House still not registered at Land Registry

MarkSal

We completed a house purchase on 9 August 2024, yet our solicitor has still not sent the application to Land Registry. Is this a dereliction of duty, as I have recently found out that it was his responsibility to ensure that the Land Registry application form, along with the requisite documents, were lodged within 30 days of completion? Delay in this process can lead to fraud.

In September of last year, he informed us that he had heard from the solicitors acting for Mr X concerning the further document which is required by the Land Registry title. He then went on to say that the other solicitor would charge £540 (incl. VAT) for their services, which we promptly forwarded to him. Many months went by chasing up our solicitor as to whether he had all the information he required. In March this year, he emailed us to say he had spoken to the other Solicitor and that she had prepared the draft document and sent it to her Client for approval. A few weeks later, he informed us by telephone that the other solicitor's services were not really required. Six months were wasted in this debacle.

After further emails and telephone calls, on 20 May we were sent a 'Deed' to be signed in front of an independent witness and returned to him. We did this straight away. On 18 June, he informed us by email that he had sent the Deed off to the original developer (as the house is only 5 years old). He went on to say in the same email that he was progressing the Land Registry.

In late June, we requested the return of the £540 fee from him (which the other solicitor levied), less any costs for his work from the time of completion to the present date. Last week, we decided to instruct another solicitor to move forward with Land Registry. We understand she will email and/or telephone him to return the £330 Land Registry fees (which we paid in August 2024), the transfer document, and all the other documents relating to the purchase of the property, which to date have not been forwarded to us.

I would like to pose a few questions:

Do I need to formally inform the solicitor that we no longer require his services?

Should we refer him to the Legal Ombudsman and/or SRA?

Should we seek financial compensation as we now have to pay another solicitor to complete the Land Registry process?

Many thanks.

user1977

Have you gone through the firm's complaints procedure? You need to exhaust that before you can go to the SRA. 

MarkSal

It's a one-man band. I think he is in his early 80s and works from home. He's semi-retired. He is registered at the SRA.