Deed of Variation solicitor costs £1500+VAT, 5 months in FTB - fees are at 5k.

pinkandblue1

Hi there,

FTB, leasehold no chain flat. 

We started our mortgage process in September and it has been a nightmare journey, we were lied to initially on October 30th about the management pack being ordered as we received notice in November 28th saying it was actually ordered then. It came in December to which we found out that we needed a 2nd one from the landlord, we assumed this was ordered upon receipt and review of the 1st pack - roll on Jan 22nd - they ordered it then. 

We have now received review from our solicitors (4th Feb) and found out that the landlord needs to do a Deed of Variation due to the whole block being unmortagable, and our solicitor charges £1500+VAT to work on this. I requested a draft contract of our current fees, which add up to £4800 at the moment with 3 marked as TBC still (Grount rent apportionment, service charge apportionment and managing agents completion fees) so we are looking at over 5k. 

This is if we are lucky that the landlord doesn't turn around and say that we will have to pay his legal fees for dealing with the DoV, but we do not know this.

Our solicitor is very stern and unhelpful, making us feel completely alone in this as FTB - expecting us to know what to do. We are so confused and upset that the costs are stacking up and we don't know what to do or whether to pull out and have to start again.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

pinkandblue1

We also still have 7 outstanding enquiries since November.

Bobbityboo

Is this a new build you are buying?  Did you get a quote from the solicitor before you instructed them?  Has the landlord confirmed they are paying their own costs for the DoV?  Not sure they should be your responsibility.  If a new build the builders / whomever took it on got it wrong and if not new, the sellers need to sort as they can’t sell until done.   It’s been a long time since we bought / sold a flat, but the fees weren’t that different to buying/ selling a house.  Not sure why the bill has gotten so high.  What does the breakdown of charges say?  Your solicitor should know that he needs these packs at the beginning and should have quoted (and requested) accordingly as it is standard (as far as I know / in my limited experience ) for a flat.  Has there been other things that have cost more?  It just sounds like a very high bill.   

Flats can be more long winded to buy as the lease has to be checked, but solicitors are usually knowledgeable in this. Is it purpose built or a conversion? 

pinkandblue1

Bobbityboo said:

Is this a new build you are buying?  Did you get a quote from the solicitor before you instructed them?  Has the landlord confirmed they are paying their own costs for the DoV?  Not sure they should be your responsibility.  If a new build the builders / whomever took it on got it wrong and if not new, the sellers need to sort as they can’t sell until done.   It’s been a long time since we bought / sold a flat, but the fees weren’t that different to buying/ selling a house.  Not sure why the bill has gotten so high.  What does the breakdown of charges say?  Your solicitor should know that he needs these packs at the beginning and should have quoted (and requested) accordingly as it is standard (as far as I know / in my limited experience ) for a flat.  Has there been other things that have cost more?  It just sounds like a very high bill.   

Flats can be more long winded to buy as the lease has to be checked, but solicitors are usually knowledgeable in this. Is it purpose built or a conversion? 

Thank you for your reply.

We were sent a quote of £1853 with estimated fees we may need and a list of potential fees (which they send to everyone). It is only yesterday we learnt of the DoV cost needing on the whole building, after just speaking with our EA luckily the flat next door is in the same process so we are able to use some of the documents and the seller is going to cover the costs, but we still have to pay our solicitor £1800 extra for her work on the DoV.

There is a LONG list of fees with for example using their online portal, ID verifications, leasehold supplement, dealing with searches (£250), landlord fees etc. adding upto 3000 before the DoV.

It is honestly rediculous!