Buying a house/local authority search

Looks like we are pretty much across the line.
All searches back, deposit transferred (should clear with solicitor on 13th) contracts done and completion date all agreed for 28th.

We could have done it sooner but thought it was going to take 30 days for deposit to transfer but in reality its going to take 5.

All seems to have gone rather smoothly (thankfully). The weekend we move in will be exactly 10 weeks since we first viewed the house.


Hope yours is moving along too @billybobmackem2312
 


MackemLass said:
Looks like we are pretty much across the line.
All searches back, deposit transferred (should clear with solicitor on 13th) contracts done and completion date all agreed for 28th.

We could have done it sooner but thought it was going to take 30 days for deposit to transfer but in reality its going to take 5.

All seems to have gone rather smoothly (thankfully). The weekend we move in will be exactly 10 weeks since we first viewed the house.


Hope yours is moving along too @billybobmackem2312
Click to expand...
Hi! Great news for you, good to hear it’s went smoothly. You’ll be able to relax with a drink soon hopefully.
As said previously our sellers solicitor taking the piss. Said she had sent the contract to our solicitor 3 times and hadn’t. Fast forward 2 weeks after she said she’d sent it on the 22nd April (utter bollocks), they were then sent via email, so our searches started last week. Fingers crossed ours goes quickly too.
 
MackemLass said:
Looks like we are pretty much across the line.
All searches back, deposit transferred (should clear with solicitor on 13th) contracts done and completion date all agreed for 28th.

We could have done it sooner but thought it was going to take 30 days for deposit to transfer but in reality its going to take 5.

All seems to have gone rather smoothly (thankfully). The weekend we move in will be exactly 10 weeks since we first viewed the house.


Hope yours is moving along too @billybobmackem2312
Click to expand...
This is really encouraging - we are aiming for end of June for ours to take Max advantage of stamp duty
 
billybobmackem2312 said:
Hi! Great news for you, good to hear it’s went smoothly. You’ll be able to relax with a drink soon hopefully.
As said previously our sellers solicitor taking the piss. Said she had sent the contract to our solicitor 3 times and hadn’t. Fast forward 2 weeks after she said she’d sent it on the 22nd April (utter bollocks), they were then sent via email, so our searches started last week. Fingers crossed ours goes quickly too.
Click to expand...
Ah nightmare!

Must admit, our searches were, or at least seemed to come in pretty quick. I think it worked out 3 weeks for the local authority one and that was the longest.

Fingers crossed you're in and settled soon.
Nookie Bear said:
This is really encouraging - we are aiming for end of June for ours to take Max advantage of stamp duty
Click to expand...
We have been very lucky.
First time buyers
Empty property
Mortgage offer within a week of application.

We had a wait it seemed before the solicitor got in touch with us initially as we got our mortgage offer the day before Good Friday so due to the bank hols it was the following Friday before we heard anything and as they communicated by letter (we only went to the office to pay the fees and hand in the signed contract and deeds) we couldn't make face to face appointments, would have been easier when we dropped the contract off to say, oh by the way... heres the deeds but no, we had to wait for them to come in the post.

Just wish we had clicked on about the 5 days rather than 30 as I've got a week off next week which would have been ideal but never mind I just hope the virign media has been set up for the playoff final 😅.
 
Last edited:
Got our searches back today. Completing next Friday all going well / sellers solicitor actually getting the contracts to the seller. They’ve had them 4 days and hadn’t even informed the seller.
 
billybobmackem2312 said:
Got our searches back today. Completing next Friday all going well / sellers solicitor actually getting the contracts to the seller. They’ve had them 4 days and hadn’t even informed the seller.
Click to expand...
Great news!

Same day as us. Booked the removal van today ready to go 8.30 next sat morning, virgin booked for sat afternoon fingers crossed thats up and running and we are all moved by time the footy starts!
 
billybobmackem2312 said:
Hi all, after a bit advice if possible. Basically me and the missus are buying a house from immediate family and there’s no chain.
we’ve been told by family’s solicitor (sellers solicitor) that there’s a 16-20 week wait for the searches, local authority, land registry, drainage etc. But when looking online it seems like it’s only 4 weeks. Can anyone shed any light or guidance ? 20 weeks seems mental, hate to think we have to wait 5 months, as there’s a lot of work we need to do in order to move in also. It’s it’s Northumberland.
thanks
Click to expand...

