Shared ownership purchase - how long should it take?

steevi

I am currently in the middle of a war with my solicitors, who in my opinion have been wholly incompetent whilst dealing with my purcahse.

I have purchased 50% of an empty new build home. I was a first-time buyer, so there was no chain or anything like that.

From offer to completion, how long is considered "normal"? At what point would you think it had taken an excessive amount of time?

gazfocus

What makes you think your solicitor is incompetent?

When I bought my SO house, it took just over 3 months from offer to completion.

Shared ownership purchases are much more complex than an open market purchase because they solicitor has to get a copy of the lease from the HA, then forward that to the mortgage lender for them to approve, then when the mortgage offer is issued, that has to be forwarded to the HA for them to approve.

Don't forget also, that your solicitor is working for you, your lender AND the HA.

cte1111

I've bought and sold a shared ownership property, on behalf of my Dad. It took over 3 months for each part. This is partly because there are other parties involved, e.g. the company who own the other equity. There is also more for the solicitor to check up on, as they need to ensure that the conditions of the shared equity are met.

steevi

gazfocus wrote: »

What makes you think your solicitor is incompetent?

I appreciate that SO properties are more complex and I understand the reasonings behind that. Thank you both for your answers.

However, it has taken 6 months from offer to completion and I feel that it has been excessive - a view seemingly shared by the HA and my mortgage company.

My solicitors have been absolutely rubbish - a complete lack of efficient communication, they never seemed bothered about doing anything, and I have been repeatedly misnformed, fobbed off and completely lied to on more than one occasion. The whole thing was a farce and left me ridiculously stressed.

cte1111

I think house buying is generally pretty much a stressful nightmare. I know from talking to the estate agent that the shared ownership properties were taking over 6 months to complete in some cases. Everyone always seems to blame each other too, I'd take everything with a pinch of salt.

It sounds like you are in your new property now, time to relax and try to forget about the agonies of the house purchase process for a while... well until the next time! Ask around for recommendations for a solicitor next time and fingers crossed it might go a bit more quickly and efficiently.