Contract & title delay

racingboo

We're in the process of buying a house, and made it clear we are under time pressure for personal reasons. We're not in a chain and the house is vacant - it was previously rented. The house was built mid-2000's so title is held electronically, I looked it up and found it listed so it doesn't need to be retrieved manually like pre-1970s properties. As far as I could tell the property was on the market a good while.

Particulars of sale were issued five weeks ago today. I enquired from the estate agent what was holding things up two business days before the four weeks mark and was told an additional architect's drawing of a common area shared by the house we're buying and the one next to it (semi-detached, shared entry, private back gardens) was needed. It was "almost done" and would be sent to the vendor's solicitor by last week Tuesday (day after week 4 mark).

Nothing happened, so I contacted the EA again last week Thursday (two business days before the five week mark) and was told the drawings are done and are "being sent" to the vendor's solicitor. I asked to be notified when the drawings are sent. Nothing through Friday, nothing so far today.

I am getting extremely worried because as much as I want to be understanding of delays under the current circumstances, the reason I am being given for the delay doesn't seem to make sense. Apparently everything else is ready to go, only these drawings are outstanding. If the drawings are done, why is it taking so long for them to be sent? Are they strapping them to the back of a snail and literally sending it snail mail?

Is this normal and if not, what could be the real reason behind the delay? Should we start looking for another property? We want to wait until Thursday to contact the EA again as we don't want to be so bothersome that the vendor withdraws, but today our lender phoned to ask why we haven't sent them insurance documents yet and the consultant was surprised and taken aback to hear we haven't even received contracts and copy title. Understanding but bemused, iykwim. We decided even so to still wait until Thursday, but should we put more pressure on?

I'm stressing myself to death here and would appreciate any insight from people who have been through this process or who have knowledge of conveyancing.

Dolbhad

There is a bit of misconception with the land registry online system. You still need a lot of original documents like the certificate of compliance with planning permission and building regulations etc.

The red flag to me there is the “shared entrance”. That’s not normal so could be the reason for the delay. In Cork shared entrances are very common council houses that are a row of terraced houses. But you don’t see them in modern estates as they are a headache. It sounds like they haven’t issued contracts yet as they don’t know what they are selling until the get the map. Do you own the whole entrance with next door having a right of way over the entrance? Or vice Versa? Or do you both own half the shared entrance with a right of way over the other half). Things were a lot more lax during boom years. Bank are much stricter now so you would need to know the situation.

It sounds like they know these are questions your solicitor will raise so trying to sort them out at the start.

racingboo

The layout is, entrance to basically a small parking lot that is shared by the two semi detached houses and one adjacent building that is currently vacant. The two semi detached houses are both owned by the vendor, we are buying one of these.

The info we were given is that everything is ready except the architect's drawing of this shared area, which was never done when last the property changed hands. I assume this was because both houses were bought, perhaps even built, by one owner.

It's reassuring that they're anticipating questions and getting answers ready in advance, but it worries me when I'm told the document is done and being sent but then it isn't.

Thanks again for your answer though, I feel slightly less stressed at least having a plausible explanation.