Issue with Land Registry stopping remortgage (with new lender)

megaginge

Hello,

(Crosspost from the mortgage forum as I'm aware different MSE'ers frequent these parts? Really need some advice..... Heeeelp :-) But apologies for the x-posting )

I'm a month away from my current mortgage deal (a 95% LTV) coming to an end.

I've already got an offer (since December) for a 5 year fix with a 75% LTV (good old housing boom) agreed with a new lender.

The solicitors for the new lender have come back and said there's an issue with my land registry search, and passed this onto the solicitors used two years ago when I applied for the ORIGINAL mortgage

These guys have responded, and are saying there's some dispute about shared land (A car port on my contract) "being sold to someone else" and are trying to square this up with the seller's (original seller of the property ... ) solicitors, who have yet to respond.

The car port is in a shared courtyard and has space for 4 cars. I imagine both sets of plans just show the car port, and that another flat sold (I live in a small development of victorian built terraces that have been converted into maisonettes, 8 in total) therefore also has the car port in entirety on it's plan.

( My contract says I have parking, so.... )

But this seems to me bizarre and worrying.

1. It's in my contract that I have a space. What could be in the land registry search that disputes this?
2. Why is it down to the conveyancers I used two years ago and the sellers solicitors to sort this out ???


I am concerned that the solicitors used by my new lender (Leeds building society) are being lazy. Or is this how it needs to be. UNTIL this is sorted out, the deeds for my flat can't be transferred/drafted/whatever (I'm clearly no expert ? )

In 4 weeks time I fall onto the SVR of the 95% product. I didn't expect a 2 month delay trying to sort out (And as far as I can tell getting absolutely nowhere) something that to me seems a minor hiccup at best. This'll start to cost e £150 a month!

I've also contacted the seller whom I bought the flat from, but I personally feel like it's in the interest of Leeds BS and their conveyencers to get this sorted.


Does anyone have any experience in this matter and can advise me what for? I've been putting pressure on both the sets of solicitors I'm in contact with but just don't know what, if anything, to do now ...

( ps, technically a mortgage question but do advise if you think there's a more suitable forum and I'll repost )

G_M

This issue is nothing to do with the mortgage lender - it is your problem.

The new lender (Leeds) have looked at the Title, identified an issue, and so undertandably will not lend until the issue is resolved. It is not for them to resolve since they did not create the issue.

Have you looked at the Land Registry Plans for

* your property
* you neighbour's propert(ies)?

That might enlighten you as to what the issue is.

£3 from the Land Registry here.

dancingfairy

I'm guessing it's similar to when you buy a house. You have to get the legals done, the building society need to know exactly what you do or don't own ( partly in order to assess its value and whether there is enough security for them). If you defaulted on your mortgage they would have to sort out any issues before selling the place so I can understand them needing it all clarifying before they can formally give you a mortgage.
Yes, your original solicitors probably should have picked it up.
I hope you get it sorted soon. It sounds a nightmare.
Df

silvercar

There is a Land Registry representative that posts on here, hopefully he will see your post tomorrow and advise.

Land_Registry

Difficult to advise in any detail but based solely on that contained in your post it reads as if you contracted to buy one thing but something else ended up being registered - as G_M posts the search has probably revealed that what is registered is not what you are looking to remortgage so it may be worth checking for some certainty although I would have thought those already involved could provide you with that detail/advice

If the contract involved your original conveyancers but the registered end result differs then I imagine they would need to sort this out as they were involved at the time and therefore have some responsibility/culpability?

megaginge

That sounds about right - as my old conveyancers are helping, which given my experiences with them 2 years ago, if they didn't have some level of culpability they absolutely wouldn't be...

OK, Kind of appreciate that it isn't the new lenders problem.

I'm not going to personally search the Land Registry 8 times as G_M suggested to try and work out what the overlap is; because I wouldn't even know what I'm looking at?

Does anyone have an opinion of what the plans ought to show? There's the flat, my front garden (exclusive access), the rear courtyard (shared access) and my space (1 of 4 in a carport which is shared).

In ny case, for MY property: I've searched the land registry and the newest search results don't come up online, maybe because my old conveyancers are doing something... The older results for the property are for before the lease was renewed and are outdated.

I get this:

Either we have received an application to register the tenure in this property but the information cannot be viewed electronically until it is completed or this information is not available to view electronically. Please contact the appropriate Land Registry office for further information quoting the property description


At the minute it seems like nothing I can do; but incredibly frustrating...

Thanks all

Dave

G_M

megaginge wrote: »

...
In ny case, for MY property: I've searched the land registry and the newest search results don't come up online, maybe because my old conveyancers are doing something... The older results for the property are for before the lease was renewed and are outdated.

I get this:

Either we have received an application to register the tenure in this property but the information cannot be viewed electronically until it is completed or this information is not available to view electronically. Please contact the appropriate Land Registry office for further information quoting the property description


At the minute it seems like nothing I can do

Well if you don't want to take the obvious steps, there's not much point complaining!

Either sit back and wait for the other parties involved to resolve this for you, if indeed they do (solicitors, banks etc), or

be proactive and try to understand and resolve the problem yourself.

But

At the minute it seems like nothing I can do

is just plain pathetic.

There are at least 2 sensible suggestions of what you can do in this thread, ine of which you have provided yourself!

AdrianC

megaginge wrote: »

I'm not going to personally search the Land Registry 8 times as G_M suggested to try and work out what the overlap is; because I wouldn't even know what I'm looking at?

So start by searching once, your plot, and see what the difference is between that and what you think it should show.

Did you not go over the plans with your solicitor prior to purchase, so that you both knew you were looking at the right bits of land? This would have been resolved then if you'd done that.

Land_Registry

If you searched and got the result you refer to then I suspect there is a pending application with us already.

Happy to take a look if you email me at customer.service@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk to at least confirm that we have something in at the moment although I would not want to muddy any specific waters if that were the case.

megaginge

AdrianC wrote: »

So start by searching once, your plot, and see what the difference is between that and what you think it should show.

Did you not go over the plans with your solicitor prior to purchase, so that you both knew you were looking at the right bits of land? This would have been resolved then if you'd done that.

Of course I went over the plans and was not aware of any issue nor were the conveyancers or else I would not be living here now with a mortgage in play that I've been paying off for 2 years. I am unaware as to what recent issues there are due to (I suspect) other applications within the freehold that do not affect my property in principal.

As per my reply, I get the statement that I pasted previously, so can't buy my own plans right now. I suspect that if the plan COULD be downloaded, I'd have no such issues getting my new mortgage...

Land_Registry_representative wrote: »

If you searched and got the result you refer to then I suspect there is a pending application with us already.

Happy to take a look if you email me at customer.service@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk to at least confirm that we have something in at the moment although I would not want to muddy any specific waters if that were the case.

Thanks - that'd be amazing and very much appreciated. According to the solicitors for my new lender, I'd imagine this was the situation when trying to view my records a month or so ago, because they initially contacted me early september suggesting that they could not retrieve the records, leading me to where I am today.

I've sent you an email with more details...

Dave

Land_Registry

megaginge - I have emailed you but I am afraid the issues are very much along the lines you have already posted.
In very general terms we are dealing with a lease sold in April 2014. Unfortunately there are issues with the application/lease which include the points made above, namely the car port issue and others.
Three earlier attempts to register the lease have been made and each were subsequently cancelled.
The current application was submitted in August 2015 and is also likely to be cancelled unless the solicitors are able to resolve the issues raised.

Unfortunately it is only the solicitors and the landlords + their solicitors who I suspect can resolve this as it is likely that any solution will involve amendments to the lease and it's plan.