Boundary Issues

madmum2012

Hi

We have had an offer accepted on a property with 1/2 acre field behind neighbours house, contracts with solicitor etc, boundary map didn't show 1/2 acre so vendors solicitor redrew map in red outlining the field. Our solicitor said this was fine !

Turns out house next door is owned by council and they have just put it up for sale with 1/2 acre field included in their boundary yesterday.

We should have completed today but do not want boundary issues and any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

mrschaucer

This is what you pay your solicitor hundreds of pounds for. He should not be completing until he/you are completely satisfied that the sale is as was stated at exchange. He should be the one getting on to the vendor's solicitor (who obviously should be the one getting on to the council) to get this sorted. Keep pressing.

James_N

mrschaucer wrote: »

This is what you pay your solicitor hundreds of pounds for. He should not be completing until he/you are completely satisfied that the sale is as was stated at exchange. He should be the one getting on to the vendor's solicitor (who obviously should be the one getting on to the council) to get this sorted. Keep pressing.

Your solicitor really should do this, but if you wish to help yourselves, try the land registry. it could be a simple error by the council who think they own it.

If the sale gets held up, the solicitors are to blame.

Mojisola

As well as following mrschaucer's advice, it's worth posting here - https://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=431fc33f5660cc045730c513d4a6fdae - so that you'll know whether what your solicitor is doing is enough.

Did he check with the Land Registry about the ownership of the land? If he just accepted an altered plan, I don't think I'd trust any of his paperwork.

madmum2012

Many thanks for your replies....

My issue is that he seemed really surprised when I informed him yesterday. He hasn't checked with land registry just sent us a letter worded " the boundaries have been outlined in red by vendors". :eek:

Anyway will not be completing today ... will have to wait and see.

Richard_Webster

Seller says he is selling such and such an area of land - buyer's solicitor should have asked for evidence of seller's ownership of it. Perhaps OP' solicitor is waiting for that evidence to be produced.

Has OP been asked to sign a contract or provide deposit money? If not where is all this

We should have completed today

coming from?

Sounds as if this transaction is less far along than OP thinks. Seller may actually own the 1/2 acre field and have forgotten to provide deeds etc to his solicitor or forgotten to tell him he was selling that as well as house, or may think he owns it but doesn't.

I think if OP phoned his solicitor he would get an explanation of what has happened and how far they have got in sorting it out and what is still to be done. Without doing this a lot of this is speculation.

madmum2012

We have paid deposit already, we are cash buyers so all monies are with solicitor.

We had a completion date of 16 July but vendors were on holiday and we had query on property so held back contracts. My solicitor is now off on holiday so I can't speak to him until next week.

The only reason the issue came to light is the house next door went up for sale on 19 July and I decided to be nosy and see what they were selling only to find out that they are including the field with it. Obviously only one party owns the field.

I have rang the council and they say their maps show they own the field and I am more than welcome to call in and see the map. The vendor owns the house.

My problem is if we had completed the sale on the 16 July ...the boundary issue would now be ours to sort out.

Will have to wait to next week to speak to solicitor...:(

RAS

have you exchanged? if so, you are in a very difficult position.

You should not exchange until the ownership of the field is sorted out.

I assume that you offer was valued higher because the of the field?

madmum2012

Fortunately we have not exchanged, and if field is not included we will not proceed with sale.

Land_Registry

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Seller says he is selling such and such an area of land - buyer's solicitor should have asked for evidence of seller's ownership of it. Perhaps OP' solicitor is waiting for that evidence to be produced.

I think if OP phoned his solicitor he would get an explanation of what has happened and how far they have got in sorting it out and what is still to be done. Without doing this a lot of this is speculation.

As Richard Webster rightly states a lot of this can only be speculation as the facts of what has happened are as yet not fully known. Your last post confirms this as well.

Whilst your solicitor is the important point of contact for you to resolve the issues you may decide to pursue the council's offer of viewing 'their maps'. It is unlikely to solve the matter but it will aid your understanding.

Based on the information you have provided it is quite possible that the field is unregistered but the only way to confirm this is to check the land register. Your solicitor may have already done this but you may wish to make an enquiry just to see what information is available.

You can use our online service (the map enquiry function) to see if any information is available but IF nothing is available this does not mean that it is unregistered but simply means that nothing is available via that service.

This check is a free service - a fee is only payable if information is available and you then register, login and purchase that information. You can use the aerial land locator to identify the property and then select the field using the aerial imagery, street plan or other options.

If nothing is available online you could make a paper application to verify if the field is registered. However as I mentioned this is something I would have expected your solicitor to have done from the off when the Seller's solicitor provided a plan with their own outline. I would therefore wait until their return and/or you have checked what information the council can provide.

DVardysShadow

RAS wrote: »

have you exchanged? if so, you are in a very difficult position.

You should not exchange until the ownership of the field is sorted out.

I assume that you offer was valued higher because the of the field?

Actually, if OP had exchanged, it would not be such a problem for OP as buyer. The contract will be for a purchase of land which the vendor cannot sell. OP fully entitled to walk away, because vendor will not be able to complete.