Passive conveyancing solicitor

SuperCat007

Hello, I would appreciate some advice please. 

I’m struggling with our solicitor who is seemingly doing anything in their power to do nothing at all on our purchase. The purchase has turned into quite a complex one with their solicitor messing up a land registration. 

But all my solicitor seems content to tell me is that “this will cause significant delays.”

They received draft contracts on a Tuesday and admitted the following Monday they didn’t intend to tell me as they had no intention to open the file until the registration is complete to avoid unnecessary fees (my agent told me after they chased for an update). I understand this, but they’ve wasted so much time in this process by not talking to the seller’s solicitor.  We all could have had information much sooner had they been on top of things. 

I instructed them to initiate searches, now we’re having a meltdown over water rates and have paused the searches. 

I feel this information will be in the contract pack they haven't opened and they are ‘awaiting an email response’ from the water enquiry from the seller’s solicitor. 

Long story - to me they seem uninterested in actually progressing the purchase - do I complain? Request a partner review? Change solicitor? 

I just don’t know… any advice from anyone?

loubel

It sounds like they have advised you to hold off incurring costs but you are free to go against their advice. Have you made clear that you are happy to pay their fees to start enquiries now? Although they may be limited in what they can do if they are waiting for a title issue to be resolved.

tacpot12

I wouldn't complain yet. I think I would ask the solicitor if there is a time you can call them to discuss progess. You can say you aren't happy, but I would advise remaining open-minded about them until you have more evidence. Conveyancing is always a slow process. If you want them to be more pro-active, you can ask them to do so, but you need to be clear whether this is going to add to your costs or not.

EssexHebridean

If you are already convinced that the solicitors are "determined to do as little as possible" then I'd suggest that a change is probably best for all parties. If there is an issue relating to the title which is currently being addressed, and accordingly you have been advised to hold off on doing anything until that is resolved, then that sounds quite significant. It's unlikely that there would be anything in the contract pack that would clarify something relating to water rates. Either way though, the relationship between you & your solicitor is always going to be better with a degree of trust on each side - and that's clearly lacking. 

A standard contract pack includes the title documents, contract pack and protocol forms. The TA6 will refer to the current water supplier, but that is going to be obvious in any event for a domestic property.