Absolute Title on Deeds but Retirement Property was Shared Ownership

withabix

An interesting issue that a relative of mine has at the moment:

He has just sold an inherited Retirement apartment that was 85% purchased by his parents and 15% (£25,000) ownership retained by the Developer/Management Company.

He was expecting to receive settlement payout from his Solicitors that was £25,000 less than he actually received - he has been paid out the full Sale price of the apartment (after Fees).

He thinks this is because the retained 15% of the ownership was not shown on the Title Deeds at the Land Registry and his parents are shown as having 'Absolute Title'. Are there other documents at the Land Registry that would show more details of ownership?

Is this £25,000 his to keep?

The Developer/Management Company know the property has been Sold as it is a Leasehold (ie they are named on the Title Deeds) and they have billed for their transfer fees, but they haven't requested their £25,000 share 'yet'.

His Solicitors would have done the Title Search etc...surely this issue should have shown up, particularly as the Developer/Management Company would surely have asked for the money before Exchange and Completion???

Who's problem is this?

SmlSave

On shared ownership properties the title should have had the management company/developer as a restriction and probably in the charges register too.

It is normal to have title absolute for the actual owners

Land_Registry

As SmlSave posts the 'share' aspect would be reflected in some way on the register so as to protect the 25% interest perhaps as a restriction or as a charge but in some cases as a joint owner - you mention that they are 'named on the Title Deeds' but can you clarify how?

Title Absolute relates to the class of title and not the interests you are referring to. Title Absolute is the standard class of title given where title has been shown by original deeds/documents for example when the property was first registered.

Other classes of title such as Possessory Title relate to titles where that evidence has not been produced, perhaps where the deeds had been lost or the owner has claimed ownership

withabix

He sent me a copy so I've pasted various bits as below (with names etc removed):

The Register Extract only shows one Registered Owner [The people who lived there]

There is no Charge shown.

The Proprietorship Register says:

No disposition of the registered estate (other than a charge) by the proprietor of the registered estate or by the proprietor of any registered charge, not being a charge registered before the entry of this restriction, is to be registered without a written consent signed by [The Developer]

The Property Register says:

(DATE) Short particulars of the lease(s) (or under-lease(s))
under which the land is held:
Date : [DATE]
Term : 125 years from 1 January 2xxx
Parties : (1) The Developer
(2) The name of the people who lived in the apartment

I haven't a clue - I've told him to speak to a Solicitor (probably not the one who did the Conveyancing and Executed the Will, obviously, in case they've messed up), or contact the Land Registry.

Land_Registry

So they've protected their (the Developer) interest by way of a consent restriction so the sale would not go through without them providing written consent.

From a registration perspective only if they provide that consent then we would register the sale (the Transfer to the new owner) and leave the restriction in play. If the purchase was conditional on the Developer's interest ending then we would also want an application to remove the restriction.

If I have understood correctly the sale/purchase is still going through and the Developer has simply 'billed for their transfer fees'. The consent and removal aspect would then presumably follow. As such your suggestion to get legal advice is the right one although if the sale/purchase is still ongoing presumably the relative is already receiving some?

withabix

The Sale has Completed, the new owner has moved in and the proceeds of the Sale have been transferred to my relative, who is the sole Beneficiary to the Estate.

He is worried that he will get a bill for £25,000. He is the sole Beneficiary to the Estate, but has decided he is going to gift most of the Estate to other family members. He is concerned that sometime down the road someone is going to go after him for £25,000...

As the sale has Completed, we assume that the Developer's Solicitor messed up when the property was originally sold new (omitting their £25,000 interest in the property) or the Solicitors for the 2 parties in the current sale (the Executor and the Buyer) have messed up?

We know that my relative's parents did not buy out the Developer's share.

davidmcn

withabix wrote: »

He is worried that he will get a bill for £25,000. He is the sole Beneficiary to the Estate, but has decided he is going to gift most of the Estate to other family members. He is concerned that sometime down the road someone is going to go after him for £25,000...

So why doesn't he ask his solicitor about it?

Land_Registry

Not something we can cover or explain as you are dealing with the proceeds of sale and as davidmcn posts if he is worried about this hanging over him then better to query now and get some peace of mind rather than a bill later down the line + interest I suspect?

withabix

I've told him to speak to his Solicitor.

He was under the impression (as I am) that any monies due would have been dealt with as part of Completion?