Legal question on house purchase

welnik

I've found a property im interested in and have been doing a bit of research before I put my offer in. The estate agent is advertising the property as "believed to be freehold". After obtaining info off the land registry site there is the following info and Im wondering whether it is in fact leasehold? Nethouseprices.com lists it as leasehold also.

"The Land has the benefit of such easements and rights as the conveyance dated................... referred to in the Charges Register has had the effect of granting by virtue section 10 (2) (i) of the leasehold Reform Act 1967"

" A conveyance of the land in this title dated 27th November 1987 made between (1) The Official Custodian for Charities (Official Custodian) (2) the trustees the ***** ***** Trust (Charity) and (3) someones name!

The other thing that concerns me is that it says you cannot operate any business from the dwelling. My husband and I both have businesses and use our home as an office. We occasionally have things delivered in relation to our business.

Another thing I have checked out is the kitchen extension. The way it is constructed couldnt possibly comply with building regulations. A very narrow alley way has been created which could be considered a fire hazard as if you had a visitor of bigger than usual proportions, they would struggle to get out.
ive checked online onthe councils records which go back to 1982 and there is no record of any application for planning going back to this date.

Any advice would be most appreciated!

many thanks, Kaz

seabright

Hello,
It doesn't seem to be leasehold from the bits you've quoted, it's possible it was leasehold in the past but one of the previous owners bought the feehold title too and merged to two. At the very beginning of the Title Registers it should say "Freehold", "Leasehold" or "Commonhold" - you you can't work it out and want to email me the papers to look at, I'd be happy to do that.

It sounds like there's a restrictive covenant on it saying it cannot be used as a business. In the Title Registers does it say which deed restricts the use of the property to non-business? If so, and it also says "copy filed" apply for a copy of that deed, as it may list the type of businesses which aren't allowed, and yours might not fall within it.

However, it may just be a blanket "no business" covenant, in which case you have to take a view. Restrictive covenants can only be enforced by specific people - those named in the original deed which created the restriction and (usually) the successors in title to the original enforcers (ie the people who now own the land that belonged to the original enforcers), but you'd need to check the original deed to see how its worded.

They could try to get an injunction to force you to stop breaching the covenant, and you could have to pay damages to them, but if your businesses are not of a type to cause a nuisance, they'd probably never know.

Also, the people who now have the right to enforce might not know that they have the right, as it probably won't be on their own title deeds.

As for the kitchen extension, if you think it would comply, make your offer conditional on the sellers getting a Completion Certificate or Regularisation Certificate from the Local Authority. If you don't think it will comply, make it conditional on their agreeing to pay for an Indemnity Insurance premium at completion

Hope this helps :j

welnik

Thanks so much for your reply. I was just getting quotes from solicitors and was a bit crafty and read out part of the printoff from the Land Reg. They seem to think it wasnt leasehold, but it depends what else is with the deeds?

The papers I have were downloaded from the Land Reg website and it contains the charges register, proprietorship register and property register so I supposed there are a lot more papers with the actual deeds.

The property we are in at the moment is leasehold. and thinking about it, im sure it says in there about no business use. We have run a business for over 15 years and no-one has ever said anything, so taking a view, perhaps this will not be too much of an issue.

As for the kitchen extension, I suddenly twigged that it probably didnt need planning permission as it wasnt very big. Speaking to the council, they put in a building regs application back in 1973!

Many thanks

Kaz

becsxxx

It is ALWAYS worth checking out the Land Registry details for your property via their website BEFORE instructing solicitors.

The "Office Copy" register entry that you will see is divided into three parts:

1
The Property Register - this gives details of the land and any rights that benefit it. The very first paragraph of this 99% of the time says "the freehold" or "the leasehold" land somewhere in it.

2
The Proprietorship Register - shows who the current owner is

3
The Charges Register - shows if there's a current mortgage and also any restrictions on the property eg: a restrictive covenant against business use.

ALWAYS get full copies of any documents containing restrictive covenants. As said previously, they have to be enforced by a specific person, eg: a neighbour - so if you're running a discreet office business from home you're unlikely to have a problem. check the date of the restrictive covenant - they are often from 1960/70s when office home use wasn't really conceived of and are unlikely to be enforced now.

Hope this helps