Slow solicitor?

HarrietB

Hello! I am looking for some advice please. We are currently buying a shared ownership new build from a housing association. Me and my husband are first time buyers. We didn't go with the recommended solicitor but got quotes from many and read reviews. We went with a middle priced one with a 5* rating on Google and Trust pilot. The whole thing seems to be taking a long time. We instructed our solicitor around mid-March, the searches took a long time. We received the results of the last search last week. Our mortgage deeds were signed and returned the week before that. The vendor's solicitor keeps pushing us to hurry via the estate agent, I am getting numerous calls and emails from him telling us how impatient they are, and I am scared they will pull out. They sent me an email on Wednesday saying should complete on the 11th (tomorrow) I called my solicitor and she said this was not possible, but that the 18th should be. And apparently the postcode on the mortgage deeds was slightly wrong and she had had to get that rectified by the bank. She was supposed to call me back yesterday afternoon to tell me if that had been completed but she didn't. I emailed her today to ask how things were going but she didn't reply. All the reviews for this company are glowing so I'm not sure if it's just the seller being impatient or a problem with my solicitor, I have no previous experience. I am feeling really nervous, we are SO close to the finish line and have so much riding on this house, we are packed up ready to go, my husband even has a job offer in the new place. I don't know what to do. Any advice would be great, thanks. 

fiveacre

Mid-march to today is 12 weeks, I'd expect things to be getting near to exchange relatively soon but it seems on track. It's a very busy time at the moment and many straightforward transactions are taking a lot longer than 12 weeks to complete - most solicitors are advising 16 weeks.

ss2020jd

It sounds like you are very close to completion with a date on the horizon,  which is a good thing. Normally this would be agreed with both parties. 

The searches timescale vary depending on location so don’t think the solicitor can control much there. There have been a lot of delays in this area. 

As everyone is desperately trying to meet the stamp duty deadline of the end of this month, the solicitors are completely swamped and yours are hopefully just getting everything in order to complete. So making phone calls may detract them from that. Hopefully you will hear soon and I would say the seller would be happy if it’s going ahead next week. Try not to feel too stressed about it (easier said than done) you are very close to having everything finalised and then you can celebrate! 

teachfast

Ring them and threaten a formal complaint unless you get an update (not a solution). They simply will not communicate effectively and this is often the only way to secure a timely and courteous response. Get their complaints policy and follow it carefully.