Land Registry check doesn't show my flat on credit report

shoop_2

I bought my flat just over 2 years ago, a leasehold of the (period conversion) flat and a share of the freehold for the building.

At the time all documents including from the council, the electoral register and the Royal Mail named the flat as "2a" (the building as a whole being number 2). The only difference was the land registry, which referred to it as "Flat 1".

About a year later I checked my credit report and realised that my ownership of the flat was not showing up. Rather than change all bills, bank statements etc I contacted the Land Registry to ask them to update their records to call the flat by the name it was known everywhere else. They insisted that their records were correct, and that I needed to request the council and the Royal Mail to rename the flat "2a" and then their records would automatically update - despite me pointing out that it had always been known as "2a" by both organisations in any correspondence I had had from them.

I duly contacted the council to confirm that they hold my address as "2a", and forwarded their response to the Land Registry. I heard nothing, and stupidly failed to follow it up. Using the Royal Mail address finder I also confirmed that they have "2A" or "2" as the only addresses related to the property (my flat has a separate entrance and letter box so the postal address needs differentiating from the other flats in the building).

I am now looking to apply for a credit card, and on checking my credit report I see it is still not showing my ownership of the property,though my mortgage shows up. I then did a property search on the Land Registry website, and discovered that my flat is no longer listed there as "Flat 1", but is there twice as "2A" (freehold only) and "Flat A" (freehold and leasehold).

My previous dealings with the Land Registry felt like banging my head against a (rather rude) brick wall. Is it worth me pursuing them? Will this issue seriously affect my credit rating? Will a Notice of Correction on the credit report suffice, directing checks to also look for "Flat A" on the Land Registry?

Thanks

kingstreet

Have you actually had a problem applying for credit?

If you haven't, leave well alone. Adding a Notice of Correction will stop you getting any kind of credit where there's an automated system involved as every NOC has to be looked at by a human.

You may make life more difficult for yourself trying to rectify something completely innocuous.

shoop_2

I haven't actually applied for credit yet, I'm just trying to make my report as good as possible.

Thanks for the advice, I hadn't realised a Notice of Correction was such a bad idea - but I don't know whether it's completely innocuous. Surely alarm bells would ring if I seem to be paying a mortgage but not owning a property?

Jeffrey_Shaw

shoop wrote: »

on checking my credit report I see it is still not showing my ownership of the property,though my mortgage shows up. I then did a property search on the Land Registry website, and discovered that my flat is no longer listed there as "Flat 1", but is there twice as "2A" (freehold only) and "Flat A" (freehold and leasehold).

My previous dealings with the Land Registry felt like banging my head against a (rather rude) brick wall. Is it worth me pursuing them? Will this issue seriously affect my credit rating? Will a Notice of Correction on the credit report suffice, directing checks to also look for "Flat A" on the Land Registry?

Start with Royal Mail Postcode website http://www2.royalmail.com
What does it show as the correct address? You can copy a print-off to HMLR and ask that the address used be changed accordingly. If that's no good, then try your Local Authority (District Council) responsible for house-numbering.

kingstreet

shoop wrote: »

I haven't actually applied for credit yet, I'm just trying to make my report as good as possible.

Thanks for the advice, I hadn't realised a Notice of Correction was such a bad idea - but I don't know whether it's completely innocuous. Surely alarm bells would ring if I seem to be paying a mortgage but not owning a property?

The only thing on your credit file which indicates property ownership is the existence of your mortgage account. Nothing refers to a property you own.

G_M

It's an interesting issue. Which body (if any) actually 'owns' address allocation? LR? RM? LA?

When a new road is built, who decides which end starts at number one? The builder/developer or one of the above bodies or someone else? This must happen all the time and there must be a process, with one entity initiating/coordinating/maintaining it.

I'd like to know how it works.

Jeffrey_Shaw

In Sheffield, where I'm based, the addresses arrive like this:
1. Developer (D) obtains PP to build. The new roads' locations are agreed by Council (Local Planning Authority).
2. Council decide numbering scheme for houses, usually, in conjunction with Royal Mail (RM).
3. For flats, much depends on how their letterboxes wil be accessed by postmen/women.
4. Postal address is agreed by Council and RM, then notified to D. It may appear on new-build documentation, if it arrives in time. Otherwise this latter shows only plot numbering.
5. RM decides postcoding and notifies Council, D, OS, and new owner.