Land Registry questions

Land_Registry

Chapstick94 said:

Hi wondering if anyone knows how long Land registry is taking currently with expediting? We purchased a property in early July however the seller we bought from only purchased the house back in February this year so the property wasn’t transferred to them. They expedited the application on the 8th of July and were questioned with requisitions a few days later. Now to the best of my knowledge they have answered these on the beginning of September as they were simply waiting for some paperwork from the previous sellers (local council) Solicitors. If this was sent to Land registry on 11th of September how much longer will it take to register the property to our seller? We’re desperate to move in as we had a baby in mid June and have a 5 year old also in a very small 2 bed house so we are slowly running out of room here as we cannot fit a cot anywhere and our babies bedside crib he has nearly outgrown. There is no onward chain and our buyer is FTB so we were hoping it would be completed by now. Any advice is much appreciated, thank you. 

Expedition generally means that the processing starts within 10 days of expedition being approved. Every case though will differ so whilst some can be processed there and then many can't and for a wide variety of reasons. And expedition isn't a magic wand. It's more like a starting pistol and the race is then how long the actual processing takes.
So taking your specifics the starting pistol went off but the race was delated by the requisitions. If they've since replied then the race has started up again but if still being run there must be another reason for the delay.
Do you have any specific details you can share such as the title number perhaps? Or postal address?

annetheman

Good afternoon @Land_Registry - thanks for all of your invaluable help on here!

How common is it for possessory title FR1 applications made by solicitors/conveyancers (i.e. not layperson applications) to be rejected or cancelled due to inactivity?

The seller's solicitors are applying for (and have failed twice for aforementioned reasons) first registration of unregistered garden land to obtain possessory title, where the seller has been the owner for >12 years and has evidence showing exclusive use (surrounded by fence/physical boundary) with no access other than via his Absolute title terraced house and land).

I found it incredible the application failed twice, as the instructions you have given to them are quite clear, but I could be wrong - trying to gauge if this experience is common practice...

Thanks for any insights.

jackc12

Hello,

We are FTBs and have an offer accepted on a leasehold townhouse.

We now find the leasehold title plan has an error, where it states incorrectly that the title only includes the first and second floors (which is accurate only for a small section of the property). Our solicitor agrees this is incorrect and that a deed of variation may be required to include the ground floor. Currently we await the vendor's solicitor to respond to ours. 

The "missing" ground floor (as well as the rest of the property and the surrounding development) is included on the freehold title, which is held by a different company to the vendor company holding the leasehold, but with the same officers/directors.

I have seen that certain small things for in process purchases can be fast tracked, but I would imagine this is a more major change (to the majority of the property on the title plan). My question is, in very loose terms as we appreciate there are many variables, what kind of time range are we looking at here to rectify this errant lease title plan (assuming the vendor's solicitor expedites it and the freeholder is fully agreeable)?

Just that we are a little lost in our first accepted offer - but I am starting to feel we should withdraw. Thanks in advance for any advice it would be much appreciated.  

Land_Registry

annetheman said:

Good afternoon @Land_Registry - thanks for all of your invaluable help on here!

How common is it for possessory title FR1 applications made by solicitors/conveyancers (i.e. not layperson applications) to be rejected or cancelled due to inactivity?

The seller's solicitors are applying for (and have failed twice for aforementioned reasons) first registration of unregistered garden land to obtain possessory title, where the seller has been the owner for >12 years and has evidence showing exclusive use (surrounded by fence/physical boundary) with no access other than via his Absolute title terraced house and land).

I found it incredible the application failed twice, as the instructions you have given to them are quite clear, but I could be wrong - trying to gauge if this experience is common practice...

Thanks for any insights.

It can and does happen although in my experience the vast majority fail due to not fulfilling the legal requirements to support their claim as to ownership. Some do fail due to inactivity on the part of the conveyancer when they are requested for more information but they are certainly in the minority

Land_Registry

jackc12 said:

Hello,

We are FTBs and have an offer accepted on a leasehold townhouse.

We now find the leasehold title plan has an error, where it states incorrectly that the title only includes the first and second floors (which is accurate only for a small section of the property). Our solicitor agrees this is incorrect and that a deed of variation may be required to include the ground floor. Currently we await the vendor's solicitor to respond to ours. 

The "missing" ground floor (as well as the rest of the property and the surrounding development) is included on the freehold title, which is held by a different company to the vendor company holding the leasehold, but with the same officers/directors.

I have seen that certain small things for in process purchases can be fast tracked, but I would imagine this is a more major change (to the majority of the property on the title plan). My question is, in very loose terms as we appreciate there are many variables, what kind of time range are we looking at here to rectify this errant lease title plan (assuming the vendor's solicitor expedites it and the freeholder is fully agreeable)?

Just that we are a little lost in our first accepted offer - but I am starting to feel we should withdraw. Thanks in advance for any advice it would be much appreciated.  

If the error is in the actual original lease then a surrender and regrant by way of a deed of variation would be the way to go. 
Expedition gets the application to the start line and providing everything is in order re the actual application inc any required consents for example, and there are no other pending applications against the freehold title, then it can usually be completed within the 10 days the expedite policy refers to.
The vast majority of applications that are IN order are completed same day as processing starts. Those that are not in order and are incapable of being registered at that moment in time are naturally subject to delay. Expedition isn't a magic wand sadly but it certainly helps to get the race to the registration finish line underway.
So first step is to ensure the current landlord and tenant get the right deed of variation drawn up and the conveyancers complete their part of the process and forms correctly. If they do that then it can be a reasonably swift registration process.

Coffeeplz

Does anyone know how long the transfer of property between family members take at the moment?
also, will the value of the property show in the records if the transfer is gifting and no money is exchanged? 

Land_Registry

Coffeeplz said:

Does anyone know how long the transfer of property between family members take at the moment?
also, will the value of the property show in the records if the transfer is gifting and no money is exchanged? 

Wait times can be lengthy so you should expect a wait of at least 4 months currently.
If they have submitted it themselves, so not used a conveyancer, they will be contacted once processing starts
If there's no monies changing hands then the 'value' will appear as a register entry

MoreInfoPlease

My mum is selling her house to pay for residential care and the buyer's solicitors have insisted that the freehold and leasehold titles be merged before exchange. 

It has been expedited with Land Registry, but we are a week after the 10 working days and no word of progress yet.  The solicitors say it is still with the land registry - how long does the process usually take for such an application? 

Land_Registry

Expedition generally gets it to the processing start stage within the 10 days. However that doesn't mean it's done in that time so much depends on whether it's in order and there are no other reason(s) why it can't be processed
Happy to take a look if you share the title numbers involved or address?

ChasingtheWelshdream

@Land_Registry

Good morning, I am hoping you can help with a long-running saga that may now be ending.

A property was originally held as Tenants in Common between four people. One sole proprietor survived, but the Form A restriction remained. It was unclear for quite some time if they had actually inherited the property from the original tenants due to lack of paperwork. The various wills confirming the inheritance and succession have now all been found, and confirm they did eventually inherit 100% and were entitled to the entire beneficial interest. 

The last survivor has now passed away and we are dealing with the estate as executors. The property will be sold and proceeds distributed to the beneficiaries.

Do we need to apply to remove this Form A restriction now, before the property is sold? Or is it something that will be routinely dealt with during conveyancing? We do not want to transfer ownership before sale and probate has not yet been granted.

We would like to help the eventual sale proceed as smoothly as possible, so if this will be a sticking point, we would like to fix it first. 

Thank you.