Seller’s solicitor not responding - advice please

[IloveSooty424]

We’re FTBs and had an offered accepted on a house mid-May. We appointed a solicitor, have a mortgage offer in place, and have had a survey done on the house we're buying. Luckily our purchase is completely chain free.

However our seller’s solicitor is slowing down the process considerably. We have paid our solicitor a £400 fee to start the searches but they still haven’t received the deeds of sale from our buyer’s solicitor so they can’t even start the searches. Our buyer has contacted her solicitor numerous times to complain, our estate agent is in contact with them as well. What else can we do? Obviously we can’t contact our buyer’s solicitor ourselves. We’re feeling really frustrated that what should be a relatively straightforward sale is taking so long to get even started. Is it normal to wait 6 weeks for a solicitor to do one thing?

We put an offer in about three weeks earlier than you and still waiting for that bit to happen. To be honest I've resigned myself to solicitors being up to their ears due to the SDLT deadline this month, and things that will complete later being at the bottom of the priority list.

A lot of solicitors are focusing only on Stamp Duty deadline cases at the moment, they're snowed under. I imagine after this week things will get back to normal a bit more.

I think just keep making noise, the seller needs a new solicitor if the sale can’t be progressed even to that point. Chase every day via the estate agent.

@MsMe Oh no that’s not good to hear. It’s so frustrating waiting isn’t it? I thought the stamp duty holiday was what was slowing things down. I’m hoping now the deadline has nearly passed things might start moving.

Your solicitor could also be proactive and download the title entries and plan for the property from the Land Registry, if it’s registered, and then our searches in hand.

*put not our

Things will ease up from Thursday I think

It's unlikely to be registered if the solicitor has requested deeds. Most just ask buyers for the £6 or whatever it is these days to order from the land registry and get immediate copies if it's an option.

Every time I have bought and sold houses the solicitors have been slow and constantly needed chasing up by both sides. I think the problem is that conveyancing departments always have a very heavy workload (not the fault of the staff working there). I've also worked for a Solicitor myself and know that unless you constantly chase them up they will put you to the back of the queue. All you can do is keep on at your own solicitors to chase the other side and most importantly, get your seller to chase up her solicitor as she's the one paying them.

After my solicitor got the memorandum of sale from the estate agents and £200 searches fee from me (don't know why yours is so much) she ordered them straight away - she didn't have to wait for anything from the sellers solicitor to do this. She also looked up the land registry details ahead of my survey for any boundary questions. I think your solicitor can start the ball rolling on this, and what they need from seller is property info forms and related paperwork. Then contract package. Even though my solicitor has plenty of clients trying to beat the deadline, she already has done all this and sent enquiries back (I made the offer mid June)!!!!

Chase the EA and if you really want to put the wind up everyone ask to view something else that the EA has listed.

Also, I’m in the middle of buying and my solicitor didn’t send for searches or anything until she had the contract pack, so it’s not that unusual.