Road owned in title of house we're buying

misskittin1978

Hi guys hope someone has been in the same situation or can advise.
We are buying a property who owns the whole road in the title.
The council has adopted and maintains the road, but somehow never transferred ownership of it... which means we could be liable for problems with the road if the council tries to unload responsibility.
In the title of the road you can see all the other houses in the street coming off the document, our house is the last one to still have the title.
Solicitor suggests a partial transfer of deed where we just buy the title for the land and the garden and the current owners are left with ownership of the road, and will be left to deal with it and the council (as they've been owning the road for the last 30 years anyway although unaware of it).
The sellers can't be hassled and insist to sell the whole title including the road.
Should I just give in and buy the whole title and try to sort it out with the council ?
Is it possible the council might refuse to own the road in title even though they've already adopted it and are maintaining it now ?
Thanks for your help

G_M

I can't for an instant believe the current owners would want to be lumbered with ongoing ownership of a road they did not know they owned in the first place. There is no benefit to them (but see below) but potential problems only. After all, that's why you are proposing it!

Of course, if ownership allows the owner to set up a toll gate, that might be different......

If I were you, I'd go in and speak to someone in the Highways Dept at the council.

Guest101

G_M wrote: »

I can't for an instant believe the current owners would want to be lumbered with ongoing ownership of a road they did not know they owned in the first place. There is no benefit to them (but see below) but potential problems only. After all, that's why you are proposing it!

Of course, if ownership allows the owner to set up a toll gate, that might be different......

If I were you, I'd go in and speak to someone in the Highways Dept at the council.

Or pay and display parking...

elmer

All the deeds on our estate show us owning up to the middle of the road, but the road is adopted. When I queried it with the council roads man he said that it was normal for this to happen and it was just the way the land was parcelled out. We have no responsibility for the road, the council maintains it.

davidmcn

elmer wrote: »

All the deeds on our estate show us owning up to the middle of the road, but the road is adopted. When I queried it with the council roads man he said that it was normal for this to happen and it was just the way the land was parcelled out. We have no responsibility for the road, the council maintains it.

Yes, I would have thought this is the norm.

OP, is there a particular reason your solicitor thinks there is a risk here? I don't know why the council would try to "unload responsibility" - they can't just un-adopt roads because they feel like it.

Land_Registry

There is in law a presumption known as 'ad medium filum' where it is presumed that half the soil of an adjoining roadway is included with the property, unless there is evidence to the contrary - this is I suspect what elmer is referring to and what can happen on registration although in the vast majority of cases it does not and the registered extent is merely shown to the edge of the road with the presumption still in play.

I suspect the OP is referring to something quite different in that the original title was developed and for whatever reason the last plot/house was then sold off including the road as well - unusual but possible.

A developer would normally transfer the legal ownership of the estate road(s) to the local authority and this has been the case for the last 30/40 years at least. Prior to this the developer often retained the legal ownership although the road(s) were adopted by the council. Nowadays the developer does not want to be left owning something of no value to them so the planning/development includes the condition that on completion of the development and the sale of the plots the road(s) and any other common parts are then transferred to the local authority.

As G_M posts the seller is not going to want to retain ownership of the road but are in the tricky position of actually being the legal owner - that clearly impacts on their ability to sell as such things are up for negotiation in the buying/selling process as anything else is of course. The fact that they were unaware that they owned it suggests poor advice at the time they bought.

As G_M also posts the council will be used to acquiring roads post development and may be open to the idea of doing the same here. If they agree to the idea then clearly that will involve some additional paperwork and I guess it is all a question of who wants that 'hassle' as the sellers might view it and if you decide that you do then what risks are there in the council not then proceeding. Your solicitor should be able to explain this for you.

TBagpuss

Has your solicitor suggested to the sellers that they arrange to transfer the title for the road to the council, rather than leaving you to do this? i.e. not leaving them with ownership of the road, but getting them to sort the issue out before you buy?

If not, then clarify with your solicitor what their concerns are, and then make a decision as to whether you want the house badly enough to deal with the road once you have bought (or simultaneously)

Are you using a solicitor, or are you using an unqualified conveyancer? If it is the latter, it may be that they don't really know what to do and assume that splitting the title is easier than trying to work out what needs to be done to get the tile transferred to the council.