Land Registry questions

Land_Registry

babyblade41 said:

@Land_Registry could you help please. My OH and I want our current property in joint names with 50% ownership so that we can both leave our perspective halves to our own children (We have a blended family) He had the land and I paid for the construction of our conversion.

What forms do I need or would it be better for my solicitor to do it ?

Many thanks 

Have a read of joint property ownership for guidance on options. But please do seek legal/financial advice re options and what’s ‘best’ 
https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership

uralmaid

A friend of ours is getting divorced.  His property has no outstanding mortgage and he has agreed to transfer the property into solely his wifes name.  This has been done and paperwork sent to Land Registry by his solicitor. He was unsure whether the fact it has all been sent to Land Registry will mean he will not have to pay stamp duty on his new purchase as he will only own one property or whether until Land Registry has updated their records he will still be liable (bearing in mind the backlogs at the registry). Thanks

user1977

uralmaid said:

A friend of ours is getting divorced.  His property has no outstanding mortgage and he has agreed to transfer the property into solely his wifes name.  This has been done and paperwork sent to Land Registry by his solicitor. He was unsure whether the fact it has all been sent to Land Registry will mean he will not have to pay stamp duty on his new purchase as he will only own one property or whether until Land Registry has updated their records he will still be liable (bearing in mind the backlogs at the registry). Thanks

This is a stamp duty question rather than a registration one, but it's completion of the transaction which matters - not when HMLR finish registration. After all in a "normal" sale you stop being the owner when you receive the money and hand over the keys, you're not still the owner weeks/months later just because the buyer's application hasn't been completed.

uralmaid

Thanks user1977 I thought it should be correct but I said I would ask the question.

Land_Registry

uralmaid said:

A friend of ours is getting divorced.  His property has no outstanding mortgage and he has agreed to transfer the property into solely his wifes name.  This has been done and paperwork sent to Land Registry by his solicitor. He was unsure whether the fact it has all been sent to Land Registry will mean he will not have to pay stamp duty on his new purchase as he will only own one property or whether until Land Registry has updated their records he will still be liable (bearing in mind the backlogs at the registry). Thanks

As user1977 has posted  - all about completion on sale/purchase and not registration 

bluey1406

Hello, I have a question for the Land Registry.  We recently bought a house which is an end terrace (of 3 houses).  The seller was a property company who owned the house we bought and who also owns the mid terrace of the three (next door to us) which is also now currently under offer.

Both properties have been rented out for three last 25 years or so (my understanding is that on this basis prescriptive rights can't be acquired as the freeholder has not themselves exercised the rights?)

The sellers claimed in the Property Information forms that the mid terrace property has a right of way over our back garden and also across our drive. However no such reserved rights appear in the title register or associated documents (there is a transfer deed referred to which we also had sight of) of our property. We also obtained copies of the title to the mid terrace and no rights are evident on their title either. 

Our house is built on land that did belong to the mid terrace (constructed in 1998), the transfer deed noted in our title reflects this transfer and we can only presume that the rights of way should have been granted/reserved within this transfer but there were not.

Because we know the rights don't exist on next doors title either, we instructed our solicitor not to challenge the seller as to the lack of legal right, as clearly it was more beneficial to us to buy the house unencumbered by these rights.  We wouldn't be unreasonable to any new owners of the property next door but we do need to keep our back gate locked as we have a dog, so a right of way that would mean we had to keep it accessible at all times would be a problem.

Now that the sale of the house next door is progressing, I am expecting that the buyers solicitor is going to query the lack of a legal right of way specified in the deeds.  If the sellers were to come to us now and ask us to agree to the rights, as I say, we wouldn't be unreasonable but would only agree for very specific purposes (as opposed to a general right of way that they could exercise 24/7 if they chose to). This scenario is not really a concern as I think we would be in the driving seat.

My concern however, is what would happen if the sellers suddenly produced a deed that had been executed years ago, dealing with the rights reserved but for some reason it was never registered on either title.  If such a deed existed and is produced, could this now be registered against our title retrospectively without our consent?

