land reg

will_3

Is anyone qualified to advise me of my legal position with regards home ownership as I've just discovered that not only has my building soc lost the deeds to the house I am buying but that it was never registered with land registry either. I have lived here since 1982 and have 8 years left on the mortgage.

homer_j_3

I am not a legal bod but it is to my understanding that where houses have been under the same ownership for quite a while and there has been no reason to change any details on the deeds for a similar length, then it may not be uncommon that the land registry have not registered your property. Property title no's are a fairly new thing, i.e last 15 years or so.

Your building society should be liable for the reconstitution (or whatever the process is called these days) of your title deeds to ensure that they are and your are named as having vested interests in the property. However, as the land reg has now moved on from the days of deeds to the days of computers, your deeds are not really anything of that great importance these days providing the landregistry records are accurate. In fact they are probably worth more to a historian than the land registry.

Have you spoken to the building society and asked them?

Vincenzo

Check your buildings/contents insurance. You may have opted for legal cover which will help you sort this out. Some policies will even cover the cost of lost title docs.

Bossyboots

Hold up, I read this differently. Are you saying the property is an UNREGISTERED property or that your TITLE was not registered.

These are different issues and if the latter, the solicitor who acted on the purchase is responsible for the oversight and should put it right at their own cost.

I can assure you that title numbers have been around many years longer than just 15.