6 months now and still not exchanged...am I expecting too much?

Moonflower1978

I would really appreciate if anyone can share their experience if similar or give advice, thank you so much.

 We are buying a shared ownership house , from a housing association ( was a vacant rent to buy property which the HA are now selling as a shared ownership, no chain)
Viewed property 26/12/21
Memorandum of sale 8/12/21
Homebuyers survey 29/12/21
Mortgage offer 31/12/21
Searches back 8/2/21

Our solicitor said we should be exchanging end of February. All documents we needed to sign etc we have always done the same day without delay. 
However....enquiries have been extremely slow and no real explanation as to what we are waiting on. 
Finally end of March we received the report and all the contracts etc. Signed them and sent back straightaway. Solictor then said still a few enquiries outstanding. Most have been now been answered, deposit paid, proposed completion date 25th May so should be exchanging next week on 18th... but today the housing association's solicitors have said there errors on the Land Registry title and we can't exchange until these are resolved. Should this not have been spotted sooner? Feel totally deflated as we are so near exchange, its been nearly 6 months in this whole process, solicitors initially said we would be exchanging end of February. I've fed up as I've had to continually chase for any updates and feel fobbed off as the housing group just keep saying their solicitor has sent replies to enquiries but my solicitor keeps saying they are still outstanding. Both are not good at responding.  Thought we we almost there as they said only one enquiry outstanding and for me to discuss a completion date with my solicitor,  then they now say about these land registry errors so close to the finish line. Mortgage offer expires next month.

 Any idea how long it takes to correct any errors on the title? My solicitor has not got back to me to advise. Housing group say speak to my solicitor. In the meantime, anyone else had experof this sort of thing and how long the delay is likely to be? Mortgage offer runs out end of next month.  Have also posted this to land registry thread as well. 

Can't believe we viewed the house in November and it's now May, no chain and we were told would be 8-12 weeks. 

penners324

I went through a no chain flat sake that took 5 months, you have a somewhat more complex arrangement.

It takes as long as it does. Just keep hassling your solicitors (weekly) and the HA.

hpsauce86

Ours is also no chain (well we were told that but our vendor is buying a new build so there is a chain in reality). 

We’ve been waiting to exchange for 2 months now, nothing else outstanding just her onward purchase and dealing with developers. It’s very frustrating so I feel your pain. I think it’s not helped you had Christmas holidays in between when everyone shuts up shop for a while. 

Keep pushing the HA and your solicitor, making them aware that your mortgage expires. I think they can expedite land registry stuff but you could ask on the forum on the land registry questions thread. 

You’ll get there, just nag people where you can and continue to express your concerns. 

Tiglet2

Moonflower1978 said:

I would really appreciate if anyone can share their experience if similar or give advice, thank you so much.

 We are buying a shared ownership house , from a housing association ( was a vacant rent to buy property which the HA are now selling as a shared ownership, no chain)
Viewed property 26/12/21
Memorandum of sale 8/12/21
Homebuyers survey 29/12/21
Mortgage offer 31/12/21
Searches back 8/2/21

Our solicitor said we should be exchanging end of February. All documents we needed to sign etc we have always done the same day without delay. 
However....enquiries have been extremely slow and no real explanation as to what we are waiting on. 
Finally end of March we received the report and all the contracts etc. Signed them and sent back straightaway. Solictor then said still a few enquiries outstanding. Most have been now been answered, deposit paid, proposed completion date 25th May so should be exchanging next week on 18th... but today the housing association's solicitors have said there errors on the Land Registry title and we can't exchange until these are resolved. Should this not have been spotted sooner? Feel totally deflated as we are so near exchange, its been nearly 6 months in this whole process, solicitors initially said we would be exchanging end of February. I've fed up as I've had to continually chase for any updates and feel fobbed off as the housing group just keep saying their solicitor has sent replies to enquiries but my solicitor keeps saying they are still outstanding. Both are not good at responding.  Thought we we almost there as they said only one enquiry outstanding and for me to discuss a completion date with my solicitor,  then they now say about these land registry errors so close to the finish line. Mortgage offer expires next month.

 Any idea how long it takes to correct any errors on the title? My solicitor has not got back to me to advise. Housing group say speak to my solicitor. In the meantime, anyone else had experof this sort of thing and how long the delay is likely to be? Mortgage offer runs out end of next month.  Have also posted this to land registry thread as well. 

Can't believe we viewed the house in November and it's now May, no chain and we were told would be 8-12 weeks. 

You say it has taken nearly six months, but it hasn't from the solicitor's side.  Solicitors will have closed their offices between 24th December and 4th January, so your solicitor would not have been in possession of any documentation until mid January at the earliest.  The seller would probably not have received any of the protocol forms to complete and return (Fixtures & Contents, Property Information Form etc) until mid January and these need to be forwarded to your solicitor from the seller's solicitor as part of the draft contract pack.

Assuming that your solicitor received the draft contract pack within a couple of weeks of the seller instructing their solicitor (say for example, January 21st), you're not even at 4 months.  The fact that you viewed in November is irrelevant to your timeline.  Only when the draft contract is received by the buyer's solicitor can the transaction really begin.

Shared ownership properties are not straight forward.  There is a housing association involved in the transaction and it will be a leasehold transaction, which means that the enquiries are more complex and take longer.

Assume you made a mistake in the date of the sales memorandum.

BdetteNoDebt

If you think it's difficult to buy into a shared ownership property wait until you try to sell it.
You might find a buyer but the housing association has to approve them and they also have a say on the price you're selling at.
The housing association also need to find buyers, and the price may need to stay at an affordable level.
You'll have 3 sets of solicitors to deal with.
It's not impossible but it's more complicated than a standard sell so just be aware of what you're getting into. 
 

Moonflower1978

No, the memorandum of sale was 8/12/21

Tiglet2

Moonflower1978 said:

No, the memorandum of sale was 8/12/21

Then the date of the viewing is wrong

Moonflower1978

Yes apologies it was 26/11/21

Moonflower1978

Ok so we're still waiting.... been fobbed off , turns out the other solicitors sent the wrong document which is why there were errors with the date etc. Took 2 weeks of me chasing. It wasn't even a deed for our house, totally annoyed now. Now waiting for land registry to give them the correct document. Now 6 months along. 

SunsetLover08

Moonflower1978 said:

Ok so we're still waiting.... been fobbed off , turns out the other solicitors sent the wrong document which is why there were errors with the date etc. Took 2 weeks of me chasing. It wasn't even a deed for our house, totally annoyed now. Now waiting for land registry to give them the correct document. Now 6 months along. 

Oh no i'm sorry. Hopefully you aren't too far away now!