My Home Move/Premier Property - escalating a case

ele_91

Galileo_Figaro said:

ele_91 said:

So what’s the reason they won’t progress? Have you tried calling your conveyancer to ask? I’ve always found them helpful to be honest. 

They just keep saying "it's a very busy time" we have lots of customers. They also are not responding to emails, and asking customers not to call!

It's hard because I get that it is not my conveyancer's fault that her caseload is obviously far too high - but (despite telling us before we instructed that this would not be the case) the company have obviously chosen to put profit over quality/service and taken on far too many customers in a predictably pressured period. 

I would honestly just call them, and if you can’t get through to your conveyancer call the main switchboard and ask to be put through. This has seemed to be the best way to get a response for us. For what it’s worth I’m not sure the conveyancer you are assigned does much of the legal work, there seems to be various teams that handle the different parts of the transaction. 

Irishpearce26

I've used PPL twice now, when we first bought and recently when we sold and bought. Had no issues and turned around in 11-13 weeks both times. The reason I went with them again was the communication and swiftness of dealing with things. Have you tried to call the head office and speak to the conveyancer direct or book in a 1:1 call to discuss, if you make it clear you are happy with indemnity then they should note that and proceed.

Tiglet2

Send your instructions on how you wish to proceed IN WRITING.  Don't bother with a phone call if, as you say, they are not taking calls from clients at the moment.

Galileo_Figaro

Thanks everyone. My conveyancer has now got in touch with the seller's solicitors, so they are placated for now. But, having known about this issue for months, MHM suddenly decided that they need to report it to the lender. So now, having resolved the other enquiries, that puts another delay on it - a delay that will will most likely cost us over £7k in stamp duty that we wouldn't have needed to pay if they were on the ball   

user1977

Galileo_Figaro said:

MHM suddenly decided that they need to report it to the lender. 

Thought it had already been reported to them and they were happy with it?

ele_91

Yes I thought you said the lender didn’t mind? Who is the lender? I would be prepared for them to require a new valuation and maybe a structural survey. 

Galileo_Figaro

user1977 said:

Galileo_Figaro said:

MHM suddenly decided that they need to report it to the lender. 

Thought it had already been reported to them and they were happy with it?

Until yesterday my conveyancer said it wasn't necessary to report it. Now another department has said it is. 

Galileo_Figaro

ele_91 said:

Yes I thought you said the lender didn’t mind? Who is the lender? I would be prepared for them to require a new valuation and maybe a structural survey. 

The lender is Halifax. 

ele_91

This exact issue resulted in two outcomes for us. Firstly, was it advertised as the loft being a bedroom? Eg 3 beds plus a ‘habitable room’ or 4 beds? If the latter the lender will most likely revise down the value as the room cannot be classed as a bedroom. This may or may not be a problem for you depending on the size of your deposit. We could absorb this as we had > 60% LTV. 

Secondly they might require a structural survey which is expensive and invasive. They might need to inspect joists etc. Our vendor would not allow this to take place so we had to pull out. We noticed the next buyers withdrew too and we were the fourth buyers in the first place. This was with Barclays so a similar mainstream lender. 

Hopefully Halifax do not have a problem with your property but be prepared for this to cause a delay which by the way is really the vendor’s fault for not having the correct paperwork.

Galileo_Figaro

ele_91 said:

This exact issue resulted in two outcomes for us. Firstly, was it advertised as the loft being a bedroom? Eg 3 beds plus a ‘habitable room’ or 4 beds? If the latter the lender will most likely revise down the value as the room cannot be classed as a bedroom. This may or may not be a problem for you depending on the size of your deposit. We could absorb this as we had > 60% LTV. 

Secondly they might require a structural survey which is expensive and invasive. They might need to inspect joists etc. Our vendor would not allow this to take place so we had to pull out. We noticed the next buyers withdrew too and we were the fourth buyers in the first place. This was with Barclays so a similar mainstream lender. 

Hopefully Halifax do not have a problem with your property but be prepared for this to cause a delay which by the way is really the vendor’s fault for not having the correct paperwork.

Thanks for your comments. It was advertised as a 4 bed. We can handle them reducing the value by just over £30,000 without it affecting our offer, so I'm hoping they will be happy to do that (and quickly!). The structural survey would be a problem though - pretty sure the sellers would ditch us at that point. Juts hoping for a positive answer from Halifax early next week - fingers crossed.