STILL waiting for enquiries

[lucysnowe2]

Hey all so we have been trying to buy a particular house for about a year (long and v. boring story).

The sellers have apparently signed the contract but not sent back all the enquiry info for the actual exchange to go ahead. Sellers have a history of being disorganised (to say the least).

Does anyone know... is there a legal requirement to get the enquiries fulfilled?? Also, what enquiries need to be fulfilled by the seller, and what can be carried out by the conveyancer? The solicitors all seem to be waiting for the seller, but I feel like they can get a lot of the info themselves.

Sorry to sound ignorant (and v. impatient - feel like we are almost at the finishing line but still got one massive hurdle to go!!).

Is this the list of enquiries your solicitor has sent to your sellers solicitor? If so sometimes the list can be huge, or sometimes it's just a couple of questions, it's basically anything your solicitor thinks they need to know about for sure, so you can't later come back after purchasing and try and sue them for not warning you about something :) So most solicitors won't go ahead until they've had their queries answered.

It can be a long list with questions on anything from has the seller checked the boundaries maps and agrees, has the seller's ID been verified, is there shared drive maintenance, did they get permission to build an extension / loft conversion, have they ever had subsidence, is it connected to a sewer etc. If some of the questions are complicated it can take a while for the seller's solicitors to get answers, especially if they have to check anything with outside bodies like the council, the builders, etc. Just got to wait i'm afraid :(

You could try asking the estate agent if they know what's going on, their sales progressor might be happy to nudge the seller to nudge their solicitor and make sure theres a good reason for the hold up :)

Thankyou yes, it is the enquiries!

Some info we already know (drainage etc). other stuff you mention, do you think that would come from the seller's solicitor or the seller? I am just wondering (hoping) that the seller just needs to dig out a boiler certificate or something and then things will go ahead.

I feel like I can't (and it would be unwise to) ask the solicitor to waive any of the enquiries but at this state I really want to!

There usually seems to be 2 big forms for the seller to fill in right at the start, called the TA6 and TA10. One is a list of all the fixtures and fittings etc they're taking and leaving, and the other is about the property and has questions on who maintains the fences, if there's been any alterations to the property, if they have boiler service documents etc. The seller is sent these by their solicitor, who then passes the answered forms on to your solicitor, who passes them on to you. Then the solicitor raises any questions based on the content of these forms and the search results. So maybe your seller still hasn't returned these, or is looking for some of the paperwork like boiler services, new window certificates, extension paperwork etc if there was any :)

sorry I didn't see you replied :)

Yes, we have definitely had the first form then, and enquiries raised. The ones that are left still to be fulfilled are about drainage, damp proofing, central heating and work done under the Green Deal scheme. Perhaps foolishly (??) we've asked if these can be waived. Can they or will the solicitor insist on them being answered?

If you need a mortgage, normally most mortgage companies require these to be completed in order to agree the loan in the final stages.

I had 35 questions to answer from my buyer's solicitor and I was at an extremely busy patch in my life so ended up answering most of them at 1am. I did do it though.

No harm in asking your solicitor to prod them for a completion date, even if it gets moved a couple of times.

thankyou both. No mortage, so we are in a better position perhaps. The solicitor got back to me and I basically told her to waive the last (i hope???) outstanding enquiry, about a green deal repayment. I know this is foolhardy, but the loan was for loft cavity insulation so hopefully not too much if we are liable??

So since sellers have signed the contract, I think we are nearly there?? do we get the contract to sign now? (it's been more than a year and to be honest I can't imagine it actually happening)