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Conveyancing - local authority searches
jamielutz1987
Posts: 304 Forumite
We are in the process of purchasing a chain free vacant property and have a deadline to exchange and complete by July end, which we conveyed to the solicitor at the outset.
Everything has been hurried along as quickly as possible and we're now past the following stages - mortgage offer, review of draft contract pack, signed and returned the mortgage deed, contract and transfer forms. All the searches have come back except for the local authority searches.
When we asked the solicitor (after much difficulty as they're very hard to contact) they said that the council searches can take 3-4 weeks or more due to covid staffing issues.
I called the council today to see if I could find out where we were at and this is what they said -
- there are no searches requested for the house directly from the council
- a search company has put in Freedom Of Information request for the property (a full week after the solicitor says the searches were ordered) and that the search company will use this information to pull together a report for the solicitor.
- they said that the timelines for an FOI request are around 20 working days but that the council are allowed to take another 20 working days on top of that as well if required.
- if lodged directly with the council land charges department, the searches are returned in 5 days and there's a quick service promising a 24hr turnaround for around £110.
I am thoroughly confused as to what is going on. How is a search done through FOI? Can I just tell the solicitor to order the quick service direct from the council, we're willing to pay if that means the searches will come back in a day as now that's the only thing preventing us from setting a date for exchange and completion.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Everything has been hurried along as quickly as possible and we're now past the following stages - mortgage offer, review of draft contract pack, signed and returned the mortgage deed, contract and transfer forms. All the searches have come back except for the local authority searches.
When we asked the solicitor (after much difficulty as they're very hard to contact) they said that the council searches can take 3-4 weeks or more due to covid staffing issues.
I called the council today to see if I could find out where we were at and this is what they said -
- there are no searches requested for the house directly from the council
- a search company has put in Freedom Of Information request for the property (a full week after the solicitor says the searches were ordered) and that the search company will use this information to pull together a report for the solicitor.
- they said that the timelines for an FOI request are around 20 working days but that the council are allowed to take another 20 working days on top of that as well if required.
- if lodged directly with the council land charges department, the searches are returned in 5 days and there's a quick service promising a 24hr turnaround for around £110.
I am thoroughly confused as to what is going on. How is a search done through FOI? Can I just tell the solicitor to order the quick service direct from the council, we're willing to pay if that means the searches will come back in a day as now that's the only thing preventing us from setting a date for exchange and completion.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
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Comments
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Yes speak to your solicitor.You've not chosen a cheap online conveyancing warehouse that has a set process which is hard to vary and is hard to contact I hope....0
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@greatcrested I wish I could! They are impossible to reach or get a response from.
Because of the tight deadlines, we actually paid a lot extra (compared to the average quotes that we got) for a small local firm but the service has been s-h-i-t.
The last time around we used mhm who were half the price and far better with updates.
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@jamielutz1987 can you share what local authority was it? I am in a similar situation[STRIKE]Deposit: 25000!!/15000[/STRIKE] Homeowner :j
quidco cashbacks- 1142.810
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