It’s the TR1 Land Registry form. My solicitors are saying the vendor’s solicitors ‘must’ receive this before we can exchange (when really we only ‘need’ it before completion).
The agents are agreeing with you. They’re saying we CAN exchange and if the form arrives before completion, great - but if not, it just means my solicitors have to delay registering me as official owner to the land registry by a day or so. I’d be in favour of that approach…
Incidentally my legal fees have risen by 50% because of (in their words):
The complexity of this purchase (it’s a chain-free, leasehold flat in London aka not complex at all).
The fact they’ve constantly had to spend time chasing(to no avail) replies from the seller’s solicitors.
I’m going to pay it. I’m not happy but they have the right to do so under our engagement letter (and I’ve reached the point of just trying to push this through!)… it does feel a bitter pill, as I feel like I’m effectively paying for the ineptitude at the vendor’s end.
We used the online solicitor “Juno” to sell our flat last year, and currently in the process of buying a house with them too. Their service is amazing and it is all online.
You buying a leasehold? Is it a management pack from the management company? If so sellers should pay for it and it can take a few weeks.
It’s pretty essential though as I understand it, so it would pretty amazing / appalling if you’ve got this far down the line without that happening. So I imagine it’s got to be something else.
No, It’s a freehold but has a management company attached as the roads and land around are all private, we have to pay an annual fee towards maintenance, but yes the pack is from the management company though, I’m shocked too that we’ve got this far. Apparently the Sellers solicitor says it’s not needed and an unneccesary cost to the seller and that they’ve apparently supplied our solicitor with the same information that comes in the pack, whereas our solicitor says the opposite to everything the sellers has said.
I was left with no choice but to threaten to pull out on Friday as I’d had enough and now the sellers solicitor has ordered the pack and apparently organised with the management company to of received it by tomorrow, our says if that’s true and we get it tomorrow then hopefully we can exchange and complete on Friday, coincidentally I wrangled an extra few days with our landlord and have our flat until Monday, If we can’t complete on Friday then we’re in the
Okay so sounds like the same thing. Their solicitors sound like charlatans.
It cost our sellers £500 and I understand that’s a typical amount. Amazed you really have got this far without it. Mine was a block of flats though so prob a lot more complex than your document will be.
The cost isn’t quite as excessive for them, it’s £150 i think. Our solicitors were told it would take 2-3 weeks to come from ordering it, yet their solicitors are saying different so i’m genuinely scared and unsure on whether it will come in time. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
Our solicitors have chased it 5 times, i think they were under the impression it had been ordered but it was only Friday we found out it hadn’t been.
The pack arrived today and we were asked to pay our deposit and told our mortgage funds have been requested urgently in time for a completion on Friday. We may not be homeless yet!
Monzo were also a pleasure to deal with today in regard for upping our limits again.
It’s happening! At least I think it is, we were just asked to give our authority for exchange and completion today.
Admittedly we were hit with a massive curveball and asked to pay a large amount of unexpected money today as the sellers solicitor pulled a last minute dirty trick knowing we have no choice other than to cough up if we don’t want to be homeless. Our solicitor said they would challenge it but it would delay completion so it was our call as they know our situation.
They are very shady indeed! I can’t quite believe how much they have stitched us throughout this process.
There’s a management company attached to the property even though its freehold as it’s all private land around, they’ve already robbed hundreds and hundreds off us in unexpected fees to do with this anyway, however there’s an annual fee that we were told was paid up until the end of the next tax year so we wouldn’t have to worry about it until then however on the day of completion they’ve requested to be apportioned back the funds from today until when they paid up till and we have to settle it instead with the management company.
Our solicitor can’t do anything else as it’s not in the memorandum of sale because I never raised it before. So I guess it’s partly my fault with the naivety of being a first time buyer but we were told these things as facts at viewings and at the offer stage and it was never mentioned again. I just thought that was how it was done and didn’t think twice about it so never thought to have it put in the contract
Yh i’m never buying another house! I’ve genuinely started growing grey hairs in this process! I’m not even 30 yet!
They’ve requested funds paid back from you, or from the management company?
If it were me, and I’m a stubborn sod when I want to be, I’d tell them no - and figure that they’d be just as motivated to finish up as you are. But again. Stubborn.
In news about our flat process - this whole thing around “set of new flats being built on top of my flat” - our Solicitor has been so good in this process - makes me really value the time spent to pick the right one. Turns out the Vendors were aware of it, didn’t disclose it on relevant forms, and didn’t disclose it when we specifically asked these questions when viewing / before offering.
So I’m miffed and no doubt will have an interesting phone call to make soon.
We were 99% there (again) but it’s stalled (again). Like last Friday, we were meant to be exchanging today, but a new issue has cropped up - there is some kind’ve storm/water damage to the ceiling, but details are extremely lacking.
It’s the freeholder’s job to fix this as they are responsible for the structure, but that could take several months if scaffolding is required (top floor flat - and it’s suspected damage to the hopper/drain)… Very frustrating, although tbf better to know before exchange took place.
Not quite sure what to do. Seem to have three options:
Option 1 - Exchange, but delay completion ‘subject to the X being fixed’. However there’s no way of knowing when that would be - I suspect months. Meanwhile, if there’s a market crash during that period, or an alternative flat comes up, I’m powerless to act. Or more pressingly, my mortgage expires in a couple of months.
Option 2 - Alternatively, if the damage isn’t too bad then I could exchange / complete, and simply live with the damage until they can fix. Then the issue becomes; how do I asses what ‘too bad’ is - commissioning a survey? I’m not sure, as they won’t have access to the roof to actually assess the damage, and it’ll cost £££s.
Option 3 - Walk away. I’d hate to do this. Love the flat, nice area, and nothing comparable has really come up. Conversely, I’ve moved back home with parents so there’s no burning platform causing me to move.
