Finding out who owns a property (quickly)

StuartW_2

A question for the land registry representative, if he/she can help...

We're about to embark on renovation work and need to issue party wall notices to our neighbours. One of the adjoining properties is occupied by renters who seem to have no idea who owns the property. I am prepared to speak to the letting agents but in my experience they're not the most helpful of folk...

Searching landregistry.gov.uk has yielded no information, which suggests it's not registered there. I have the option of posting a request & fee for a title register for the property, but to be honest I can't remember the last time I used a cheque book and am hopeful there may be a non-snail mail solution, what with it being 2016 and all.

At the moment my only other option is to pay around £15 to one of the many websites that claims to be able to provide title registers, none of whom I particularly trust to deliver.

I don't mind paying for the info I need - I know the HM Land Registry service is not free - I just want to know if there's a reliable option that can be processed relatively quickly.

Any assistance - or recommendations of any of the above mentioned websites - appreciated!

d0nkeyk0ng

Any reason you need to use a chequebook? I've bought landregistry documents for £3 online using my debit card. Have had to register. You get the documents available to download immediately.

Probably would have taken you longer to write your post than access the title deeds from the land registry.

paddy's_mum

Is there any reason why you can't just write to Mr Landlord of 15 Easy Street, Anytown and drop the letter off to the Letting Agents?

I can't believe that they would disadvantage their client by not forwarding the letter but will not have had to divulge detailed information directly to you.

Johnhowell

I doubt a company you pay £15 to can miraculously conjure up the house Deeds if it is unregistered. If it is registered it WILL be at Land Registry! Not sure what your sentence "I have the option of posting a request & fee for a title register for the property" means with respect to Land Registry. Is it registered or is it not?


Also, it is a legal requirement for the landlord to provide a tenant with their contact details - which can be c/o an agent. So, as suggested before, write to House Owner, c/o agent...


Good luck,
John

StuartW_2

d0nkeyk0ng & Johnhowell - On searching for the property at Land Registry, the result is: "Sorry, we do not have a record of any titles for this property. This does not necessarily mean that the property is unregistered."

The option that follows is to post payment to conduct a 'map query', which from what I can discern is a manual search of their records (as opposed to an online search of those records that have been put online). I get the impression that if there hasn't been much buying/selling of a property in the last 20 years there doesn't tend to be much info online.

Thanks to you & paddysmum - looks like finding out the agency and following that route is probably best.

Johnhowell

StuartW,


Ah, now I see. However, I suggest a Search of the Index Map (SIM) will not generally resolve the unregistered nature of your neighbouring property. This is usually for properties that do not have a specific address - fields, scrubland, etc.


As you suspect, this property appears not to have triggered registration since the 1970's when the first compulsory requirement came in.


Good luck,
John

Land_Registry

You can use the 'map enquiry' service online and centre the map on the property. Providing you zoom in far enough and select the right one the search result should be enough to ascertain if it is registered or not.

Sometimes the postal search will not be a direct hit of the address in our database is old or out of date although that is very rare. Map enquiry is the quickest route for you

The SIM is a postal application and can be used to search both land and property. 2 day turnaround normally and provides a guarateed result. The online search is your own search so the only guaranteed result you can get is if it is registered and you then view the register/title plan to confirm.

Third party websites in the main get their information from us as well. So if you ask them to check they then either search online ro by post as well. The additional fee is in some ways the cost of them doing it for you.

If you have searched online by both address and map then as paddy's mum the next step might be to serve the notice as suggested. Checking the party wall notice process/legislation may help understand to what lengths you have to go to ensure that the legal owner receives the notice for example

phil24_7

I wouldn't want to be giving a party wall letter to an agent to pass on, as you will not know if or when it was passed on, so you wont know if or when your are in dispute. At the very most I would ask the agent for the contact details of the owner and if they were not provided (keep all communications for your records) then I would just get on with things, making sure you take plenty of pictures.

If the neighbours are agreeable, take plenty of pictures of their side of the party wall, as well as external shots of the houses in question.