Purchase delays - management pack and vendors solicitor slow

nicky73

In May I accepted an offer on my house and had an offer accepted very quickly afterwards for onward purchase. 

The sale is progressing well and we should be able to exchange very soon. 

However, my purchase is a nightmare. From the start the vendor’s were slow to provide info & their solicitor has been incredibly unresponsive to my solicitors. 

I considered pulling out of the purchase fairly early on as I had concerns with how unmotivated and slow they  appeared but when they found their new house mid June - a ready to move into new build I assumed things would progress as the developer would be applying pressure. 

My solicitor has been requesting the management information pack (the house I’m buying is nearly new freehold with managed communal outside areas) since mid June. All searches are back and she has only needed to raise a couple of minor queries on this - though again has been chasing replies for two months now. 

The vendor’s estate agent called me a couple of weeks ago to let me know the vendor’s onward purchase is ‘flying’ and that they have provisionally booked removals for the end of this month. I said that’s great .. but despite chasing each week my solicitor hasn’t had replies to their enquiries, in particular the management information pack. The estate agent promised to follow up on this with the vendor and their solicitor and call me within a couple a days. 

Today, after I chased them earlier this week for an update, they have advised the management information pack still hasn’t arrived.

My mortgage offer runs out at the end of next month and I have said from May that I must complete by then. Because of this and because my buyers want to complete this month I called the management company myself. I was surprised how helpful they were - they checked the postcode and confirmed no request for a management pack had been received (& went away to double check). They also advised me that their timescale to produce management packs is 15 to 20 working days. 

As I don’t want to lose my sale - I got a good price - I will move to my parents temporarily to ensure this goes through. My estate agent and solicitor are aware of this. 

I have emailed my solicitor to update her and will leave her to contact the vendor’s solicitor - she’s very quick to reply and so I’m sure she’ll  be in touch Monday or Tuesday. 

I replied to the vendor’s estate agent to say the management company haven’t had a request for the pack - 14 weeks after offer accepted and asked them to follow up with the vendor and their solicitor too. 

I’m so frustrated and angry with the whole process now. The vendor is merrily packing and booking removal companies seemingly forgetting they actually need to sell their house. In the past they’ve told their estate agent they won’t chase their solicitor buy surely now they will? Or call the management company themselves, pay for the pack and plead for this to be done quickly.  Is there any chance we can complete by the end of September now? 

If I extend my mortgage offer I’ll need to chose a new product - it will be roughly an extra £80 a month. Is it unreasonable to say if they can’t complete by the end of September they need to reduce the purchase price by approx £5K to cover the increased mortgage costs? I’ll already be paying extra costs to store everything while I wait. 

I don’t think you can get any sort of indemnity insurance when the management information pack isn’t provided and my lender will need it checked for my mortgage. 

Or do I cut my losses now and start looking for something else? 

I do wonder if their last sale fell apart for the same reason. The house had  been SSTC at the beginning of the year and it fell through in April. The estate agent said that the buyer, an investor,  pulled out last minute as they didn’t have the money at the end of the tax year. I suspect now it was due to delay with the vendors - otherwise they’d have the pack already! 

Advice would be appreciated. 

Francis63

If the previous buyer pulled out 'at the last minute' then I'd assume that buyer would have received a Management Information Pack from the vendor?
So the vendor may have kept a copy and be able to pass it on? 
It does seem odd if they either don't have a copy or have delayed or failed in requesting one.

nicky73

Thanks very much for your reply. 

My solicitor emailed me first thing this morning and said she’d call the vendor’s solicitor this morning to find out what’s going on. She’s going to update me once she has any info. 

The vendor’s estate agent hasn’t replied to me. I’d asked them to nudge the vendor’s solicitor and the vendor to find out if the have they pack already from the previous failed sale and if not then find out why it hasn’t been requested etc. 

I’ll give them a couple of days to reply and then call to chase. I’d hoped I’d have some sort of response today even if just to say to say they were chasing / investigating but silence. 

It all seems very strange when they said the vendor has booked removals for the end of this month! Surely they need to explain to the vendor that the pack is needed for their sale and they are running the risk of losing both their sale and onward purchase. And the estate agent is running the risk of losing their commission. 

I’m looking on right move now again and if I see a suitable chain free property I will book a viewing. I could kick myself as a chain free property I loved  which went SSTC before my house sold went back on the market a month or so ago. I wished I’d had a viewing now and pulled out of this purchase if it was as good in person as on the photos. It sold within a couple of days, 

FormerMRSA

I had a similar situation when I bought my house back in May.  The previous sale had fallen through but because the management info pack was more than 6 months old we needed a new one.  Despite my solicitors asking for this at the start, my Vendors solicitor also didn't request this until I threatened to pull out of the purchase.  I also called the management company, who were very helpful, they let me know if the vendor paid a bit extra the request would be expedited earlier.  Thankfully they paid it & we had the pack within a few working days.

nicky73

Thanks for much for that info, 

I haven’t heard back from my solicitor so I’m assuming she’s had no response from the vendors solicitor. She’s always quick to reply to me so pretty sure she’d have updated me if she had any info. 

The vendor’s estate agent hasn’t replied. They are so appalling with communication so I’ll call them tomorrow. 

The last sale fell through in April so if they requested a management pack it should still be in date. Though finding that info is like getting blood out of a stone. 

Good to know you managed to get the pack so quickly in the end - gives me some hope! 

I hope something is being done - I’ve said completion needs to be by the end of next month (& have said this since May) but the vendor has no sense of urgency. 

Hopefully I’ll get some info from the estate agent tomorrow when I call them. I dread speaking to them as they are so unhelpful. It’s such a contrast to my estate agent who has been a pleasure to speak to throughout.