House not on land registry.

strech

The house we are buying has been in the same family since the early sixties but is not on the land registry, how long does take to sort out?

zzzLazyDaisy

Providing all the papers are there and there are no complications (ie the owners on the title deeds are in fact the people who are selling the house and not some dead relative) the actual purchase shouldn't take any longer. The delay comes with first registration at the land registry, but that's after you have bought your house and it doesn't affect you for practical purposes, it just takes longer to register your purchase. The solicitor's fees might be more, though, because it can be more time consuming checking through unregistered deeds, than the registered title from the LR.

strech

we only found out about this on the day of exchanging contracts?

zzzLazyDaisy

In that cae all the work has been done. If you have exchanged contracts you already have a completion date. The actual registration of the deeds takes olace after completion and will take the land registry longer to return the registered title to your solicitor, but that won't affect you - unless you plan on selling again within the next few months.

darkpool

before the 1980s land registration was a bit old fashioned. they didnt always bother with maps etc. nowadays when a property changes hands they plot the boundaries on a huge electronic map.

i'm sure the property will be in the land register, it will just be in a huge book.

strech

No that stoped the exchange of contracts havent got moving day thought when you sign contracts all i dotted and t crossed?

strech

Is this not late in the day too find this out?
started purchase of property early jan
signed contracts 21/march
exchange 23/march
moving day was to be 30/march

zzzLazyDaisy

So you haven't exchanged contracts? When you sign the contracts, you are simply getting ready for exchange, it is not until contracts have actually been exchanged that the i's are dotted and the t's crossed.

However your solicitor would have been aware some time before exchange that this was not registered land, so you need to speak to the solicitor and ask what the hold up is. No-one on here can tell you that, as we can't see the papers.

Richard_Webster

No that stoped the exchange of contracts havent got moving day thought when you sign contracts all i dotted and t crossed?

Signing a contract doesn't legally commit you - but your solicitor cannot exchange unless you have first signed. This should have been explained to you.

Are you saying your solicitors only discovered the title was not registered when you came to exchange? That would suggest some very dozy solicitors.

Or are you merely talking about a date when you hoped to exchange?

However, as has already been explained the mere fact that the title is unregistered does not mean you can't buy the property - just a bit more stuff for your solicitors to check through.

strech

I know that but when we signed the contract the solicitor never mentioned this it was only on the day of exchange she phoned up at 4:50pm and said it cant go ahead because of this.

strech

All im saying its a bit late in the day to find this out should this have not been found out earler thought that would have been one of the first searches done?