Draft contract pack - how long does it normally take?

Moneybear

Offer was accepted on 16th August and I instructed my solicitors same day. Memorandum of sale sent 18th August. 23rd August - Vendor’s solicitors confirmed they are acting for them via email to my solicitors. Draft contract pack is still outstanding. Also the vendor’s solicitors won’t confirm to mine the length of the chain. I know the vendors have found another property which their offer was accepted on. 

How long does this normally take? I am trying to gauge when should I chase the EA please. I've received my mortgage offer so I am keen to keep things moving! 

Thanks 

AFF8879

It doesn’t normally take that long in my experience, 2-3 days max. It’s mostly just copied and pasted from an existing standard template, unless there’s something particularly unusual or complex about the transaction. If not, I’d guess it’s because of people being away on holidays but I’d certainly be checking in if I hadn’t heard anything by end of this week 

WorriedKirkels

The EA might be able to help with your queries about the length of the chain. I find you get to know a lot more about the wider chain if you develop a rapport with the EA so might be worth dropping them an email.

Tiglet2

I'll disagree with the poster above who has said that it takes 2-3 days.

The vendor and the vendor's solicitor have to do some preparation work before the draft contract paperwork can be sent to your solicitor, known as pre-legal work.

The vendor formally instructs his solicitor.  His solicitor will send the vendor their terms of engagement, together with lots of paperwork to begin the transaction. 

The vendor will probably need to pay some monies to the solicitor.   

The vendor will be expected to provide certified ID documents (primary and secondary) together with any other requirements of the solicitor.  The solicitor will need to check the ID and ensure that the vendor passes the AML checks. 

The vendor will need to fill in, sign and return the protocol forms (Fixtures & Contents, Property Information Form, Leasehold Information Form) and provide warranties, certificates and relevant paperwork. 

The two solicitors send out letters of instruction to each other.  

When all of the above has been done, the solicitor will order copies of the title, title plan and any other transfers or conveyances listed on the title from Land Registry.  Once they have all of the initial paperwork and the title deeds, they will draft the contract, gather all of the above documents and send over the pack to your solicitor.

Delays occur usually because the vendor fails to pay monies or is slow in returning signed paperwork.  Also many clients fail to correctly provide the ID documents required. 

It easily can be several weeks before the solicitor has the necessary paperwork to start the legal work.

kasqueak

Draft contracts usually take more than 2-3 days so I also disagree with AFF8879. 

Great answer by Tiglet. 

The vendor needs to receive the forms from their solicitor and fill them out. They may need to find paperwork, guarantees etc. Solicitor then needs to check it over before sending it to your solicitor. 

Draft contracts took 6 weeks when I bought my house last year. 

I was told 4-6 weeks was average. 

JCarmello

Moneybear said:

Offer was accepted on 16th August and I instructed my solicitors same day. Memorandum of sale sent 18th August. 23rd August - Vendor’s solicitors confirmed they are acting for them via email to my solicitors. Draft contract pack is still outstanding. Also the vendor’s solicitors won’t confirm to mine the length of the chain. I know the vendors have found another property which their offer was accepted on. 

How long does this normally take? I am trying to gauge when should I chase the EA please. I've received my mortgage offer so I am keen to keep things moving! 

Thanks 

I would drop the EA an email to let them know you received your mortgage offer, and let them know that you're still waiting, when can you expect etc.

Let them prod the other side

Fwiw on our current purchase it took 8 days before Memorandum of Sale and draft contract pack. 

greensalad

Ours took 8 weeks!

There is a fair amount of info that the vendors have to decide on. Our vendors were slow to fill it out, and they also went on holiday, so that didn't help. But keep pushing for it anyway.

AFF8879

Perhaps my response wasn’t clear, I was referring to literally just the issuance of draft contract, not the total time between having an offer accepted and getting it (ie memo of sale, ID checks being ran, etc). That will obviously take longer than a few days (but 8 weeks seems excessive unless the chain was incomplete)

Tiglet2

AFF8879 said:

Perhaps my response wasn’t clear, I was referring to literally just the issuance of draft contract, not the total time between having an offer accepted and getting it (ie memo of sale, ID checks being ran, etc). That will obviously take longer than a few days (but 8 weeks seems excessive unless the chain was incomplete)

Solicitors don't just issue a draft contract though.  2-3 days to do this is irrelevant since all the other steps have to be done as well and before the contract can be drafted.  The solicitor won't start work until ID is passed, monies are paid and letter of instruction received from the other side.  Yes, the contract itself might be copied and pasted and done within a day or so, but the name of the seller and buyer and the title number cannot be entered until ID is in and titles are downloaded from the Land Registry.  They won't order titles until the vendor has paid for them. The sales memo confirms the price and the name of the other party, so again no price can be entered until the sales memo has been received by the solicitor.

OP said on 6th September: 
18th August - sales memo was issued (12 working days ago)
23rd August - Vendor's solicitors sent letter of instruction to the purchaser's solicitor (9 working days ago).  This was probably the date the protocol forms were also sent to the seller.  The solicitor will not send the draft contract until the protocol forms are back.

You might think 8 weeks is excessive, but when you are relying on someone else providing you with documents that form part of the contract pack, you soon realise that the working week passes very quickly if someone doesn't respond immediately.

Moneybear

Thank you everyone for your assistance and taking the time to reply.

My draft contracts have been received this morning - 8:12am so it did take a few weeks but not to be unexpected based on the comments above  

justcat01

Moneybear said:

Thank you everyone for your assistance and taking the time to reply.

My draft contracts have been received this morning - 8:12am so it did take a few weeks but not to be unexpected based on the comments above  

That's good news!

How long did it take for you to receive the fixtures and fittings information? Or was that included in the draft contract?