Delayed completio - licence to occupy

j_yorks

Does anybody know much about the possibility of a licence to occupy in the event of delayed completion? Anybody done it? I have read on here about a couple of people who had it sorted out in short order after completion was delayed for factors beyond their control.

We may be facing delayed completion today due to an error on the part of our solicitor not requesting mortgage funds in time, and we wondered about this as an option.

Obviously we are still hoping the solicitor can rectify her idiocy, with the help of the mortgage lender (Barclays/Woolwich - who I've heard are reasonably efficient), but in the event that it's beyond her (which seems likely), is this something we could consider? It sounds fine from our point of view as we would complete within the next week or so maximum. Obviously we would be happy to pay for it (and to be honest we'd be happy to pay quite a significant sum right now, as otherwise we're facing a double bill from the removal company). I assume all of our costs would be covered eventually by the moron conveyancing company responsible for this anyway.

Thanks very much for any advice.

Shahni

I do think you're panicking unnecessarily. The mortgage company know you're completing today and I'm sure they will arrange to have funds released.

The solicitor requested funds for the day before completion (as is quite normal). Fair enough since its a bank holiday they should have requested them for last Thursday if they were going to do this, the last working day before completion. This would however mean you'd start paying interest 5 days before you complete.

Its not unusual for the solicitor to receive the mortgage funds on the day of completion. Its too early to be considering delayed completion and occupation on licence.

anselld

License to occupy would be quickly ruled out by the first sensible vendor in the chain on consultation with their solicitor. If not by the vendor, then by the solicitor on behalf of their mortgage Co.

Itis not in anyone's interest up the chain to allow occupancy of their property when they have not sold it. They will simply serve notice to complete and pass all costs of delay down to you. Goood luck with getting the conveyancer to pay, I suspect that will be very difficult.

j_yorks

The problem is, the mortgage company seem to think that the request only counts as having been made on Saturday - when I happened to phone them about something else. So if they really do require the 5 working days notice they say they require, we're scuppered!

I hope you are correct and the panic is unnecessary, but with both Barclays and my shoddy conveyancers both having made huge errors already, I don't put anything past them at this point.

We will be going to the Ombudsman regarding the conveyancing firm, because they really don't seem to have a clue what they're doing.

j_yorks

How does it come about that licence to occupy is ever granted, if it's such a bad idea? There's definite mention of it on this forum!

Jon_B_2

I think you are butting your nose in where it is not wanted/needed. Who knows - you may have further complicated the situation by contacting the lender direct?

Conveyancers deal with this aspect of purchasing a home EVERY single day. They know what they are doing, hence why you are paying them to do it.

Stop trying to second guess a situation that potentially doesn't exist.

Calling them "idiots" without the full facts as it is a bank holiday weekend is very much uncalled for as well. We will see who has the last laugh.

Shahni

What matters for CML requirements is when the certificate of title was sent from your conveyancer. Your phone call on Saturday is nothing to do with this.

I know its easier said than done but calm down and speak to your solicitor when their office opens. You're confusing the issues by trying to research this stuff online and worrying yourself further.

j_yorks

They've already established themselves to be idiots. There's a 13 page thread on this forum about what idiots they are. I regret instructing them on a daily basis! Their office was open on Saturday and I did speak to a conveyancer, not mine, who did admit they'd made a big mistake and apologised to me, but said it was too late to change it.

I contacted the lender on Saturday to ask about the direct debit payment, and was informed there was a huge problem with my completion and that they had been trying to contact my solicitor for days. This was on Saturday so if they had planned to release the funds on Thursday, it was already a bit late!

j_yorks

The bit about CML requirements is really useful - thank you. That was sent and received on 9th March so I hope we should be ok.

Shahni

For the sake of your health, leave it to your conveyancer. There is not a "huge problem" with your completion. As I said its not unusual for mortgage funds to be released on the day of completion.

j_yorks

If the funds are released, it'll be fine! It's more the potential non-release that I'm concerned about.

Thanks for the reassurance though. It does make a big difference.