Solicitor not acting in my best interests?

DRice

Hi

I am not sure my solicitor is acting in my best interests in a property deal, finding things like "local needs planning conditions " for why I am not allowed to buy the property when no one else has brought this up before, I feel like he is doing more harm than good causing alarm with the seller etc.seriously is he representing the county council or me??



Should I fire him ? I haven't signed any contracts with him all done by email /phone.

Formal loan offer is on the way to him from our bank but I don't trust him with anything , and he is the biggest obstacle to the deal going through. if I could I would pick someone else.

Would I cause even more hassle by switching lawyer at this stage ? Is he just doing his job?

I feel like telling him to "just sign the papers like you are paid to do " and stop causing blockages
I don't know anything about property law and I just really want the house.

He seems to be the only one looking out for you.

DRice

[Deleted User] wrote: »

He seems to be the only one looking out for you.

What do you mean?

DRice

DRice wrote: »

Hi

I am not sure my solicitor is acting in my best interests in a property deal, finding things like "local needs planning conditions " for why I am not allowed to buy the property when no one else has brought this up before, I feel like he is doing more harm than good causing alarm with the seller etc.seriously is he representing the county council or me??



Should I fire him ? I haven't signed any contracts with him all done by email /phone.

Formal loan offer is on the way to him from our bank but I don't trust him with anything , and he is the biggest obstacle to the deal going through. if I could I would pick someone else.

Would I cause even more hassle by switching lawyer at this stage ? Is he just doing his job?

I feel like telling him to "just sign the papers like you are paid to do " and stop causing blockages
I don't know anything about property law and I just really want the house.

Which is why you have a solicitor.

road_high

A good solicitor tells you what you NEED to hear, not what you want to hear!
If there's local planning issues he's telling you about then he's doing his job well- the seller can be "alarmed" all they want quite frankly, it's your money.

Samuel T. Cogley

road_high wrote: »

A good solicitor tells you what you NEED to hear, not what you want to hear!
If there's local planning issues he's telling you about then he's doing his job well- the seller can be "alarmed" all they want quite frankly, it's your money.

Generally it isn't it's the banks hence why people think solicitors might not be working for them - in the sense of ploughing ahead with poor property buying choices. They have a duty to the bank also.

overshoot

It sounds like his is doing his job. A rural house is tied to the applicant and them meeting the rural housing policy and showing need. It's standard for a condition on a new build that 1)after completion they inform the council of their occupation, 2) if the house or site is sold within 7 years is to someone who also meets the policy. Non compliance is a breach of planning. He has a duty to inform you of that.

James 007

DRice wrote: »

What do you mean?

Thats his job mate. It sounds as if you want to buy the property and complain 3 years down the line why your solicitor didn't pick this up or that up.

His job is to pick up on all issues related to the property. Your job is then to weigh up all the issues found and make a decision whether or not to buy the house.

davindub

It seems like you are intending to buy a dwelling that was granted planning permission on the basis of local needs only. Your solicitor will need to check if the vendor can legally sell to you. Some planning permissions restrict the ownership of these houses to persons who fulfill the criteria for a number of years after granting of permission. A contract based on breach of planning regulations would be void.

Ideally you will want a solicitor with enough professional scepticism to check out these things before you waste months trying to complete the sale. I doubt he has a personal interest or enjoys not completing sales, he may be over cautious, but conveyancing definitely includes title checks and any covenants attached.

pilly

Samuel T. Cogley wrote:

Generally it isn't it's the banks hence why people think solicitors might not be working for them - in the sense of ploughing ahead with poor property buying choices. They have a duty to the bank also.

I don't get your point Samuel? This is OP's solicitor.

nosilver

The seller is hardly going to tell you about a planning restriction. That is what your solicitor is there for - if anything, the solicitor is very much acting to protect you.

If the house has been built in the past 10 years or so, the full planning file will be online. Part of the planning conditions would be that only someone who has local need may live in the house - sometimes this has a time limit and other get out clauses.

Read the full planning file and see what the exact restrictions are.

Ps. You have a GOOD solicitor.

Rackstar

Could the solicitor, be acting any more in your best interest?

Panrich

DRice wrote: »

What do you mean?

He's making sure that your desire to just get the house doesn't cloud your judgement.

Graham

pilly wrote: »

I don't get your point Samuel? This is OP's solicitor.

OPs solicitor will still be expected to tell the OPs lender that all is in order for the mortgage. Not something the solicitor is likely to do if there are outstanding issues.

pilly

Graham wrote:

OPs solicitor will still be expected to tell the OPs lender that all is in order for the mortgage. Not something the solicitor is likely to do if there are outstanding issues.

Okay but surely that's still in OP's best interest?

Graham

pilly wrote: »

Okay but surely that's still in OP's best interest?

You would think.

DRice

I am still a bit suspicious of this being in my best interests, but I am willing now to at least consider it , so thanks for detailed helpful responses.

Graham

DRice wrote: »

I am still a bit suspicious of this being in my best interests, but I am willing now to at least consider it , so thanks for detailed helpful responses.

You would be fairly upset to discover you'd purchased a property which you couldn't legally occupy.

You'd be even more upset when you discovered such a planning restriction made it incredibly difficult to re-sell the same property.

Juwwi

DRice wrote: »

I am still a bit suspicious of this being in my best interests, but I am willing now to at least consider it , so thanks for detailed helpful responses.

What are you suspicious about ?

Unless its a bargain and he wants to buy it himself which is very very unlikely he is just doing his job .

mickdw

That planning condition is a deal breaker and if your solicitor allowed this deal to go through without highlighting this, they would be liable should you later wish to issue proceedings against them for allowing you get into a situation where you would not be planning compliant.

nosilver

DRice wrote: »

I am still a bit suspicious of this being in my best interests, but I am willing now to at least consider it , so thanks for detailed helpful responses.

Another way to think of it is that the price of the house is the potential cost to the solicitor if he/she does their job wrong.

It is possible for you to check the details and take a calculated gamble on the local needs planning condition. - I did the same, it had local needs condition for 10 years til 2014, I took the gamble.

The bank won't be too concerned as it normally states that it excludes the condition if it is being sold to satisfy a mortgage.

However if the condition lasted til 2025 and you wanted to sell in 2020 for whatever reason, the price would be lower than if it had no conditions.

Basically the only possible loser is you, hence the solicitor is 100% looking after your interest and yet you question that?