I'll ask the mrs how long its taking tonight when she gets in. 20 weeks sounds a lot. I do know they're absolutely manic but dont think sales are taking any longer
 
Hi all, is this thread still live please? My conveyancer as outsourced the searches to searchflow and they say 22 working days. Is this correct? Thank you!
 
kittykatgone said:
Thanks for the quick response. We were previously gazumped so anxious on the timescales as mostly everything has been completed. Also there was some confusion their side and the instruction of the searches has been delayed 5 days.
Click to expand...
The delay is annoying. @Cow deals with some of this and may be able to offer some realistic timelines but 22 days sounds about right.

Stressful going through a house purchase in England mind so good luck and trust the process.
 
kittykatgone said:
Hi all, is this thread still live please? My conveyancer as outsourced the searches to searchflow and they say 22 working days. Is this correct? Thank you!
Click to expand...
Are you still buying in Northumberland? f***ing Searchflow, scourge of the searches industry sorry today. You’re alway best off telling your solicitor to use a local search provider instead of a big national company.

Ranting aside, I’d expect better turnaround times from sewrchflow as they used to be part of the NLIS hub, a gov backed initiative for certain companies to have access to local authority data quickly. It never really materialised but they should still do better than 22 days.

Personally, I’d get on the phone to your solicitor and tell them you want the searches back quicker, don’t take no for an answer.

Out of curiosity, what searches have they said they’re going to do?
 
Cow said:
Are you still buying in Northumberland? f***ing Searchflow, scourge of the searches industry sorry today. You’re alway best off telling your solicitor to use a local search provider instead of a big national company.

Ranting aside, I’d expect better turnaround times from sewrchflow as they used to be part of the NLIS hub, a gov backed initiative for certain companies to have access to local authority data quickly. It never really materialised but they should still do better than 22 days.

Personally, I’d get on the phone to your solicitor and tell them you want the searches back quicker, don’t take no for an answer.

Out of curiosity, what searches have they said they’re going to do?
Click to expand...
Thank you for replying and for the info! I’m buying in Washington, just desperate for it to go through.

The searches I understand to be the personal regulated search and the land searches. Will phone my solicitor as you say. When we were gazumped before the property was in Washington as well and the searches came back really quickly. Maybe the 22 days is covering themselves?? Thanks again.
 
kittykatgone said:
Thank you for replying and for the info! I’m buying in Washington, just desperate for it to go through.

The searches I understand to be the personal regulated search and the land searches. Will phone my solicitor as you say. When we were gazumped before the property was in Washington as well and the searches came back really quickly. Maybe the 22 days is covering themselves?? Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Sunderland are quick, no way are they taking 22 days, they could be covering themselves but the solicitor will have access to all of the searches bar the local authority search within 2-3 days max. The local authority search should be back within 5 days from sunderland.

What a lot of solicitors prefer to do is instruct search providers to wait until all the searches are complete before the search provider returns them to the solicitor. They’ll all be on an online portal so they can go and view them now.

Be firm and tell your solicitor what you want and force their hand a bit, don’t be fobbed off because they’re a legal firm.

Edit: just saw that it’s a personal search you’re getting, this should definitely be back within 5 days, no excuses.
 
Last edited:
Cow said:
Sunderland are quick, no way are they taking 22 days, they could be covering themselves but the solicitor will have access to all of the searches bar the local authority search within 2-3 days max. The local authority search should be back within 5 days from sunderland.

What a lot of solicitors prefer to do is instruct search providers to wait until all the searches are complete before the search provider returns them to the solicitor. They’ll all be on an online portal so they can go and view them now.

Be firm and tell your solicitor what you want and force their hand a bit, don’t be fobbed off because they’re a legal firm.

Edit: just saw that it’s a personal search you’re getting, this should definitely be back within 5 days, no excuses.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your advice, really really helpful. Off to speak to my solicitor
 

Back
Top