Un-registered boundary

treecol

My FIL is in the process of selling his house. The property sits on a piece of land that was originally part of a larger property next door. He built & owned that house, keeping the plot his existing house sits on, which he built too. It seems the purchasers solicitor has discovered that the boundary isn't in the correct place & hasn't been registered with the land registry. I know the person who's in the original property next door has been sent some forms to fill in with regard to the boundary.
So my question is: is it possible to resolve this within the normal conveyancing time frame? The reason I ask is because FIL is buyer another house so is part of a chain. I wonder if the neighbour could make things take longer if he doesn't agree to where the boundary is.

G_M

Well, either there is a Plan which s legally binding and identifies the boundary, in which case there's no problem, or if there isn't then
a) a speedy agreement can be reached within a few days or
b) a dispute may arise which could take 9 months to resolve

Not much comfort, but your FIL of course, has brought this on himself. When he sold off the original land/property, keeping the current property in his name, he should have ensured it was clear what he was selling and what he was keeping.

How long ago did this happen? Was it before or after the compulsory land registration date for the area?

treecol

It was somewhere between 1993-1997 I think. Don't know anything about a compulsory date for registering land. I think he just staked out the boundary as he saw fit & that was that. However it seem that during the conveyancing, the purchaser has discovered the plot if the wrong size & FIL has a strip 50' bigger than it should be. I suspect as a form has been sent to the neighbour who bought the original house, & he has sent it to his solicitor, he's going to want his land back.

Surrey_EA

I'm afraid I agree with G_M your FIL really should have had a Land Registry compliant plan produced at the time the plot was split, then this situation could have been averted.

Is your FIL's buyer going to wish to continue with the purchase if they are now buying a smaller parcel of land than first thought? How significant is this 50' strip to the property? If it's part of a 5 acre plot it's probably not the end of the world, if it accounts for a third of the garden there's going to be a problem.

Either way the situation needs to be tidied up, and the land and boundaries need to be correctly filed at the Land Registry.

If the land hasn't been correctly registered, on what basis is the buyer's solicitor claiming the boundary is incorrect?

Mojisola

treecol wrote: »

It seems the purchasers solicitor has discovered that the boundary isn't in the correct place & hasn't been registered with the land registry.

treecol wrote: »

It was somewhere between 1993-1997 I think.

If a physical boundary has been in place and accepted as the boundary by the owners since the 1990s, will it matter what the map says?

audigex

Potentially yes, possibly no... but the point/problem is that if the neighbor disputes it, you won't get it sorted in time for OP's FIL to sell his property, regardless of whether he wins/loses.

Even if his buyer is still happy with the purchase, someone else in the chain may not be and that may force everyone's hand.

treecol

It seems that the house itself isn't registered with land registry (sorry he got his information a bit confused) but the plot is still the wrong size. This information has been uncovered by the purchasers solicitor. The plot itself is not the same dimensions given on the original plans. There has been a fence there since the house was finished being built. The plot/house is an acre. Can a sale go through on an unregistered house?

Surrey_EA

I'm not sure I entirely follow.

But I cannot see any sale going through until the title of the property being sold has been properly registered at the Land Registry.

I think your FIL needs to sit down with his conveyancing solicitor, ideally following a site meeting, and get this situation cleared up. It sounds a bit of a mess at the moment.

Mojisola

treecol wrote: »

Can a sale go through on an unregistered house?

No.

Was the part of the property that was sold in the 1990s registered with the LR? If so, buy a copy of their deeds and see where the boundaries are marked.

treecol

No I think that's the problem. The plot shows up on the ordinance survey - but it isn't registered with LR. I appreciate all your help & realise it's hard, as usual when information is confused! The solicitors will have to sort this out. Thank you again. I will post an update in the end though as it may always be helpful to others in the future.