New house purchase, advice needed!

cozlw

Hi, Im new to these boards but deperately need advice and you guys seem to be the best place for it.

I am in the process of buying a shared ownership house and was expected to complete on the 20th May. However this was delayed as the land has not yet been registered and to this day, has still not been done.

Background, I first viewed the house and left a reservation fee on 5th April. Its a new build and really is my ideal first home, and im buying alone.

I signed and returned the contracts on 24th April, although I do not yet think they have been exchanged with the housing association (the seller)

Now, I am getting very concerned, as for the past month I have been told that the delay is being cause as the land is not yet registered, therefore my solicitor has been unable to start any searches etc, although I have paid them £200 to begin this.

I have called the land registry and they have no record at all of the property being submitted to them or any trace of it at all. As you can imagine, I am pulling my hair out, as things really do not seem to have moved along since the start of April.

Im weighing up my options, and have consistently called the housing association to get a new completion date arranged etc, although they do not seem in any urgency to arrange this. My solicitors are adamant that they cannot do anything until the land is registered, and im feeling increasingly stuck as none of the parties involved seem particularly concerned about anything. The seller has said that their solicitors have outsourced the registration to another company, as they do not manage it themselves, is tis usual?

I suppose I just need some advice on who I should be chasing here, as I am feeling as though im just being fobbed off, and am not really sure of my rights as it is their fault that we have missed completion. In addition, the house has now suffered some vandalism as it has been empty for so long now, increasing my frustration with the delay.:mad:

Any advice appreciated, am I being led in circles here, and who should be doing more to help me out?

poppy10_2

Have you paid a deposit?

Richard_Webster

Part of the problem may be to do with the fact that many HAs are not very up together on legal details and tend the rely on their solicitors.. If then their solicitor tells them that they need to do something to enable something to happen, they can take ages thinking about it and having a meeting, etc. The HA staff may not understand what it is about, etc, etc. Result is that HA's solicitor is stuck waiting for movement form his HA client and that kind of inertia could be the reason why the registration is not happening. OP might also find that phone calls to the HA don't do any good because nobody there understands the problem!

cozlw

Hiya

Thanks for the replies so far. I havent left a deposit yet, as my solicitor warned that they were dragging their feet, so I hung onto it. Only good thing I suppose is Im still getting the interest from it in my account.

I called the HA yesterday evening, and spoke to a Manager as I was so frustrated with the lack of contact from my allocated contact. I found out my contact has gone on holiday for 2 weeks (thanks for letting me know) and that before going she said the sale had gone through and completed! !!!!!!? :eek:

Obviously her manager wasnt impressed that I was calling with no completion and no efforts from her staff to chase it up. She genuinely didnt sound aware of it at all!

I dont want to pull out of the sale, I just feel disheartened that it has taken them so long to get this far and it still seems that so much is left to do!

Incisor

cozlw wrote: »

Hiya

Thanks for the replies so far. I havent left a deposit yet, as my solicitor warned that they were dragging their feet, so I hung onto it. Only good thing I suppose is Im still getting the interest from it in my account.

I called the HA yesterday evening, and spoke to a Manager as I was so frustrated with the lack of contact from my allocated contact. I found out my contact has gone on holiday for 2 weeks (thanks for letting me know) and that before going she said the sale had gone through and completed! !!!!!!? :eek:

Obviously her manager wasnt impressed that I was calling with no completion and no efforts from her staff to chase it up. She genuinely didnt sound aware of it at all!

I dont want to pull out of the sale, I just feel disheartened that it has taken them so long to get this far and it still seems that so much is left to do!

You are right to be saying !!!!!!. One question I would ask in your position is would I want to deal with shared ownership with this outfit, given what has happened. It looks to be like your solicitor is handling the matter correctly. I would suggest a chat with him with a view to giving the HA 14 days to present details to him. Failing that, I would just walk away.

cozlw

Incisor wrote: »

You are right to be saying !!!!!!. One question I would ask in your position is would I want to deal with shared ownership with this outfit, given what has happened. It looks to be like your solicitor is handling the matter correctly. I would suggest a chat with him with a view to giving the HA 14 days to present details to him. Failing that, I would just walk away.

I have considered walking away from it, as everyone I speak to is so suprised at how it is being handled but I just dont know whether I could cope with starting the process again elsewhere!

Do you know whether I would be liable for any solicitors fees etc if I were to walk away from it? As mentioned in my first post, I have already paid them a cheque of £200 which they have cashed to begin carrying out searches (something which they cant actually start until the land is registered).

My aunt bought new build and said she actually moved into the house which waiting for the registry to go through, as it was taking almost 6 months and she had her family at the time.

In my call yesterday, I did say to the Manager that I have had to leave rented accomodation asap as I was supposed to be completing last week, hence the urgency. Im now waiting on her to call me this morning with an update, as she has been completely out of the loop.