First time buyer - unanswered questions following completion

rzlosty

Hello MSE. 

I am a first-time buyer in a shared ownership property on a new-build estate. I completed and moved in during October 2020 and I have a number of questions that I have no one else to ask, so I am hoping the nice people on here may be able to help!

• Despite completing in October, 8 months has passed and I still have no copies of the legal documents. I have contacted my solicitor and asked when I should expect to receive these and they told me that the Land Registry is running slowly due to Covid and that I will get the document from them as soon as they are processed. However, I have no copies of the deeds, or the lease agreement with the Housing Association - surely I should have these so I know what I am bound by etc. The only time I have seen these documents was an email with a draft copy (full of mistakes) and the physical documents I signed (mistakes had been rectified) and returned to the solicitors. Is this a reasonable expectation to receive these documents as the solicitor implied on the phone I would only receive a document from the Land Registry?
• As is common on a lot of new-build estates, I have a management company that maintains the shared areas. I have no details of this company - but others on the estate who have bought outright (non-shared ownership) have a relationship with them. My fees are paid to the Housing Association that owns the other half of my house as part of my rent portion. Should I be concerned about this? 
• How do I find out if/when the roads are to be adopted by the Local Authority? Having read other threads on MSE it seems that it's quite possible that the LA can adopt the roads and footpaths but the management company will continue the maintenance of the shared areas. I am fine with that, but I would like to know if the LA plan to or have already adopted the roads/footpaths. Assume trying to contact the LA would be the solution to this?
• Should my solicitor have informed me that my ISP would have been locked forever to one provider owned by the builders? My understanding was that the solicitor should provide me with information about the purchase and god knows I spent enough money for them to make "checks". I saw no outcomes of any of these checks and this is one thing that has come out of the woodwork following completion. 

Any and all help appreciated. Thank you for your time!

P.s. having read some other threads about new builds/shared ownership, it seems somewhat common that some people want to reply to threads like this by lecturing about new builds/shared ownership being a scam etc. I know, I understand and for the most part, I agree. Unfortunately, my parents aren't millionaires, nor am I, and these types of houses and schemes are often the only way a "normal" person can ever graduate from the realms of paying someone else's mortgage for the rest of their life by renting. Is it ideal? No. Do we need a serious review of the housing situation in this country? Absolutely, but unfortunately, we are not going to solve that in this thread.

user1977

Have you actually passed on these queries to your solicitor? They're correct in saying it will take a while for the Land Registry to complete registration, but maybe they don't understand that you'd like a copy of the final form of the lease etc in the meantime.

TBG01

Despite completing in October, 8 months has passed and I still have no copies of the legal documents. I have contacted my solicitor and asked when I should expect to receive these and they told me that the Land Registry is running slowly due to Covid and that I will get the document from them as soon as they are processed. 

And you think this isn't correct why?

New builds can easily take up to a year to register. Everything the Solicitor is correct albeit not what you wanted to hear.

rzlosty

user1977 said:

Have you actually passed on these queries to your solicitor? They're correct in saying it will take a while for the Land Registry to complete registration, but maybe they don't understand that you'd like a copy of the final form of the lease etc in the meantime.

Thanks for the response. Yes, I did ask the solicitor and I specifically mentioned the deeds and lease agreement but she said "It's the land registry, you'll only get a copy of the title and I'll send it when it's gone through" which implied to me that the agreements wouldn't be sent. I will ring and ask again. The reason for posting here is that I didn't know if I was expecting documents that wouldn't normally be sent anyway. Your response makes it seem like I should get a copy of the lease and deeds and it is just the solicitor is planning to send them all at once when the docs from the Land Registry have also come back.

TBG01 said:

Despite completing in October, 8 months has passed and I still have no copies of the legal documents. I have contacted my solicitor and asked when I should expect to receive these and they told me that the Land Registry is running slowly due to Covid and that I will get the document from them as soon as they are processed. 

And you think this isn't correct why?

New builds can easily take up to a year to register. Everything the Solicitor is correct albeit not what you wanted to hear.

