Solicitors Enquiries. What are they?

KaAsChEl

Hi

I am a little bit confused about the solicitors enquiries, when they say they have enquiries what do they mean?
What enquiries are they? How long do they normally take?

Thanks in Advance

Richard_Webster

Seller's solicitor sends out draft contract and copies of Land Registry entries and of any other documents that are relevant and copies of the Property Information Form and Contents List completed by the Seller

Buyer's solicitor goes through all these papers and sends the seller's solicitor his enquiries.

These enquires may:

• Ask for clarification of statements made by the Seller in the Property Information Form
• Ask for documents referred to that have not been supplied
• If work has been done at the property various consents may have been required from the Council, other bodies, or other landowners - these will be requested
• Ask for details of any chain below or above the transaction
• If the property is flat there will usually be questions directed to a managing agent asking about service charges and how they are made up and whether they have been paid and if they are likely to change much in the future. Detail sof buildings insurance will usually also be needed.

The seller's solicitor will usually be able to deal with some of these quickly but may have to ask the seller for answers or get copies of documents from the Council or other bodies. If it is a flat then the seller's solicitor will have to request answers form the managing agent and pay his fee (which could be up to £300 or more) and may have to get this money from the seller first.

How long this all takes depends on how quickly the various people involved deal with it. Typically anything from a few days to 3-4 weeks but occasionally much longer if someone simply doesn't reply.

G_M

Nothing to add to Richard's excellent resume.

But I'd recommend you pop down to your local library and borrow (free) a book on buying property.

Over the coming weeks it will explain what is happening, who is doing what, what other things you need to consider/do, and answer 101 Qs that will arise.

Emmajane1987

Thank you for asking and answering this question.

I am currently waiting on my enquries to be dealt with and i wasn't really too sure what was involved in this process.

Propertyfan

A buyer can undertake a private 'personal' search on the property they seek to purchase. This does not require the services of a solicitor. This approach can be undertaken if the buyer/seller feel the conveyancing process is unreasonably slow, the solicitor is not making much effort, leaving the office too early, or is generally useless!

The alternative to an official local authority search is often referred to as a personal search.

A personal search can be conducted by anyone, but does not bear the official stamp of the council and is therefore not an official local authority search.

A personal search is a personal inspection of the local land charges register only and once the register has been inspected the personal search has been conducted. Personal searches are usually carried out by a private search company, who use the information as part of their own property search.

A personal search doesn't cover all the searches but should provide sufficient assurance to the buyer - subject to the search results being satisfactory.

Yorkie1

I think the trouble with personal searches comes if you need a mortgage; I have a feeling that lenders won't rely on personal searches.

Dan-Dan

Propertyfan wrote: »

A personal search doesn't cover all the searches but should provide sufficient assurance to the buyer - subject to the search results being satisfactory.

Hmmm , this is a bit of a circular description...

Richard_Webster

OP asked about solicitor's enquiries, not about searches.

And, for info, the vast majority of lenders will accept personal searches carried out by reputable companies.

agonyjohn

I had the same question a few weeks ago, my advice is ask them what they are waiting for, how long they think this reply will take( no point chasing a week later if its going to take 3 weeks). I had to chase mine alot to get to the stage when we could sign. My solicitor chased everything with letter as 'I dont like to call' it took a little gently coaching to change this attitude but it worked.

If in doubt ask what they are doing, reassures you and makes them get your file out the drawer and keep it up to date!