Buying a house where part of garden is to be sold to neighbour

matt1987

Good Evening

I really need some help with what is proving to be quite a complex issue. I'll try to keep it brief:

In August we had an offer accepted on a property which we both loved. Mortgage approved and survey conducted in September with no issues.

A couple of weeks passed when it came to light there was a delay due to the vendor selling part of the garden (small piece of land about 6ftx2ft) to the neighbouring property. We had never been aware of the proposed sale of land until this point as the fencing had already been adjusted, granting the extra land to the neighbour prior to our viewings of the property.

For the past 4 weeks we have been stalled on exchanging contracts as paperwork for the sale of land has not been submitted by the vendor's solicitor, which to date it still being chased. This makes me think that no such paperwork exists, as thus far it's been an informal agreement between parties and money probably already exchanged.

It then came to light that the vendor and neighbour have agreed to complete on the sale of the land (for £1500) on the same day we complete on the purchase of the house, to avoid the need to inform their current lender. This leaves them in breach of their mortgage terms.

So, with the whole process dragging on, I was looking to see what others would so in this situation. I can see three options:

• Continue with the purchase in the hope that paperwork will be submitted soon, and hope that the buyer of our property does not pull out
• Tell the vendor that we will complete if the fencing is re-instated to original boundary and sale of land does not proceed
• Tell the agent that the price should be adjusted on the basis that the valuation was likely based on the original boundary

One of my main concerns, which I need to establish, is that the valuation of the property will have probably been based on the current land registry plans which show the garden in its original, larger state. Could this make the valuation void?

There is also the concern that this sale of land has been done a bit 'under-handed', and worst case scenario, we could have a boundary dispute on our hands with the new neighbours.

Any help or advice would be appreciated!

Doozergirl

I think you're thinking too much.

Clearly it needs sorting out, and it will be eventually, but it's for your solicitor to bash the vendor's solicitor to get it done and for you to put pressure on your vendor if this is genuinely the only thing that is outstanding. In terms of valuation, the surveyor would have made it based on what he could see and the apparant boundary on the ground. 12 square feet is not going to affect anyone's property valuation by very much. Your solicitor acts for your mortgage company on this one as well and they obviously know that a piece of land is being sold separately and they should have a correct drawing.

I think it's normal to split the title into two on the same day if selling both. I think it makes things easier on both time and money for the vendor and their solicitor. I can't back this up with a particular why but I can remember being advised along those lines by our solicitor at some point in time

Two months is not a long time for conveyancing in a chain (it's not what the experienced would call dragging ) and you'e tellling us that exchange has already been held up for 4 weeks? Are you sure this is the only outstanding item in the entire chain? How many are in this chain, just you in the middle, your buyer and vendor either side?

G_M

From your point of view it makes no difference to the price. The land in question is fenced off, so presumably when you viewed you did not expect to be getting that bit of land? The price you offered was thus based on what you will actually get.

The mortgage lender's Valuation may have been based on the Title Plan, but more likely the surveyor looked at the house/garden and valued on that basis. However this is not your concern. So long as the lender's solicitor (probably the same one as you are using) now knows, he will either flag it up to the lender, or not.

There is no reason the sale to you cannot go ahead. Instead of a TR1 form (Transfer of whole), your solicitor should complete a TP1 (Transfer of Part). See

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/faqs/how-do-i-transfer-my-registered-landproperty

The remaining bit of land will thus remain owned by the current owner, who can keep it, or sell it to the neighbour, as he sees fit.

matt1987

Hi Doozergirl,

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry, probably didn't word that correctly. It's been 4 weeks since the TP1 form was submitted to our solicitor without the plan. Everything is ready for an exchange, but we are unable to at present as we are still without said plan.

We are the middle link in the chain. It's just the guy buying our house (investor) and the vendors of the property we're purchasing, who already own another property which they will move into.

