Land Registry apparent error

lorrae

In the process of selling our house we discovered that the Land Registry entry is based on OS map, meaning they have 2 sections of unregistered land that we believe belong to us, as shown by our paper deeds.
Our solicitor has put the case to the Land Registry, and we are told the reply from LR is "no". They will not accept the error. It seems such an obvious error to us, and can't understand why we have no appeal over their decision.

Has anyone gone through this?

stator

Who registered the land and when?

Is it possible your deeds are an old copy?

lorrae

We have old deeds going back to the early 1900's. We bought the house 30 years ago when everything was paper. The LR hae only the entry they made around 1990 from the OS map.

moneyistooshorttomention

Worth paying a few quid and getting Land Registry entries for nearby properties - to check boundaries of what is registered to them - just in case.

lorrae

We would get copies if it were a boundary dispute, but the unregistered land is a section at the end of our garden, next to a pavement that the council confirm they own.

SmlSave

It costs £6 to get office copies and a plan if you're going to complain about something at least do some research to back it up.

Or get your solicitor to do a Map Search in the first instance to see the other titles in your street. It's free, although the solicitors time may not be.

I have Possessory Title over the end of my garden as my sellers were missing a Deed, which we found out at registration! Had to get Titles for the neighbouring properties and a land registry rep to visit the property

davidmcn

lorrae wrote: »

We would get copies if it were a boundary dispute, but the unregistered land is a section at the end of our garden, next to a pavement that the council confirm they own.

And is not registered because the Land Registry doesn't think the extent of the land on your deeds corresponds with the physical boundaries on the OS map? Or for some other reason?

There's limits to what we can say without seeing the deeds. Your solicitors have - what's their advice?

stator

If your land isn't registered and the other land isn't registered, it's not really a problem.
You could register your land now using the maps you have if you want to avoid any problems your buyers might have, holding up the sale.

Qing

Ours is a boundary error on the house and garden that we are buying. The Land Registry has provided a possessory title for the missing garden after confirmation from the unregistered land owner next door that the land is not on their deeds and never has been. Initially, possessory title was refused until the 12 years had passed.

If you have been in occupation of the land you described, you should be able to ask for a possessory title to it. If any of the land adjoining it is unregistered you would not know if it was in the deeds of another party though (unless you approached the owners and asked to see their deeds) and you would need to own the possessory title for a further 12 years before you could claim an absolute title to it; in the meantime, anyone with a better title could lay claim to it. I would think you need to pursue a possessory title asap so the next 12 years can start running.

It might be worth asking for professional assistance to make sure that all forms are completed correctly. You can ask the Land Registry yourself for the title boundary plans for the adjoining properties by completing the appropriate form, which we did for £7 and it was easy. If you need a historic plan as well eg a plan of the boundaries when the land was first registered, it will cost you an additional £7. Each date for which you want a plan costs £7.

It was very useful as it proved that the missing land from the sellers deeds had never been registered and also that they had not properly checked the boundaries of the property when they bought it. This omission has been very stressful and time consuming for them and us and has no doubt been an expensive omission.

Another omission by the sellers is that they failed to ask the solicitors acting for their purchase to provide them with the deeds; unfortunately, it seems that their solicitors at the time did not ask for the return of the deeds from the Land Registry which then destroyed them once the appropriate entries had been made in their records, which is apparently quite normal. Our sellers therefore have no deeds to provide to us.

We expect to exchange contracts next week and are waiting for an indemnity policy to be drawn up and approved first, to cover the possibility of someone else claiming a better title. Unfortunately, the insurers have initially refused to provide cover unless we agree not to build on the land, which we cannot agree to. Maybe it will be resolved, otherwise we will have to decide whether to go ahead without indemnity cover. If all insurers are equally cautious about providing cover under these circumstances, it is another concern if you may wish to build on land whilst you only have possessory title.

G_M

lorrae wrote: »

We have old deeds going back to the early 1900's. We bought the house 30 years ago when everything was paper. The LR hae only the entry they made around 1990 from the OS map.

So

* your property wass not registered when you bought it 30 years ago?
* you did not register it when you bought it?
* Is it registered now? If so, what triggered the registration?
* or is it still unregistered?

Qing

Is the council your only neighbour? Did your solicitor ask for an absolute title to be rectified? Is your solicitor sufficiently knowledgeable to deal with your case? Could the council formally declare that it doesn't own the land? An application for a possessory title is the way to go, surely, not an absolute title if the Land Registry cannot be persuaded to change its mind?

In our case, a possessory title was initially refused but the seller's solicitor - on a special telephone line available only to professionals - asked to speak to someone higher up the organisation and the title was then granted after a declaration from the neighbours.

Also, in our case too, the seller's solicitor thought that the problem originated from the Land Registry's mistake, which the Land Registry refused to acknowledge. It proves just how important it is for a buyer to check thoroughly the boundaries of properties that they are buying before exchange of contracts, as this is not the responsibility of the acting solicitor.