Freehold Purchase Timescales

AliceLondon1996

Hello,

After a split with my husband I am selling my home and moving back to London.
Due to the length left on the freehold (59 years) I needed to purchase it. Extending it was slightly cheaper but still as time consuming and as you can see when you read on its the time lengths that are the issue.

We have paid the full amount and received a letter from the leaseholder owners solicitors confirming full payment has been received, the transfer document is being executed and then the registration application will be with the Land Registry and as soon as the Title Information Document comes in they will forward across.

This is all great , the freehold is on its way and there are no complications ..... EXCEPT

We have been told this may take up to 5 months - 3 months as a standard and a further 2 because there is a backlog at the Land Registry at present.
This is a huge issues for us as due to complications which are too detailed to mention with the move and family I must complete within 2-3 months, there really is no negotiation around this.
I have friends who have purchased leases and they have advised the time consuming part was the negotiation of the price, and once the price is confirmed its circa 6-8 weeks.
Even my own solicitor confirmed these sorts of things should take max 3 weeks ?

Can anyone give any advice around

* How long the purchase of their freehold took once they had accepted the amount and paid it in full ......... are these solicitors who have given these time scales just way over exaggerating

* Is there a way of "exchanging" with the new buyer without this physically back with us,.......Is there anything our solicitor can do with the buyers solicitors ..... is there such thing as a deed or a document that can be drawn up to state the house WILL be freehold that will satisfy the buyers solicitors and the buyers mortgage lender?

* Ditto the above question but also can we "complete" as well as exchange too

* Finally is there anything I can possibly do with the Land Registry to in anyway speed this up

Thanks so much for any advice or help
Alice
:money:

Mossfarr

I purchased the freehold of one of my properties last year and it took 5 months. There weren't any complications, it was a very straightforward purchase, the delay was due to the backlog at the Land Registry.

G_M

Are you doing the conveyancing yourself?
I find it hard to believe that any solicitor or licenced conveyancer would permit payment without the purchase being completed.

If the transfer document has not been signed/Executed and handed over, why on earth have you paid?

There is also a lot of ambiguity in your post about what is being proposed, and what has, or has not, been done to date. I assume the red corrections I've made below are correct?

AliceLondon1996 wrote: »

... I am selling my home

Due to the length left on the [STRIKE]free[/STRIKE]leasehold (59 years) I needed to purchase [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE]the freehold. Extending [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE]the lease was slightly cheaper but still as time consuming....

We have paid the full amount and received a letter from the [STRIKE]leaseholder[/STRIKE]freehold owners solicitors confirming full payment has been received, the transfer document is being executed
:eek: Youmust be mad to pay for a freehold Title without receiving the frehold in return. That is not how peoperty sales are normally conducted.
and then the registration application will be with the Land Registry and as soon as the Title Information Document comes in they will forward across.
I assume 'they' above means the LR? Not the freeholders solicitors, since it should normally be you (or your solicitors) who apply to the LR for the transfer to be registered.

Though since it seems, inexplicably, that the document has not even been executed I'm lost as to who is doing what.

This is all great , the freehold is on its way and there are no complications ..... EXCEPT

We have been told this may take up to 5 months - 3 months as a standard and a further 2 because there is a backlog at the Land Registry at present.
So the entire 5 months is caused by the LR backlog? The LR will often 'expadite' registration of a transfer if it is holding up another matter (eg your sale). You or your solicitor should contact the LR.

I have friends who have purchased leases (????? to be clear - are you buying a lease or a freehold?!) and they have advised the time consuming part was the negotiation of the price, and once the price is confirmed its circa 6-8 weeks.
seems reasonable, though depends on the LR.
Even my own solicitor confirmed these sorts of things should take max 3 weeks ? sorry - I don't understand the question. I've no idea what your solicitor confirmed.

Can anyone give any advice around

* How long the purchase of their freehold took once they had accepted the amount and paid it in full ......... are these solicitors who have given these time scales just way over exaggerating
Since all that remains is registration with the LR, it depends entirely on their workload.

* Is there a way of "exchanging" with the new buyer without this physically back with us,.......Is there anything our solicitor can do with the buyers solicitors ..... is there such thing as a deed or a document that can be drawn up to state the house WILL be freehold that will satisfy the buyers solicitors and the buyers mortgage lender?
I doubt a buyer (and especially if they have a mortgage lender) will be satisfied by this, since their enquiries will show you don't own the freehold, so cannot sell it.

You could of course offer to sell the 59 year lease now, for a reduced amount, and the freehold later, but again, your buyer will not have a guarantee that the freehold will actually follow. And again, a mortgage lender may not lend on a 59 year lease.

* Ditto the above question but also can we "complete" as well as exchange too
as above

* Finally is there anything I can possibly do with the Land Registry to in anyway speed this up
See above

.

AliceLondon1996

Hello,

Thanks for your response, wow I feel like my post has been marked and I have well and truly scored low However you must really know your stuff so I thank you for this.

My house is leasehold, I need to make it freehold, so whatever the terminology is for this i.e I am buying the freehold/ I am buying out the lease etc. this is what I am doing

I am fully aware I haven't gone about this right. I appointed my conveyancing solicitor AFTER I started this process.

* I know I shouldn't have paid for the lease in full, but I was at their mercy and did what I was told to do, and this is what they stated
* I know I should be using my own solicitors to do the lease paperwork, but the landlord sent it straight to their own solicitors who started the process. Their newest email does caveat at the bottom the "I was given the choice of solicitors and if I wish to use my own I should contact them straight away"
But lets face it I won't get a credit back from the monies paid (which includes solicitors fees) and I don't in anyway want to slow this
* I am paying my solicitor £200 within the conveyancing fees for the sale of my home for the lease (?) and a further £125 within the conveyance fees to deal with the buying of the lease. Im not really sure now what Im actually paying my solicitors for. But again I have gone ahead and I can do this.

Please go easy on me if you reply, Im sure you think Im probably a little stupid, I am not its just I am currently backed into a corner and also know very little about conveyancing/ freehold/ leases/ LR etc..

G_M

I think you should make an appointment with your solicitor (not theirs), and go in and have a chat.

Find out
* exactly what stage the process is at
* whether you are fully protected (eg by a contract) for the money you've already paid (eg if you don't receive the freehold transfer)
* whetehr the freehold transfer has, or has not, yet been sent to the Land Registry
* if it has, whether the LR can be asked to 'expedite' the registration
* if it has not, why not. Are the freeholder/their solicitors just being slow, or is there some hold-up, or other process going on?

You should also clarify in your mind (again, via your solicitor) what exactly is being done eg
* are you simly buying the freehold and getting it registered in your name? You would then end up owning 2 things: the freehold AND your current lease
* are you getting the lease removed/surrendered and buying the freehold without any lease registered? In which case you'll end up owning just 1 thing: the freehld.