowfudge . The property management company only took over the site on 1st Oct 2018 so they only deal with rent charges from this date onwards.
The builder cover the costs prior to this.

Sounds to me like the BS is going off of a checklist & when something doesn't work they keep continually asking the same question. Doesn't seem like anything else you can do if you have already confirmed numerous times that no rent is payable. Only thing I can think of is getting the management company to produce a bill with 0 on it & forwarding that on to them.

Presumably though there will be a rent charge for the period of your ownership until day of completion.
Your response now would be along the lines of "I have provided all the documentation I have and I have nothing else to provide", but as part of the conveyancing process, your solicitor may have to ascertain from the management company what the charges will be while you are still the owner and give an undertaking to pay this on completion.

The planning application referred to may be the original planning application by the developer before the property(ies) were built.

@Spickle I have tried to find out what the rent charges are going forward but the property management company don't know yet as its not been processed (they only took over on 1st). I'm just drawing blanks everywhere now.

@crappyday2018 - fine. I responded in good faith based on the information you provided.

Your solicitor should be advising you how to move forward on this.
For example they could propose that you agree to a retention of the purchase monies (i.e. the buyer's solicitor holds back an agreed sum of money, pending future charges for your period of ownership). It would hopefully satisfy the buyer's solicitor and you would get the money back if they don't need it, once final accounts have been produced.

To be fair, the buyer's solicitor is trying to protect their client and your solicitor needs to come up with an agreeable solution that both parties agree to.

When you bought the property, did you use the developer's approved solicitor? If so, the solicitor would have got many referrals from the developer, earning them a big fat bonus and it would therefore have been advantageous to them to do the conveyancing as quick as possible in order to get their fee and move on to the next (very similar) transaction.

@Spickle Yes I agree, I'm trying to speak to her again. I'm happy to agree a retention figure as the house is only 2 years old anyway.
Its just frustrating that she's asking for the rentcharge amounts NOW when she should have asked this ages ago surely??
Yes I used the developer's approved solicitor when I bought the house - the same one I'm using now.
The original file doesn't show a rentcharge amount - wording is something like 'a reasonable sum'

Unfortunately, enquiries are made based on information disclosed/provided all the way through to exchange. Some of this information is not always apparent at the beginning of the transaction and it may be picked up in other documents supplied by third parties further along in the process. The main point as far as solicitors are concerned, is not that all enquiries are raised at the beginning (i.e. initial enquiries) but that other enquiries can be raised at any time during the transaction when additional information comes to light (additional enquiries) - as long as it is before exchange! Once exchange takes place, the buyer's solicitor can no longer raise any queries. This is why exchange will not take place until all enquiries (whenever they are raised) are satisfactory.

When you bought the property, No-one could predict what a "reasonable sum" would be for maintenance of the communal areas, they can't put a figure on it. However, your developer has now passed on the maintenance to a managing agent and since they only took over on 1st October, there is nothing yet in writing regarding these rent charges. It's possible that the buyer will have to take a view on this, i.e. decide whether to risk going ahead without the information or not. A retention may suffice, but the buyer is the only one who can decide whether or not to go ahead without an estimated figure in mind.

My solicitor has now gone back and informed them we do not have a figure and we offer a retention sum. We cannot respond in any other way. I fully expect she will not be happy with this and will raise yet another query.

Finally I have a completion date!!!!!!!