Transfer of Ownership? from overseas?

seanpenn21

Morning all,
A little of advice is needed, if anyone has been in a similar situation!
I currently 'own' a shared ownership flat with my wife which we are putting on the 'market' soon.
We are currently living in my wifes parents flat.
My wifes parents are essentially going to 'give' us the flat and the intention is to sell both and use the proceeds as a large deposit for a house.
The flat we are in is currently in the parents name, but they are currently overseas for 5 more months.
Can this be sold by proxy, or transferred to our names or one of our names?
Any thoughts, ideas etc would be most welcome.
Thank you!
Dave (Not ACTUALLY Sean Penn)

Land_Registry

If the property is in England & Wales then the two most likely options available to you are
1. They complete the necessary Transfer form for lodgement here; or
2. They appoint someone to act on their behalf i.e. a power of attorney

Our online material will be of assistance although we would strongly recommend that you and they seek legal advice - other posters may be able suggest alternatives

Our FAQ on how to transfer a registered property; and

Practice Guide 9 provides guidance re Powers of attorney and registered land

zzzLazyDaisy

If you have not yet put the properties on the market, the chances of this becoming an issue before their return are minimal.

Strangely, anyone can put a house/flat up for sale with the Estate Agent, you don't actually have to produce proof of ownership! It will take a while to find a buyer, and once you do have a buyer it will take a while to get to exchange of contracts. It is only at that point that you need the parent's signatures, for the sale of the property, they can manage everything else from abroad, if need be.

If you need to sell BOTH places in order to buy a new place, I would say that the chances of this happening in less than 5 months are less than zero!

There is nothing to be gained but unnecessary expense in transfer the flat to your names (legal fees on both sides and land registry fees) just to go through the whole process again once you have a buyer.

In your shoes I would concentrate on getting the sale of the shared ownership property off the ground as, in my experience, the wheels of the LA's tend to turn very slowly indeed.

seanpenn21

tremendous stuff! thanks for the advice.

selling the Shared Ownership place is the priority for sure, not least because it is vacant now.

the idea is when thats on the market we can look at getting the parents place looked at.

appreciate the advice. Will be aiming to speak to an IFA I think.

cheers