Does it really take this long (been nearly 7 months now) to sell a house in the UK? and has chain collapsed and solicitors just never informing you? Advise needed please, thanks!
Posted by DerShadowLord@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 21 comments
We accepted an offer back in late April, and since then, we've been facing delays due to issues with the third chain, including a deed of variation and difficulties securing a mortgage from the bank. These issues, combined with solicitors going on holiday, have dragged on for months without clear updates on the progress.
Solicitors and estate agents keep saying, "We'll exchange contracts next week, or the week after," but it feels like the same message repeats endlessly. Is it normal in the UK for this process to take so long with such minimal communication? For context, we aren't even buying, just purely selling...do we keep waiting???
Any opinion based on similar experiences would be greatly appreciated!
7ootles@reddit
Seven months? Rookie numbers. It can take years to buy a house.
The problem is that the solicitors who are supposed to handle the contracts are too busy handling their genitals to get any work done.
DerShadowLord@reddit (OP)
It is so ridiculous. I appreciate all the experience sharing, makes me feel somewhat at ease.
These solicitors just seem to love taking the piss...there has to be a change to the system to make them accountable...surely
Objective-Resident-7@reddit
This rarely happens in Scotland. It's not UK.
SnoopyLupus@reddit
Yeah. Their system is much better than ours.
Forever_a_Kumquat@reddit
Both times I've bought a house it's been over 6 months from offer acceptance to completion. Both times there was only 1 other person in the chain, so as simple as it gets. Both times solicitors were the main cause of hold ups. Not doing paperwork, not replying to queries, not relaying information, not releasing funds etc.
ARobertNotABob@reddit
Conveyancing staff are difficult to attract and keep...poor wages, as usual.
Comfortable--Box@reddit
Same, only bought a house once, one person in the chain and took 6 months from offer acceptance to completion.
Significant-Ship-665@reddit
The house buying / selling situation in the UK is pathetic. You can 'buy' a house with no checks on your income or if you can afford it. You can pull out at any time and walk away with no consequences. It's rubbish. Selling at auction is really good, but you don't get as much. Maybe look into it?
FridayGeneral@reddit
You can make an offer but if you can't afford it, you would be quickly rumbled. You certainly can't buy it without the necessary cash/mortgage.
The consequences are that you would lose the money spent on searches, surveyor, solicitor, etc.
Significant-Ship-665@reddit
You have to agree though, that's it's pretty rubbish. Why not, when you put an offer in, you have to stump up say a 10% ,non refundable deposit? Surveys/searches provided by the seller (via an independent 3rd party). Basically, more accountability from the buyer (seller should also be restricted from withdrawing the offer. Deal completes in 30 days. Specifics aside, houses are bought every day so they could streamline the system massively
FridayGeneral@reddit
Because you might find out something after making an offer that makes the sale fall through, e.g. search reveals a problem, which is common - at least 50% of sales fall through like this.
If you lose tens of thousands of pounds 50% of the time you make an offer, very few people are going to make an offer.
TurnipTorpedo@reddit
My house purchase took over 4 months from instructing solicitors to completion date. For me there was no chain and literally just me buying a brand new house from a developer who'd just built it. So that timescale with chain sounds perfectly possible. I had the whole it'll be next week, then the week after and it's because often things crop up that noone involved expected and they have to be resolved before you can get onto the next part of the process. For example for me right at the end of the process the land registry raised an issue with the estate plan which delayed everything by another week and a half.
Randa08@reddit
Took me 18 months as a first time buyer, to buy a vacant possession. All down to the solicitors on both sides being shady.
Red-Peril@reddit
You need to be the squeaky wheel. Phone every other day for an update and talk to your buyer asking them to do the same. Every time I’ve sold a house I’ve been a total pain in the arse to the solicitor, I’m sure, but the first time we were in six weeks after making an offer and the last time a chain of four took ten weeks. It’s perfectly possible if people pull their fingers out.
Al-Calavicci@reddit
Solicitors almost every time, to them it’s just another job and most seem oblivious to the fact that it’s your life on hold while they fuck about.
Purchased a house from a family, for cash, no chain, signed a waiver so no searches etc were required (had owned the property before), still took three months on what should have been just the legal transfer of the property. Add to that it took the Land Registry a year to actually transfer the deeds, but that’s another discussion.
TheShakyHandsMan@reddit
My fiancée literally had to get documents signed in person and hand delivered them to a solicitor over 100 miles away as the solicitor in charge of one part was dragging their feet and struggling to contact the relevant parties.
She found them after a 10 minute google search and sorted it out herself and got a snooty reply from the solicitor asking why she did their job for them.
CycIizine@reddit
In England and Wales, yes it's common. Less so in Scotland given the different legal system.
tmstms@reddit
It all depends how fadt the market is where you are.
The house we bought and now live in was on the market for 3 yrs, giving us loads to time to make up our minds! The average time for our town was very long at the time.
Chains cause a scary % of deals to collapse. At least 20%.
MountainMuffin1980@reddit
I felt so free and lucky when we bought our first place as it was our first house so we had no chain. We actually had our offer accepted below what some others had offered because the seller knew we could pay and finalise everything right away with no chain worries. Can't imagine the headache of trying to buy and sell at the same time...
imminentmailing463@reddit
When you're in a chain, these things can drag on for months. Sounds perfectly plausible to me. It only takes one person in the chain to be disorganised, inefficient or just hem and haw about whether they actually really want to sell and the whole thing grinds to a halt.
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