House is SSTC but there is an issue

scooterwolf

Hi All,
Just after some advice.
I currently own a 50% shared ownership property that was built back in 2006 (I purchased it on completion of build so i'm the only owner). After 18 months of struggling to sell it and reducing the price by nearly £20k i've finally got a buyer and everything seemed to be going well however there is now a hitch.

My house is what is known as a coach house, all the living space is on the first floor, the bottom floor is split into 3 sections, a communal bin store, my store room and a communal bike store. Since moving in i have had no issues with the store room section, even changed the locks/doors etc and used it constantly. The communal bike store has never even been used to the best of my knowledge.

It seems that in the land registry/deeds that this storeroom that is mine and was sold to me as part of the property back in 2006 is not outlined or stated anywhere in the records. I've tried to go back to my original solicitor but they ceased trading in 2009 and the company that took over also ceased trading in 2011.

The issue i have is that the whole sale now hinges on proof of owning the store room, my solicitor cannot find records, the housing association who own the other 50% have no record of it, neither do my mortgage company. The buyer is understandable frustrated and has threatened to walkaway and i am at my wits end trying to find a resolution. The Solicitor has mentioned a deed of variation can possibly be done but this involves the buyers solicitor and housing association agreeing to it.

The property has been empty since August last year and is draining me of the best part of half my salary.

Do i have any other options? Is the deed of variation something that is done regularly, my solicitor hasn't outlined the timeline or costs at this stage? Any advice is gladly received.

Sorry for the long post, it's been a stressful week being hit with this.

davidmcn

Other option would be to ask your buyer just to take a view on it i.e. no they're not getting a legal title to the store room, but in practice they can use it and it doesn't (presumably) affect the value of the property to any material extent.

If you bought it newbuild, presumably that was from the HA? So why don't they have a record of what they marketed? Deed of variation is the correct way of sorting it out, won't necessarily take a long time, just depends how quickly the HA wants to deal with it.

silvercar

Other places to try are the original developer and the council planning department.

A deed of variation would effectively correct the error on the deeds and should be acceptable to the buyer's solicitor. failing that, would an indemnity policy be another route to try?

davidmcn

silvercar wrote: »

would an indemnity policy be another route to try?

Not now the OP has discussed it with the party who (presumably) has title to the store room.

silvercar

davidmcn wrote: »

Not now the OP has discussed it with the party who (presumably) has title to the store room.

I read it that no one had title to it. OP can you confirm?

davidmcn

silvercar wrote: »

I read it that no one had title to it. OP can you confirm?

No specific title to the store room, but if it was a site developed by the HA then they'll still own any parts which they hadn't sold.

scooterwolf

Thanks for the replies.

The whole property is outlined on the Land Registry document, but on the lease supplied by bryant homes to the HA it shows my property being the highlighted whole upper floor and just staircase on the groundfloor.

No mention of the storeroom individually only communal bin stores.

I'm awaiting feedback from the HA at the moment, I have asked my solicitor to proceed with the deed of variation but he has stated that its the HA decision. I would have thought as they own the 50% of the property they will be in agreement for this to happen? If they do agree are they liable to paying half the cost of this deed of variation?

jackomdj

What do your records show when you originally bought it? I assume you still have your purchase pack from your solicitors showing what you bought?

scooterwolf

I've looked through every bit of paperwork I can find and there is nothing that specifically mentions it unfortunately.

With the solicitors going out of business 8 years ago and the company that took over the cases/records also going bankrupt 2 years after that I don't know how to try and obtain the original paperwork as I assume its sitting in some archive somewhere.

bouicca21

Try the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

https://www.sra.org.uk/faqs/contact-centre/public/07-my-firm-has-been-closed/solicitors-closed-find-files-help.page

note3

Perhaps try asking the actual builder company? We bought a new build a decade ago and even as recently as a yr ago I saw the build companies logo'd vans visiting a property in the road for something (they're not local so must have been to do with a build issue)