A point to note is that as I said, the same organisation owns both properties, so could they have even granted the rights to themselves? My understanding is that they couldn't but I think they may have tried to overcome this by selling the piece of land that our house is now built on to the directors (as individuals)of the limited company that owned what would now be the retained land (ie the now mid terrace house).   Looking at the transfer deeds from this time, it does seem to have been a little "incestuous" in this respect as once the house had been built the directors sold it back to the limited company. 

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any advice 🙂

Land_Registry

bluey1406 said:

Hello, I have a question for the Land Registry. ……l

My concern however, is what would happen if the sellers suddenly produced a deed that had been executed years ago, dealing with the rights reserved but for some reason it was never registered on either title.  If such a deed existed and is produced, could this now be registered against our title retrospectively without our consent?

A point to note is that as I said, the same organisation owns both properties, so could they have even granted the rights to themselves? My understanding is that they couldn't but I think they may have tried to overcome this by selling the piece of land that our house is now built on to the directors (as individuals)of the limited company that owned what would now be the retained land (ie the now mid terrace house).   Looking at the transfer deeds from this time, it does seem to have been a little "incestuous" in this respect as once the house had been built the directors sold it back to the limited company. 

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any advice 🙂

A few things to mention here and the first and key one is that these are the sort of issues you need legal advice on. Whether rights exist, granted, reserved or acquired over time is a question of law. Registration comes next. 

PGs 52 and 62 deal with how to apply to register an acquired (claimed) easement (right) or a granted/reserved one. But it’s legal advice that needs to come first. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/land-registration-practice-guides

In an effort to offer some assistance if you acquired your title as is, namely free of any such rights, then any application to register ‘just found the deed’ rights, would need an application against both titles and your consent as the legal owner. 

PG 52 reiterates the guidance on a claimed right based on a leasehold tenancy/occupation of the property as well

And if you’ve just bought the seller, even as the previous owner, can’t then go and grant a legal right over your title 
You've clearly given it plenty of thought and drawn conclusions but please do seek legal advice/confirmation as appropriate as it’s legal answers you need here rather than registration ones. 

bluey1406

Thank you for your reply, that information is really useful.

gm0

A question for LR representative on forms for "stopped up" highway and steps to register it into an adjacent title plan - if indeed this is a desirable or necessary step at all vs leaving it well alone.

The scenario is a strip of land which was subject to a succesfull section 116 "stopped up" complaint making it "not highway".  1990s

This area of steep grassy bank is contiguous with my title plan as a garden area at the top and enclosed by a fence and hedge boundary that I maintain at the bottom which is adjacent to a narrow road verge of actual adopted highway. The area inside the fence was the subject of the stopping up complaint due to the title plan edges prior leaving a broad area outside the dwelling title line and thus regarded as part of the "highway" strip. It was unwanted as highway and the 116 succeeded. I have a copy.

I want to do something on that "stopped up" land inside my fence.  A handy south facing slope for solar which is invisible high above the road on the bank behind a hedge. But too near the road so PP needed.

I have an inkling PP on land I don't have inside my title plan will prove - problematic - on that technicality alone before we get to the actual application and any issues there. And that my LA will take many months just to tell me that.  They won't talk to householders so here we are.

The underlying need is on the interaction of PP and stopped up land that I act as though I own but find the legals complicated to understand re registered title. If I have to tackle this by registering the land with LR first to open up the planning loop at all. 

Register it so it is now inside the dwelling title plan edge and a "normal" application is OK if this situation isn't a tolerated one already.  The strip disappears from title plans.

My question on how to proceed.

1 Do you know if I need to tidy the registration prior or can I get PP on "stopped up" highway enclosed and adjacent to title.

2 To register it into the adjacent title - is this an FR1 first registration form of the now "stopped up" previously thought to be highway land to add it. Revised plan colouring in the formerly demarcated and annotated hatched area as a part of the whole. Simplified plan. Moving the current boundary to the actual highway edge. All else unaltered.

3 Or is it / could it be an adverse possession claim instead.  How could I tell

SiliconChip

Hi @Land_Registry, about 15 months ago I submitted AP1 and TR1 forms to transfer a piece of land owned by my sister and I to my niece. Both of us received notification that the transfer was complete, but my niece has never received any documentation to confirm that she is now the owner. Is that something that would normally happen, or is it just something that has to be confirmed by paying for the register entry?