Late hand-over of keys and same-day exchange and completions are among the factors causing greatest stress to people moving home – as well as the removals industry.
A survey completed by people working in removals says problems are so frequent, that a smooth home move is extremely unlikely.
Problems such as end of the month completions, uncertainty of the exact completion date until the last minute, and busy Friday completions were among other common problems cited.
The industry, which lays the blame on conveyancing solicitors and their lack of communication, says that problems over moving cause not just extra stress to customers but give removals companies a logistical nightmare, because it is so difficult to know how to redeploy removals teams when a move is cancelled at the last minute.
Stephen Terry of Anglo French Euro Removals in Maidstone, Kent, said: “One client we currently have in storage has had three provisional moving dates booked with our company and had to cancel all of them at late notice. This client is elderly and getting more stressed by the day.”
Jane Finch, a relocation consultant and owner of social network Moving etc... TV, said: “Many local councils now require 7–14 days’ notice to suspend parking outside a property, and with only a couple of days notice to book a move, it is not always possible to plan properly.
One remover said: “The majority of our moves are booked with less than two weeks’ notice, and 65% are booked with less than a week’s notice. This results in more removals being undertaken without a survey, so there is no chance to check parking, volume or access, etc.”
Another major problem facing removal companies is the regular occurrence of late hand-over of keys, sometimes even after 4 or 5pm on completion day.
Berin Riley of Move-it Channelmoving in Ashford, Kent, said: “Frequently, late hand-over of keys causes financial losses, as clients rarely will agree to extra charges after the event. Unloading at 10pm is not uncommon in these circumstances, but we need the vehicle to be emptied to honour the next day’s bookings.”
Russell Start, managing director of Pickfords Removals, the largest removal company in the UK, said all these are very real issues which need to be addressed.
He said: “Twenty-five years ago, the time between exchange and completion of contracts was between 14 and 28 days. This gave the customer enough time to plan their move, notify their utility and telephone suppliers, book their removal company and move in with relative ease.
“Now we very often see exchange and completion happening on the same day, which can create operational challenges and stress, anxiety, and sometimes additional costs to the client.”
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Comments
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Jesus, do you not have anything better to do with your time FBA? Talk about solicitors giving each other a bad name?
Do you really need to check back hourly to see if someone has made a reply to your jokes? How insecure.
Not all solicitors are bad, 99% of solicitors give the rest a bad name. They work hard, just like beavers, beavering away. They get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.
A Solicitor dies and goes to heaven. He reaches the pearly gates and is amazed to see a happy crowd all waving banners and chanting his name. After a few minutes St. Peter comes running across and says, "I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you personally. God is looking forward to meeting such a remarkable man as yourself."
The Solicitor is perplexed. "I've tried to lead a good life, but I am overwhelmed by your welcome," he tells St. Peter. "It's the least we can do for someone as special as you are. Imagine, living to the age of 160 and still looking so young," says St. Peter. The man looks even more dumbfounded and replies, "160? I don't know what you mean. I'm only 40."
St. Peter replies, "But that can't be right - we've seen your billing sheets where you charge your clients for your time!"
I sent my solicitor an e-mail and got this 'auto' reply
Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged £5.99 for the first 10 words and £1.99 for each additional word in your message.
Bloke goes into see a Solicitor and says
"I know you people are very expensive, so I propose, if I give you £1,000 will you answer 2 questions for me?"
The Solicitor thinks about this for a moment, then says "yes, OK, have you got the money with you?"
The bloke hands over £1,000
The Solicitor counts out the money, satisfied it is all there he puts it in his pocket. The Solicitor then looks up at the chap and says:
"Right, what is your second question?"
There are ways for solicitors and agents to work together efficiently so as not to interupt the flow of work and to ensure good communication. They both have a common goals, completion and payment. Sit down together and work out a simple updating process.
From my experience, there are a lot of bad conveyancing firms out there (as well as estate agents). All to often, my staff will leave messages for updates, for nobody ever to get back to them. There are certain firms that won't even put estate agents through.
Whilst it may be frustrating for solicitors to be constantly fieding calls from agents nagging for updates, this is surely part of what they should expect and if they were able to keep the selling agents updated, this might help keep everybody well up to date.