Our solicitor is saying that plans which accompany TP1s are usually drawn up by an Architect/Surveyor who measure the boundaries and the land to be sold. This is then submitted to LR. All we've had to date is a copy of the LR aerial view with some handwritten scribbles (not to scale or citing measurements) which we think has been done by the vendors themselves.

Thanks G_M - I agree with your point re the price. It's just something which my solicitor said earlier regarding re-negotiating which made me think that the valuation will be 'out'. But as you say, I guess that is their concern and if they are not happy with the plan once submitted, then we will need to look at what they propose as a value

Edited to add: our seller seems pretty knowledgeable where architecture is concerned. I think he probably works in a related field. Is my Solicitor correct in saying an independent qualified person needs to draw up said plans? Or could the vendor?

matt1987

Update: spoken with the seller. He has a friend who is a retired Architect who says they would be able to draw up a scaled plan with measurements for the TP1. However this would not be on headed paper or anything like that due to them being retired. He's asked that we speak to our solicitor tomorrow to see whether they would accept this.

Another option he has said would be to re-instate the boundary, moving the fencing back to the original position. He would inform the neighbour that the sale of land is not proceeding. No money has yet been exchanged. I think this may be the easier option (and we would obviously gain) but fear it may leave a bitter taste in the neighbours' mouths as I think they've already done some work on the land (there was remains of an old out building which was knocked down and land was leveled) We're going to speak with solicitors tomorrow to see what they say. What a pain! :wall:

Paul_the_Painter

How about plan C.
Reinstate original boundary, tell neighbour he can buy the land off you, complete purchase, then as and when sell land to neighbour.
Everything goes quickly, the land isn't going anywhere, you get the cash for the land. Everybody happy
Boundary needn't be a fence/hedge, could just be a bit of string on a couple of stakes.

G_M

I may be wrong, but I think the Land Registry will be happy with anything which clearly delineates where the boundary is. If the new boundary is to follow a straight line to/from clear existing points, it's simple.

Text can be used to explain where the new boundary runs to supplement the Plan.

But the LR themselves are better placed to specify what they need! They sometime post here so may help, or call them?

Davesnave

matt1987 wrote: »

Update: spoken with the seller. He has a friend who is a retired Architect who says they would be able to draw up a scaled plan with measurements for the TP1. However this would not be on headed paper or anything like that due to them being retired. He's asked that we speak to our solicitor tomorrow to see whether they would accept this.

A few years ago, when I sold my house and retained an area of garden, I drew the plan myself from an OS original and my own measurements on the ground.

Everyone seemed OK with that, although I'm not an architect or draughtsman.

eddddy

Paul_the_Painter wrote: »

How about plan C.
Reinstate original boundary, tell neighbour he can buy the land off you, complete purchase, then as and when sell land to neighbour.
Everything goes quickly, the land isn't going anywhere, you get the cash for the land. Everybody happy
Boundary needn't be a fence/hedge, could just be a bit of string on a couple of stakes.

Don't underestimate the hassle and cost involved for a 'plan C', if the house is being bought with a mortgage. It's likely to be as follows:

- Obtain permission in principle from lender to release (sell) part of land
- Lender will require new valuation (which the OP will have to pay for).
- Lender will require that the transfer is done by a solicitor (OP is likely to have £1k+ in legal fees.)

It would be less hassle and cheaper for the OP to go with plan A or B.

Land_Registry

G_M wrote: »

I may be wrong, but I think the Land Registry will be happy with anything which clearly delineates where the boundary is. If the new boundary is to follow a straight line to/from clear existing points, it's simple.

Text can be used to explain where the new boundary runs to supplement the Plan.

But the LR themselves are better placed to specify what they need! They sometime post here so may help, or call them?

G_M is right that we do not always require an architect or surveuor's plan for such purposes. Often people will use the title plan for the property with the transferred land shown on it.

Section 9 of our Practice Guide explains our requirements better than I could post here.

matt1987

Thanks for the replies.

The seller has submitted new 500:1 scale of the new boundary line along with ordinance copy.

This should hopefully satisfy LR and we can now take this forward and arrange an exchange/completion date!

Matt