How Can You Reduce Conveyancing Delays?
Most clients will ask ‘How long will the sale and/or purchase take?’ It is difficult to advise timescales from the outset of a transaction but Conveyancing Solicitor, Michelle Rock, discusses what can be done to reduce delays…
Whilst sometimes the conveyancer takes the blame for delays, they are usually waiting for third parties such as lenders to issue mortgage offers, search providers to provide searches and managing agents to answer questions etc.
Once your Conveyancer receives all of the information and documentation required, they then need to review it all. Some sales and purchases can be more complex than others; usually the more complex a matter is, the longer it’ll take.
Where there is a chain and offers were accepted at different times, the transactions may be at different stages and when one transaction in the chain is ready another may not have caught up.
What Can A Seller Do To Reduce Delays?
Solicitors sometimes have to wait weeks for contract papers or replies to enquiries to come in from the sellers Solicitor and this can waste time.
Sellers should ensure that they have instructed their Solicitor swiftly after they have accepted an offer or even when the property is put on the market. Sellers will need to provide their ID, complete instruction forms, the Property Information Form and Fittings & Contents Form. Where questions are left blank on the forms they are usually followed up later by the buyer’s Solicitor so please ensure all forms are completed in full to the best of your knowledge at the outset.
Specifically, please ensure all information is provided within the Property Information Form correctly and in full. Have a look at the property, the boiler, the fuse box, the windows and doors and see if there are any dates evidencing their installation. Answers such as ‘don’t know’ are likely to raise further enquiries by the buyers’ Solicitors.
If you have stated within the Property Information Form that you have documents such as boiler certificates, electrical certificates, FENSA Certificates, guarantees, planning permission, building regulation completion certificates etc, please provide these to your Solicitor at the outset and not wait until enquiries are sent by the buyers’ Solicitors requesting these.
Please answer enquiries raised by the buyers’ solicitors swiftly and answer these as accurately as possible. You must ensure your answers are truthful to avoid misrepresentation. Honesty is the best policy when selling a property.
Delays On A Leasehold Property
If you are selling a leasehold property you will have an additional form to complete called the ‘Leasehold Information Form’. Please ensure you know how much Ground Rent and Service Charge you pay and provide your Solicitor with details as to who collects these charges. You will be expected to meet the cost of the leasehold pack for the buyers’ Solicitors and therefore you will need to enquire how much this will be. Leasehold properties take longer to complete than freehold properties due to the number of third parties involved such as the freeholder, the freeholders’ solicitor, managing agents, management companies, housing associations etc. Sadly, it is extremely difficult to reduce delays in a conveyancing transaction caused by third parties as timescales for completions depend on how quickly these parties can turn matters around.
What Can A Buyer Do To Reduce Delays?
As a buyer, please make sure you instruct your Solicitor as soon as your offer is accepted. Provide your ID, instruction paperwork and pay your search money on account as soon as possible. Your Solicitor will also need to see evidence as to where your deposit is being held and if this is in a savings account where you move in money each month, we will also need to see your current account showing where you move funds from.
Some matters can be delayed when we are waiting for mortgage offers so please ensure your mortgage application is started early on in the transaction.
In addition, if you wish to have a survey carried out on the property please arrange this sooner rather than later. It is important to organise your survey early so that if any issues are raised and you decide not to proceed, the costs incurred are kept to a minimum. Please note, following the survey, some clients obtain quotes for remedial works and then renegotiate the price. Where a price is renegotiated, your Solicitor has to inform your mortgage lender of the change and if renegotiations take place too late in the day, this can subsequently delay the transaction.
How We Can Help?
In conclusion, whilst delays can be frustrating, please be assured that your Conveyancer is there to act in your best interests. We need to carry out comprehensive checks to ensure the property you are buying is pitfall free.
As you can see from the above, there are several parties involved in a conveyancing matter and by all working together we can streamline the transaction to ensure completion takes place as quickly as possible.
For further information or to obtain a conveyancing quote, please contact me or any of the team on freephone 0800 011 6666. Alternatively, you can use our online conveyancing calculator at https://www.timms-law.com/conveyancing/.
January 2024