Conveyancing help...!

bumblebee23

We are both first time buyers, using the equity H2B loan. We put in an offer on a new build property on the 1st September and instructed a conveyancing firm on the 5th September. We told them we were using help to buy, advised that there will be an expected 28 day deadline as it's new build and informed them we would be using 2 x ISAs. The quoted for all of this and said the deadline should be ok.

Our mortgage is currently still being processed as the banks are backlogged. Our H2B equity loan has been approved and Authority to Proceed was issued on 18th September. The valuation has been carried out and signed off.

The builders have requested we exchange within 40 days (extended from the usual 28 days) and the property has been built and is ready to move into.

I'm happy our mortgage advisor is doing everything he can to speed up the process but I'm really struggling to understand what our conveyancer is doing and I don't know if it's me being unreasonable and expecting too much or if they are just rubbish!

We instructed the conveyancer on the 5th September and paid the retainer fee and paid for all searches to be carried out. We asked for an update a week later and was ignored, we chased again on the 17th September and the conveyancer advised that they had only received the legal pack from the developers that day and were in the process of downloading all the documents. I emailed again on the 25th September asking for an update, I received no response. I chased again on the 30th September expressing my worry that nothing had been done on the case and again requesting an update. The conveyancer sent an email yesterday (1st October) saying that they allow 48 -72 hours to respond to emails and that 'yes, work has begun on your case' and do you still want an update?!

They also sent a copy of the site plan which had the incorrect boundary (we have negotiated a larger garden) and so I immediately sent them the correct plan and confirmed, yes I would still like an update. Presumably, the clock has now reset on their email response time and I w8ill have to wait a further 72 hours for the update I first requested over a week ago!

I'm pretty annoyed that they have sat on these documents for 2 weeks now, one of which was incorrect and had they sent this to us 2 weeks ago we would have told them that. My question is, how much should we have heard back from the conveyancers by now? Should we have received a copy of all of the legal documents they received on the 17th or is it normal for them to wait 2 weeks before getting us to check if the title plan is correct?

I don't even know what to really expect, are there other documents we should have been sent by now? The only documents we have had are the original forms to start the process and the title plan (that was incorrect). Would we normally receive more frequent updates than this, or am I just being a keen bean?!

macman

Is this an independent licensed conveyancer, or one of the national online-only companies? If the latter, you are now discovering why they are so cheap.

Tiglet2

We chased again on the 17th September and the conveyancer advised that they had only received the legal pack from the developers that day and were in the process of downloading all the documents. 

Oh dear.  Your solicitors have had the legal pack for 11 working days?  You should know that developers always put a time limit for the transaction to complete.  This is usually not met because their timescales are unrealistic.  Providing progress is being made, developers usually accept that.  The 40 days (the developer wants) can only be counted from 17th September, the day your solicitor received the pack.

I am assuming you want your conveyancer to review all the documents and make sure that everything is as it should be and that you are not buying something with onerous covenants etc?  The local search can take several weeks to come back and when it does, it has to be reviewed along with all the other documents.  There may be many enquiries that your solicitor will wish to make.  This does take time.  I think you need to be patient - the deadline you refer to is not legally binding and the developer and solicitor both know this.  You can assist by sending everything back as soon as possible, but you don't have any control over how quickly anyone else involved responds to enquiries.  Your solicitor will have to liaise with the Help to Buy Equity Loan people - Homes & Communities Agency?  Plus they have to apply for the two ISA bonuses before completion.  They will also have to report any issues to your lender.

The only thing your mortgage advisor can speed up is the mortgage offer, not the legal work.

To be honest, I cannot see that there would be anything much to update you with, which is why you haven't had much feedback yet.  You need to let them get on with working on your file rather than talking to you about it.  As the poster above said, if you are paying for a cheap online firm, then handholding you through all the steps with regular updates will not be part of their service.

bumblebee23

macman said:

Is this an independent licensed conveyancer, or one of the national online-only companies? If the latter, you are now discovering why they are so cheap.

Yes, one of the online companies. I'm massively regretting my decision to save a few quid now!

bumblebee23

Tiglet2 said:

We chased again on the 17th September and the conveyancer advised that they had only received the legal pack from the developers that day and were in the process of downloading all the documents. 

Oh dear.  Your solicitors have had the legal pack for 11 working days?  You should know that developers always put a time limit for the transaction to complete.  This is usually not met because their timescales are unrealistic.  Providing progress is being made, developers usually accept that.  The 40 days (the developer wants) can only be counted from 17th September, the day your solicitor received the pack.

I am assuming you want your conveyancer to review all the documents and make sure that everything is as it should be and that you are not buying something with onerous covenants etc?  The local search can take several weeks to come back and when it does, it has to be reviewed along with all the other documents.  There may be many enquiries that your solicitor will wish to make.  This does take time.  I think you need to be patient - the deadline you refer to is not legally binding and the developer and solicitor both know this.  You can assist by sending everything back as soon as possible, but you don't have any control over how quickly anyone else involved responds to enquiries.  Your solicitor will have to liaise with the Help to Buy Equity Loan people - Homes & Communities Agency?  Plus they have to apply for the two ISA bonuses before completion.  They will also have to report any issues to your lender.

The only thing your mortgage advisor can speed up is the mortgage offer, not the legal work.

To be honest, I cannot see that there would be anything much to update you with, which is why you haven't had much feedback yet.  You need to let them get on with working on your file rather than talking to you about it.  As the poster above said, if you are paying for a cheap online firm, then handholding you through all the steps with regular updates will not be part of their service.

Thank you for your honesty. I think I'm just finding it difficult to be sitting and waiting for an update.

I will try and trust in the process a little more. Although, if I ever do this again, I won't be going with the cheapest option online!

Chilli6

It's known to be a slow and stressful experience so I think yours is normal. I'm buying my second home now, chain free. I learnt the first time round to expect delays and not get stressed by it all. I know my seller sent the final couple of enquiries back to their solicitor over two weeks ago but they still haven't reached my solicitor. Even before covid I found it takes weeks just for one document to be passed back and forth. They will be dealing with so many other sales at the same time as yours so it does take time. 
Good luck with your first home, it'll be worth it

greatcrested

The conveyancers will work through all the cases on their desk in order. The more cases they have, the longer before yours gets to the top of the pile.

Where the conveyancing fee is lower than average, that is achieved partially by allocating more cases to each conveyancer in the firm.

Since every case takes longer to reach the top, each client is constantly emailing 'for an update' etc, so the conveyancer can either spend half his time responding to these emails "sorry, nothing to report yet", or can ignore them till that case has reached the top, been progressed, and then he can report something.