We have refused to deal with a number of solicitors now, and it is becoming an increasing problem, because they are so poor. Does anybody else find that their sales chasers are having to do 10 X the amount of chasing, up and down the chain now due to solicitors not doing their job properly?
Of course this is only some solicitors and there are a variety of other issues involved but it is certainly how it is where I am.
This is all to do with house prices. If vendors reduced their house prices by 1,000,000 %, the whole world economy would sort itself out and I would finally be able to afford my 6 bed detached mansion in the centre of london that I look at on rightmove everyday.
"The law needs to change so when a solicitor says you can't do it, you just can't do it. Or you get fined."
Okay - so the whole idea of fining someone for wanting to complete a purchase outside of a prescribed date is purdy ridiculous in the first place (sorry, Ms Finch but it is...) - but the last four words completely destroyed the concept pre-takeoff!
WHO would the fine be paid to, by the way? Would EVERY property in the chain need to pay a fine - or just the awkward tw@t who wants to have their cake and eat it?
Ms Finch - people will simply pay the fine... or refuse to pay and threaten to pull out - and another link in the chain or the Agent will chip in to save their commission.
NEXT brilliant idea, please...
Its all about the failing system in this country. In other countries no problems, price agreed=price agreed, moving date is THE moving date !
No gazumping, buyers/vendors pulling out the sale etc etc...
Goverment, change it because buying a pint of milk is more legal binding than buying a property !
Big joke !
Ok Jane, simple, how do you propose getting the law changed? Others have tried and failed. You would be hoisted upon the shoulders of most conveyancers and carried through the streets if we didn't have to exchange and complete in a nano second any more.
Fun Boy Agent, so the blockages are caused by solicitors, not legal issues, not their regulatory obligations or lender requirements etc etc? They just cause blockages for fun? Most are on fixed fees and they don't get paid until completion, why would they purposely delay?
The problem is that the "process" allows it to happen.
When you drive a car and the road sign says no left turn, you "know" that you can't turn left under any circumstances. If there's a red route that says no parking, you know you are not allowed to park there. It's illegal. If you do, you get fined or worse.
Everyone is human, with fears, weakness and mainly ruled by money.Vendors and purchasers can "dictate" and demand whatever they want right now to the rest of the chain. Unfortunately, the property transaction "system" lets completion day issues happen. It's weak with no restrictions.
No matter how strong willed a solicitor or others are in the chain, there is currently no law that says you can't do it.
If our road system was just as chaotic letting drivers go wheree ver they want when everyone knows they shouldn'tt,it would be a nightmare and unsafe.
The law needs to change so when a solicitor says you can't do it, you just can't do it. Or you get fined.
Simple.
Oh my!
This is nothing to do with lack of communication from conveyancing solicitors between themselves, their own clients and estate agents. This has nothing to do with the pompous 'I am better than you' attitudes common to lawyers.
Just wait.....
The problem will be that house prices are to high.
Just wait for the idiot, insignificant, ill informed and totally inept band of moronic HPC'ers to start posting on this story and link it to house prices being too high.
Myself ? I agree with the story, I have 5 exchanges carried over from end of last month into this month, each one due to blockages caused by solicitors, in every case I have very unhappy vendors and buyers. In most cases we end up with potential chain collapses as people involved in the chain wilt and give in to the moving idea altogether which blows the whole deal.
99 times out of 100 it is a d*ckhead vendor (who is often a buyer as well).
I was recently involved in a chain of 6 properties which started with a flat in a posh bit of London for £450k, had a mid-sized house worth £700k, me at £950k, a house at £1.1m and then back down in two steps to £500k.
Initially all of the owners were ultra flexible.
As we got to exchange the owner of the little flat said "This day and NO other, or I withdraw".
I organised holiday cancellations, changed removal van arrivals (on a £950k house let me tell you that's not just one man & his van), etcetera, etcetera.
Then, the day before exchange, the same person, in a two bedroom flat turn round and wanted it two days later.
"If I don't get my date, the deal is off."
There are words to describe people like this.
The stress levels were off the chart.
The worst thing is that they got their way, which just reinforces such horrendous behaviour.
I just wish that someone had told them to just Eff Off.
But then I got paid, so I suppose I mustn't grumble.
Good God. Leaving things till the last minute causes strees? Who'd have thought it eh?
This could be interesting, the removals industry "lays the blame on conveyancing solicitors" not the process and the impatient public? Let the fun start...