Coneyancing firm and Leasehold

Dawn248

I'm buying a leasehold flat with my divorce settlement and am disappointed with the firm I took on to do the conveyancing. They had great reviews online so I instructed them but then their main solicitor left, other staff followed and they've been a total shambles ever since. It's not just me, the recent reviews online say other people have had the same treatment.

I've had two conveyancers, really long delays, no response to emails and today received an email from a paralegal.

The lease sent to me last week had the wrong price on it-I reduced my offer after the survey and the lease shows the original cost which is 10k more. Not exactly a fine detail!

Now I need to exchange by the end of next week so I can give 1 months notice on my rented flat- I wanted to do this last month! The paralegal has told me in order to do this I should correct the purchase price by hand and sign the lease as it is. It doesn't contain any mention of a snagging clause which I wanted.

Should I go ahead and do this or insist on them getting a snagging clause in the lease first? There are some issues that need finishing but should I exchange and ask them to correct them before completion?

I've lost all faith on them so I don't know if I'm being overly jittery. I wanted to feel I had someone to cover my back and make sure the lease was Ok but I've lost all faith in them.

Also I don't have anyone to witness my signature, can I ask for a meeting at the conveyancors to go over the lease and ask them to witness my signature. I've only had ONE face to face meeting there throughout the 4 months this has been dragging on.

Sorry for the long post. Any advice would be really appreciated.

Dawn248

Sorry. Duplicate thread.

steampowered

Yes, if you want a snagging clause you should ask for it.

A snagging clause is not common in standard lease contracts though. You have a snagging clause when you are buying a new build from a developer.

Dawn248

It's an old 1930's building that's been converted into flats so the heating/hot water system/plumbing etc are all new and I doubt the builders will be in any rush to fix anything once I've completed!

Now the conveyancers are suggesting I sign the lease as it stands in order to exchange because I need to give notice on my current rental by the end of next week. Can I just ask them to get a move on for once? They've been useless.

eddddy

Dawn248 wrote: »

Now the conveyancers are suggesting I sign the lease as it stands in order to exchange because I need to give notice on my current rental by the end of next week. Can I just ask them to get a move on for once?

All your conveyancers can do is pass your request for a 'snagging clause' onto the seller's conveyancer who will pass it on to the seller. If the seller agrees, then there will be negotiation about what the 'snagging clause' contains.

You could speed the process up by talking to the seller directly, instead of via conveyancers.

You'd need to get the seller to agree to a snagging clause, and then agree what the clause should contain - then, when everything is agreed, the final details can be passed to the conveyancers.

(TBH, I would be very surprised if you could get this negotiated, agreed, drafted into the contract and signed within a week.)

G_M

Its up to you which is more important:
* exchanging next week or
* adding the snagging clause to the contract (not the lease)

I don't see why next week is such an issue. Property purchase always takes longer than people want/expect.Just accept that there'll be a delay, pay another month's rent, Complete a month later and save yourself a month's mortgage.