Whose solicitor is at fault and should we be worried?

plainandsimple

We put in an offer on a house on 2nd June and it was accepted the same day. We are supposed to complete this Thursday, but we still haven't concluded the missives (we're in Scotland BTW). Our solicitor noticed around 3 weeks ago that the seller's solicitor hadn't sent them the planning permission documents for an extension built onto the house. I think our solicitor should have realised sooner that they didn't have these documents? Anyway, she has told us she's been chasing the seller's solicitor for the documents for the last couple of weeks, and apparently the seller's solicitor has them, but they still haven't sent them to our solicitor. Should we be worried? We're stuck in limbo not knowing if we will be moving at the end of this week or not. Whose solicitor is at fault here?

sal_III

Not entirely sure how different is "missive concluded" from "contract exchanged" in E&W. But in E&W terms:

Highly unlikely to complete this Thursday if you haven't "exchanged" yet, most Lenders need several days heads-up before releasing the mortgage funds. Not to mention all the Solicitor delays in the mix.

davidmcn

plainandsimple wrote: »

I think our solicitor should have realised sooner that they didn't have these documents?

Why do you think that?

Should we be worried?

Without knowing how big or recent this extension is, I doubt any of us can really answer. If the consents all exist then all that needs to happen is for your solicitor (and possibly your surveyor) to see them and be happy with them.

Whose solicitor is at fault here?

Possibly neither. Does it matter?

Is everything else ready for settlement?

plainandsimple

@davidmcn I think the solicitor should have realised sooner as they called us to say they had checked all the paperwork and were ready to conclude the missives. After that call, they realised they couldn't conclude the missives, as they didn't have a copy of the planning permission. Shouldn't this have been picked up earlier in the process?

Everything else is ready for settlement, but I think it does matter if someone's at fault, as the process of concluding the missives has then been held up unnecessarily, and this could mean we do not complete on the agreed date.

We have, of course, arranged a removal van etc and don't know now if we'll have a home at the end of the week. I personally think both solicitors have been tardy in this case.

davidmcn

plainandsimple wrote: »

@davidmcn I think the solicitor should have realised sooner as they called us to say they had checked all the paperwork and were ready to conclude the missives. After that call, they realised they couldn't conclude the missives, as they didn't have a copy of the planning permission. Shouldn't this have been picked up earlier in the process?

Not necessarily, no.

We have, of course, arranged a removal van etc

Why "of course"? You are taking a risk by making those sorts of arrangements before missives are concluded.

And we still don't know any more about this extension and whether a lack of planning permission would make a fundamental difference. How old is it? Is it only planning permission you haven't seen yet i.e. have you seen a building warrant/completion certificate? Have you (or your solicitor) checked the council's website for consents?

Thrugelmir

plainandsimple wrote: »

Whose solicitor is at fault here?

Perhaps neither. Possibly the documentation is incomplete. Resulting in the issue being with the vendor.