FTB Questions - Title/Land Registry.

Bobbbie

Good Evening Money Savers!

I am a FTB just about in position to say GO, and have found a property I am interested in - right area, right price, mortgage will *hopefully* be straightforward, but there is an issue with the Title/Land Deeds.

The property is a 2 bedroom flat on the TOP FLOOR of a 4-storey building (with the other 3 floors also being private residences).
After speaking on the phone to the Estate Agent, I was informed that when the flats were built, they were mis-registered with the Land Registry- the flat I'm interested in was registered as being on a different floor. The flat is owned by a "corporate client", and the Estate agent was told that the purchaser would have to be responsible for sorting this out.
She has said that a Solicitor has advised a different potential purchaser that this can sometimes be a very easy fix (£50 was mentioned) but could also be a longer and more difficult problem. The estate agent said it was not a problem she had seen before, and obviously didn't want me to get my hopes up without finding anything out myself.
I've checked the Land Registry Website, and there's a £50 fee for "Alteration of the register" on a Scale 2 property, which fits the flat, but I do not know if it's that simple.

Has anyone here heard of this before? My main question is "Will I still be able to get a mortgage for the asking price (or under!) on the property, and will I then be kicked in the business area by a massive fee to fix the deeds....

Sorry if I've used incorrect terminology, but I was desperatly scribbling notes as I was on the phone! I will call again the estate agents sometime tomorrow and try and get a little more info, but I don't want to start paying fees to a solicitor if it's not something that's easily fixed.

I will update tomorrow night with any more information I find out, but if anyone does know anything, please share!

Regards,
Bobbbie

foreversummer

Hi
I don't see why you should have to bear the cost of this. Does the value of the flat reflect that there is a problem with the registration?

I have always found the Land Registry to be very helpful and you can ring them. Even better still, call into your local Land Registry Office. But before you do either, make sure you have all the facts and a good understanding of what the problem actually is.

I still think that if the seller wants to sell the property they need to take responsibility for it. I don't think it is right that they say the buyer has to sort the mess out.

This sort of thing is going to put a lot of buyers off so don't rush into anything I would say.

DVardysShadow

I would not touch this with a bargepole. If the corporate client wishes to sell this they have to provide good title, and they are in a better position to have the knowledge of the property to facilitate this. If they had other flats in the block, I can imagine that they have sold one and got the paperwork wrong and someone is covering up. Or there is some nightmare to be sorted.

Bobbbie

Thanks very much for the advice so far.

As the property hits all the other right buttons, I am going to proceed with caution, get a MIP sorted, then find out exactly what the problem with the Title is, and pressure the buyer to get it sorted out before I sign anything or agree to a purchase price.

Thanks foreversummer, I didn't think of ringing the land Registry myself to see what they say, so I will do so post haste!

Rgds,
Bobbbie

Conrad

Bobbbie wrote: »

I am going to proceed with caution,

Both the lenders and your own Lawyer will be the key players in all this. The mortgage will not be released without good and sound legal title.
There will be other relavant parties that need to be involved, for example the insurers that insure the building will need to be aware of any address / title changes as will any property managment firm.