Thank you for your response - even though it was rather blunt. I wasn't questioning the Land Registry running slowly. If you look at the rest of my post immediately after the part you stopped quoting, you'll see I was talking about not having copies of the documents that do currently exist - the lease & deeds. In my mind, it would have been logical to have received these documents already especially if - as you say - it can take a year for the Land Registry to complete their paperwork as I may need to refer to them in the meantime (e.g. for extending driveways etc. that would require me to meet my obligations within the deeds and lease agreement). As I had not received these I was confused as to if I would ever get copies or if this wasn't something commonly done. I have no idea, I have never bought a house before and my solicitor would hardly respond to me during the buying process, so getting anything out of her now is nearly impossible. 

stressedout45

Don’t you only get the deeds when you’ve paid off your mortgage in full?

rzlosty

stressedout45 said:

Don’t you only get the deeds when you’ve paid off your mortgage in full?

Yes, from what I understand the bank keeps them up until that point. Sorry, I think I might be using the wrong terminology, the document I am referring to is the contract document that states all the terms of the purchase and the plot details/plan etc. 

Slithery

stressedout45 said:

Don’t you only get the deeds when you’ve paid off your mortgage in full?

No.

Physical deeds don't exist for recently purchased properties, only the digital entry at the LR is relevant. This can be downloaded for £3 at any time.

HampshireH

Your solicitor wouldn't know the house or estate only had one ISP.

You would have needed to ask and instruct them to enquire.

Or you could have asked when viewing.

A lot of new builds have this  it's quite common for a company to be given sole access to begin with. 

Other companies are unlikely to be able to find the property on their system until all registered.

We photocopied all our paperwork before sending back to conveyancer just in case but I can't fault them they sent me copies of everything as I returned them and they were all uploaded into a portal which I can still access now.

Surely they have copies of your documents.

Falafels

rzlosty said:

stressedout45 said:

Don’t you only get the deeds when you’ve paid off your mortgage in full?

Yes, from what I understand the bank keeps them up until that point. Sorry, I think I might be using the wrong terminology, the document I am referring to is the contract document that states all the terms of the purchase and the plot details/plan etc. 

All that will become available, including the terms of the lease, when the property's registered at the Land Registry. You don't get paper deeds any more because it's all recorded digitally, and if you have them because you've paid off the mortgage on an older property, they have little more than curiosity value if your property IS registered.

If it's just a question of tying up loose ends, don't worry too much about it. It becomes relevant when you need to sell the property, but not normally until then. I take it you're aware of any maintenance charges or other conditions as you're already paying fees to the Housing Association.

The other consideration is that if it's a new build, it was likely sold under a transfer of part. These normally take longer to register than straightforward transfers of title (apparently because there aren't enough people at the Land Registry who are trained to handle them!), but with covid and the current housing boom, they're taking even longer than usual. So this is all par for the course - even before covid it could take up to a year, so gawd only knows how long it's taking at the moment!

TBG01

rzlosty said:

stressedout45 said:

Don’t you only get the deeds when you’ve paid off your mortgage in full?

Yes, from what I understand the bank keeps them up until that point. Sorry, I think I might be using the wrong terminology, the document I am referring to is the contract document that states all the terms of the purchase and the plot details/plan etc. 

So the contract then? I'm not expecting you to remember it word by word, but a document you signed, which indicates you read it and agreed to the terms.

I'm sorry but you can't say " I have no idea, I have never bought a house" and then complain about not receiving a document which isn't sent to the client.

You go on about a lease and deeds that do exist. Ignoring the fact you could've made your own copy, but where do you think the lease currently is? I'm assuming not with the Land Registry also for registration? Onto the deeds. What deeds? You've been told the application is still with the Land Registry, so do you want the old copy of the title (which is all your deeds are btw) which will still currently be registered in the developers name? What do you gain from that other than wasting time chasing your solicitor asking why it's still in the developers name.

tinytiddles

With regards to documents, I replied to another thread the other to with the same answer - the Land Registry has a backlog of registrations and it is taking especially long for new builds. Ours took 10 months to come through but as we aren’t looking to sell any time soon it isn’t a problem. 

Your solicitor may send your contract and lease agreement through with your title deed - probably best to give them a ring and ask or drop them an email. 

Finally with the management company, if your home has only recently been completed it is highly likely that the developer still has responsibility for the common parts. We have a mews to the rear of our home which will be handed over to a man-co at some point, but nothing has happened as yet. It is only at this point that you will start receiving the annual service charge bill - until then the developer has to pay for any defects in full and there is no backdating. 

Hope this helps 😊