Problems expiditing Land Registry

I am having severe issues expiditing my title deeds for land registry. I am heavily pregnant & the stress of losing my chain is really impacting my mental health. I cannot afford any further delays so I really need help as Homes England are not responding after 2 months of chasing.

Rebecca - I'm sorry to read that. I can see you are already in touch with us through our Contact Us channel and the support team are dealing with your recently updated email.
They will respond asap to clarify why we have as yet not been able to complete the registration as we need more from your conveyancer. 
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Hi Adam,

Thank you so much for your reply. 

I purchased my property in Dec 2021, and I sold it in January 2024. My solicitor is having major issues in contacting both Homes England & Property Consent as per an open case with Land Registry to expidite the process.

I am still not the registered owner on the deeds after 2+ years, and my solicitor cannot get a response from Property Consent in order to provide the documentation back to land registry to state that I do indeed own the property.

Is there a way I can share the address privately?. I have sold this in Jan 2024, and also secured an onward purchase. I am due to go on maternity leave imminently and my whole chain is about to collapse due to the lack of help from Homes England.

Hi Rebecca - my post identifies the application details and relates to Flat 6. So the ball is very firmly in your conveyancer's court and only they, Ison H, can resolve it for you.
They are fully aware of what's required but as yet have not provided the HE consent.
The only thing we can offer via the forum is that I will reach out to HE, as a fellow government department, to see if they can shed any light on the issue/delay but if your conveyancer has not requested or secured the necessary consent then HE won't be able to resolve it for me either.
What has your conveyancer actually told you?

Hi Adam, yes I understand that they are yet to reply but that is my point. They cannot get a response from Homes England in order to provide the requisition points. And what I am trying to understand is if I purchased the property in Dec 2021, then why is the land registry still not in my name and therefore I am penalised with this delay?

my mental health is in tatters because of this as I explained and I cannot see a way at this point due to the sheer incompetence of all parties as the conveyancer is being passed pillar to post and cannot get a response to provide what we need. 

Hi Rebecca - the application to register was only submitted on 22nd May 2023 so hopefully your conveyancer can clarify why the timeline between 2021 and that submission date was so long.
After submission the delay lies with us as we have a backlog of this type of work. It wasn't processed until January 2024 but since then we've been waiting for the conveyancer to supply the requested information 
Totally understand and appreciate the impact this has and will be having on you and your family. You must rely on your legal representative here with regards ensuring that your purchase is completed in full. And then us to register it. But without the required consent we can't complete our end of the process.
I have reached out to HE as I posted and whilst I cannot guarantee that will prove successful re a solution I will share the outcome and try to offer a steer as to what might be done next.

Hi Rebecca - I am making progress with Homes E but am hopefully nearing the intended point of contact. I deal with Homes E re mortgage redemptions but my contact has referred me through their internal contact channels and I will hopefully have something to share soon. 
I'm sorry for the delay but I am doing all that I can on behalf of HMLR. It is still something that the conveyancer involved should be pursuing but hopefully I can at least identify where the issue lies and that way enable someone to then solve it.

Hi Adam, thank you so much for the update and all you are doing to help me, I appreciate it so much. I have been in regular contact with the conveyancer who by the looks of things had only had minimal correspodence with the property consents team, & she advises 'her hands are tied' so I am finding it extremely infuriating as you can imagine!

Hi Rebecca - understood and appreciated. I assume your conveyancer has hands tied as they are not the ones dealing with Homes E directly. 
It's unfortunate that we now have a long weekend and whilst I will keep an eye on email responses from Homes E I suspect if I don't hear today then it won;t be until Tuesday at the earliest that they respond

Hi Adam, yes I assume so also however I have found it quite alarming her lack of urgency considering my situation & her awareness of my chain near point of collapse. I really appreciate your help!!

Hi Rebecca - I continue to press Homes E but as yet no full response. I'm assuming you have heard nothing more from the conveyancer or anyone else involved in the transaction  from your end?

Hi Adam.

Thank you! I have had to pay £60 to Homes England Property Consents which I did yesterday, and I believe they are now aware I have paid and have been asked to process as a matter of urgency. Apparently the developer should never have been able to sell me a flat with a lease without the doc. My conveyancer believes that once they recieve the consent doc they can then continue with the expidite but they haven't disclosed any timescales.

Hi Rebecca - that's good news that you've been able to move things on. I will continue to press from my end but will keep an eye on the application itself to see when the missing info arrives to do our best to then get it over the finish line swiftly.
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Hi Adam, 

Hope you had a good weekend. I have contacted both property consents and my conveyancer on Thursday/Friday and this morning, however no response. I am due to begin my maternity in a matter of weeks so it is becoming even more crucial.
 

Hi Rebecca - understood and appreciated. Our hands remain tied but I will chase again re Homes E but suspect my chases are simply Q'ing up at their end. If I can progress matters I will of course share

Thank you Adam, I really appreciate it! I have since had an update from my conveyancer  who has advised that even though i've now paid the money for the consent, I am being viewed as a 'bulk' case as there are others in my predicament with the consents for this site. However, this is extremely unnacceptable that I am now being delayed even further due to being part of this bulk consent. The stress is becoming too much to bear. Property consents assured us this would be escalated urgently but it is now slowed right down due to the bulk case.

Rebecca - as I think I shared previously there are a few other plot sales/purchases that are in the same position as you. And I suspect that is why a 'bulk consent' is being referenced. However that is solely down to Homes E to resolve for all of you and neither you, the other buyers, conveyancers or ourselves can resolve that.
I can keep asking for an update/assistance but in many ways that's simply mirroring what you/your conveyancer and others have done. And if Homes E's process is 'slow' then we are all reliant on them to escalate/speed matters up 

Yes I understand there are others, however I have pushed and pushed to reach a resolve for myself considering my situation that I won't bore you with again. And I paid the money last week on the promise that the consent would then be released, to which I am now told it wont be due to the bulk of others who are quite frankly not my concern. I don't understand how this ever happened in the first place, but I am now paying for it as the delay if any longer is going to be absolutely detrimental.

Hi Rebecca - I have now received a response from Homes E advising that the issue is being dealt with but with no specific timeframe included.
The issue appears to have arisen as a result of actions by the developer from 2021 onwards but they didn't seek the required consents early enough and the issue has only now come to light in cases such as your own but also includes others similarly affected
Homes E have promised to keep me updated so hopefully your own efforts plus my lesser ones will hopefully press home the urgency further. 

Hi Adam, thanks for the update. So legally was the developer able to do this? I can't understand how they can sell without this, and how my solicitor did not pick up on this at the time? Also, I did request to Homes E that my case was treated individually so I do not get caught up with the back log of this bulk on the estate that they talk of. I am still yet to hear back if Property Consents have even sent over the consent yesterday as promised.