Limited Title vs Absolute Title?

josievg

Hi, could any of you knowledgeable folks explain to me the difference between limited title and absolute title.

Thanks in advance.

Pigster_2

Hi, we looked into this when we bought a couple of years ago as it was relevant to us. I am sure others more expert (Richard Webster?) will correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that limited title guarantee is given by a vendor who has limited knowledge of the property and cannot give a full title guarantee, such as someone selling on behalf of a deceased owner (this was the situation for us as the vendors were the children of the - deceased - previous owner). Full title guarantee is the standard guarantee given by a vendor in "normal" circumstances.

We understood that, once we had completed the transaction, if we were to ever sell then that would now be with full title guarantee.

Overall it was initially a minor concern for us but once our solicitor had explained the position it was not a problem at all.


Hope that helps.

josievg

Thanks. I think you are right.

Our vendors are also children of the deceased. I've googled for info and it seems to be the norm for probate properties.

The house we are buying also had unregistered title but, because of an uncertainty relating to the boundary, the vendors are now registering title before the sale goes through.

There seems to be a slight overlap of info relating to limited title and how it refers to the probate situation (ie current sellers don't have full knowledge of the property) but also the unregistered title aspect and how registering gives someone full / absolute title.

I'm concluding it's not a major issue and think that, even after they have registered the title, they will still be selling with limited title guarantee.

When it gets registered to us after the sale I think we will have absolute title so I will put it on my 'after completion' list to check it out again then.

Getting ready to exchange soon so just trying to tie up all the loose ends.

Pigster_2

Best of luck - hope it all goes smoothly for you.

Richard_Webster

When you transfer a property you can do so with full title guarantee, limited title guarantee (typically by those with little knowledge of the property) or no title guarantee (even less knowledge).

The general rule is caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) and none of these title guarantees guarantee very much at all in most situations so it isn't worth getting steamed up over them.

Absolute title is a different thing altogether. It relates to the quality of title at the Land Registry for a particular property. Most titles are absolute but you also find possessory (where the owner has only proved possession for 12 years etc) and has no documentary evidence of title and good leasehold where the chain of transactions since the grant of a lease is good but the Land Registry have no evidence that the freeholder who purported to grant the lease actually owned the freehold at that time. There are thousands of 100 year old long leasehold houses with good leasehold titles.

josievg

Thank you Richard. I was getting full and absolute confused and [wrongly] assuming they were the same thing hence my research bringing up different explanations. It all makes sense now - just about.