# How long does it get to get house deeds?



## olivia (22 Oct 2007)

We purchased a house last December (no mortgage).  We have still not received the deeds and my solicitor tells me (when I can get a response from her, which is with great difficulty) that it ‘can take months’ to get the deeds.  It is nearly a year now and nothing doing.  I have 2 questions – how long does it normally take and what is the process and how can I find I track the progress (apart from through my solicitor).


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## MOB (23 Oct 2007)

Some possible reasons for a delay of this length are:

1.  Your solicitor is or was awaiting papers from the solicitor for the vendor.  For example, the solicitor for the vendor would have redeemed the vendor's mortgage if there was one; Then they would have written to the legal department of the bank to get a release signed.  Then they would have sent it to your solicitor; Then your solicitor would have registered it in the Land Registry or Registry of Deeds.  

2.  If it is a registered titile, the Land Registry - in particular the mapping section.  If the property you bought was a single Folio, then registration can go through in a matter of weeks.  However, if the property was part of a larger folio (for example, a site carved out of a housing estate) it can take anything from a few months to a few years for the papers to go through the Land Registry.  In some counties, the Land Registry are currently goign through a process of converting to digital maps, and this has raised a whole new series of bottlenecks.  It will be worth it in the end, but Land Registry Mapping is a serious cause of delay at the moment.  Bear in mind that even if you bought a second hand house in a housing estate, it could still be affected by these delays, if the original purchaser was not yet registered on their own separate folio.

You can check progress online at the Land Registry, but you need an account with them, so it is not practical for a consumer.  It it is a Land Registry title, your solicitor should be able to respond to your queries by sending you a printout from the Land Registry showing your Dealing Number (i.e. the Land Registry reference for processing your application) and its status.


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## Caveat (23 Oct 2007)

In addition to MOB's informative post I would simply add that the delay you are experiencing is not at all unusual.


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## WhatsGoingOn (23 Oct 2007)

olivia said:


> We purchased a house last December (no mortgage).  We have still not received the deeds and my solicitor tells me (when I can get a response from her, which is with great difficulty) that it ‘can take months’ to get the deeds.  It is nearly a year now and nothing doing.  I have 2 questions – how long does it normally take and what is the process and how can I find I track the progress (apart from through my solicitor).


We bought our house 3 years ago and are currently trying to change our mortgage. It is being held up because the Land Registry still have the deeds.


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## Ciaraella (24 Oct 2007)

If your solicitor tells you deeds are with the Land Registry give the Land Registry a ring and try and find out the situation. Ideally you need a folio or dealing (application) number but if you explain that you want to find out if an application has been lodged they will be able to check against either your name, the solicitors office or the name of the previous owners. A good way to check if your solicitor is fobbing you off as it's very easy for them to blame a government department!


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## sammya (28 Oct 2007)

How to get a copy of the deeds without involving the solicitors?


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