Engrossement of lease - completion due

metal675

Hi everyone,

I am purchasing a lease hold new build flat on which I have already exchanged.

I am due to complete in few days, however I have not yet received the engrossed lease.

My solicitors have advised that they have not received this from the developers solicitors. This has been escalated by me to the developers who have just sent an email to their solicitors asking to send it.

Now my worry is I may get it too close in time to completion and not have enough time for any corrections if required. Not sure if this is a deliberate ploy. There have been several goof ups by both solicitors.

What is my best bet and any advise on how best I tackle this situation?

I am a FTB, someone told me I shouldnt have exchanged without the engrossed lease.

Thanks in advance

G_M

Have you seen and approved a draft lease?

metal675

Thanks, yes I had.

But the engrossed lease could still be different and it is 4 days to completion date and I dont have it yet and niether the completion statement.

Is this generally normal, or should I panic ?

G_M

I'd've expected to see it by now.

Are you doing the conveyancing yourself? If not, I'd ring your conveyancer and ask or pop in and see him.

But no - no need to panic. You Exchanged on the basis of an agreed draft so if the lease turns out to be different that would be a breach of contract and you would demand it be altered as per the agreed contract.

How long ago did you Exchange?

I' no expert on new leases, but thinking about it, I don't see how it can be engrossed before Exchange. What if you refused to Exchange after the engrossment? So yes, seems logical that it would happen between Exchange/Competion or on Completion.

Someone else may know better though.

davidmcn

It can be engrossed as soon as it's in agreed form - which could be some time before exchange actually happens.

G_M

davidmcn wrote: »

It can be engrossed as soon as it's in agreed form - which could be some time before exchange actually happens.

So what happens if the purchase falls through?

davidmcn

G_M wrote: »

So what happens if the purchase falls through?

You stick the engrossed lease in the file and forget about it. "engrossing" just means printing off a final version which is ready for signing, it doesn't have any legal consequence in itself.

G_M

Thanks david.

This might help the OP:

http://www.phewconveyancing.co.uk/articles/grant-of-lease-engrossment-and-execution-of-the-lease

or just google/duckduckgo "engross lease".