Can A Solicitor Prevent You Buying A House?

wrkactjob

davidmcn wrote: »

Other way round, the mortgage offer is subject to the CML matters being signed off. I can't see your mortgage offer so I don't know exactly what it says, but presumably it mentions that you don't get the funds until the solicitors have dealt with their instructions.

Ok have found this.

Conditions of the offer:

The Societys Conveyancers must confirm that
i) All necessary planning (and where appropriate Listed Buildings) Consents:
ii) Building Regulations approvals (and where appropriate certificates of completion) and
iii) Any consents under the terms of the title documents have been obtained for construction of the property.

Ends.

wrkactjob

Continuing this story...an NHBC registration document was forwarded to Landmark by Bellways solicitors but to no avail. Landmark offer a free re-search but replied:

Further to our telephone conversation earlier today regarding the report with reference above I can advise that unfortunately the consultants were unable to issue a Passed certificate based on the NHBC document you have provided.

We would either require the NHBC Cover note or Certificate when this becomes available or a comment from the Environmental Health Department at the relevant local authority with the following:

-Any information regarding past industrial land use(s) at the Site and in the surrounding area.
-Information on any pollution incidents/records of contamination at the Site and in the surrounding area.
-Whether the site has been risk ranked in accordance with their Contaminated Land Strategy under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and if so what level has it been assigned and why.

My solicitor then informed me that for £300 an additional more in depth search could be carried out by http://www.argyllenvironmental.co.uk/ which may resolve the problem.

After some digging around I find out that Argyll is a sister company to.....Landmark! So Landmark turn you down but then offer up for £300 another search option with a company that isn't obviously their own subsidiary.

Now some may call a spade a spade and say "your being conned".

I now find out that various other people have exchanged and completed on the site with Skipton and there has been no issue with any "contamination".

I contacted another solicitor on Skiptons approved panel and asked if they used Landmark. They didn't they used a company called Groundsure.

I today paid for an environmental search with this company and it issued a "Pass".

I can't help but think my solicitor is not acting in my interest and so asked them as of course they have no financial advtage being linked to Landmark/Argyll can they change their search provider to another approved by Skiptons.

Unfortunately this will not be possible I have been informed.

What now?...a change of solicitor?...seems to be a possibility.

peter3hg

wrkactjob wrote: »

I can't help but think my solicitor is not acting in my interest and so asked them as of course they have no financial advtage being linked to Landmark/Argyll can they change their search provider to another approved by Skiptons.

Unfortunately this will not be possible I have been informed.

What now?...a change of solicitor?...seems to be a possibility.

Your solicitor can't just choose to ignore a potential problem they are now aware of. That would be contrary to their duty towards the lender.

Running_Horse

Unless they are hoping to find 600 cash buyers, then most buyers in this development will have mortgages approved in the normal way. Maybe you could make some money selling on copies of your report, or are they all going to pay £250 + VAT for exactly the same information?

There are regular threads here from people saying they were mis-sold a house despite not having a survey, or having a survey and ignoring the information contained in it. If you must buy a Barratt new build, you might as well know what it is sitting on.

Richard_Webster

Early in this thread the relevant bit from the CML's handbook was mentioned which says that Skipton (like many lenders) are not interested in seeing or hearing about environmental reports unless their surveyor has raised specific concerns and I assume he hasn't done so.

So I am not sure why solicitor is s saying you must spend more money on a more detailed report. Having said that you must also understand that when you come to sell your buyer may be more fussy and may be put off the property because of an apparently adverse environmental search. Therefore there is some point in finding out as much as possible now so you can deal with these questions in the future.

princeofpounds

I think you are following a bit of a red herring with regards to the mortgage offer conditions. When an offer is made, it won't be made subject to an environmental check, because there is no reason to suspect there is problem.

IF the lender's solicitor (also your solicitor) realises there is a problem, then he has to report that to the lender, and provide a professional recommendation on the matter. You would quickly find your mortgage offer being revised.

However, having said that, what you have uncovered re Landmark may be of interest, but it's hard to comment without knowing the full details.

wrkactjob

Well I have 'sacked' for want of a more professional term the solicitor and am seeking to instruct an alternative.

The sacked solicitor is asking for £600 for the 'work' they have done so far which I presume is little more than carrying out an environmental search with a 3rd party company.

I am very aware of the contamination matter which does not effect the plot of land we are buying, if I were at all concerned it could effect the property I wouldn't be continuing with the proposed purchase.

Hopefully the new solicitor will complete with more speed and less problems.

caronoel

wrkactjob wrote: »

Well I have 'sacked' for want of a more professional term the solicitor and am seeking to instruct an alternative.

The sacked solicitor is asking for £600 for the 'work' they have done so far which I presume is little more than carrying out an environmental search with a 3rd party company.

I am very aware of the contamination matter which does not effect the plot of land we are buying, if I were at all concerned it could effect the property I wouldn't be continuing with the proposed purchase.

Hopefully the new solicitor will complete with more speed and less problems.

So you are paying £600 to your existing solicitor to avoid forking out £300 on what sounds like a very sensible request that you get an environmental survey?

Way to go !!!

wrkactjob

Well the story continues. Landmark were searching on a set of grid reference points that were not those of our plot!

When I obtained a search from Groundsure yesterday I gave them the approximate E/N reference points because the address and postcode are not registered yet.

My previous solicitor used a company call TM Group who in turn then ask Landmark to carry out a search...I have no idea where they got the reference points from and the search is quite a precise science that searches initially just 25m radius of the point.

If they had been provided with the correct reference points then there would have been no issue as the plots is more than 250 meters from the historic landfill site, actually its more than 500 meters away, and this mess would never have occurred.

This would tie in with the fact no other houses near our plot have had any issues with reports of contamination and I feel confident that if I paid Landmark for another search it would come back "Pass".

Unfortunately my solicitor believes he has done no wrong and has acted in my best interests, butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

In my opinion he is negligent and couldn't care less about my interests and is just looking to generate as much revenue for his company as possible.

Landmark also told me that if any other houses in the near vicinity had been issued an NHBC certificate this would have overiden their "Fail" mark. This information also was never conveyed by my solicitor.

wrkactjob

Well hopefully this will be the last post on this from me...Solicitor called, admitted the wrong coordinates were used resulting in a contaminated search that did not effect the plot where our house is being built.

Environmental searches need an accurate initial point of reference.

He re-performed the search using the correct coordinates and it resulted in a 'Pass'.

What a trip....at least it had a happy ending...original solicitor back on board full steam ahead.