Shared Ownership and Land Registry

phoenixfeather88

Hi all,

First post on this forum! It is long, but there is a lot of explanation. I'm trying to get advice on what happens when things get stuck at Land Registry.

I'm trying to buy a new-build shared ownership property - so, the housing association buys it off the developer, then I buy a share in the property from the housing association and pay rent on the other portion.

I was expecting to be in before my birthday which was late October, and I did expect some delays as this is the norm, but there have been many many issues and it's not looking like it's going to be any time soon.

One of my solicitor's searches revealed that the housing association's solicitor had done their searches against all the houses in the new development that they were buying, which I was told meant that my solicitor couldn't submit my Land Registry application until the housing association had withdrawn their application from Land Registry (I have no idea why, that's just what I was told by my solicitor).

I was in direct contact with the housing association who told me that their solicitor had withdrawn their application at the beginning of this month (November). My solicitor firm then referred me on to a different solicitor within the firm as apparently it was too complicated for the first one to sort out. His team told me that they had had to wait until the Land Registry search expired before they could begin a new search to confirm whether the housing association had removed their application or not. My solicitor then submitted a new search over a week ago, but told me that my Land Registry application couldn't be processed until the housing association's application had been processed, so it is sitting with Land Registry (even though I was told that the housing association had withdrawn their application).

My solicitor yesterday (November 22) instructed me to close my Help To Buy ISA, but when I asked for confirmation that the issue had been resolved, I was told that it wasn't. So I have not yet closed the HTB ISA as I want to make more use out of it.

I got in touch with Land Registry yesterday to see if they could shed any light on the matter.

They replied straight away and told me:
"There is currently an application to register the plot in the name of [housing association] which was lodged on the 30th October 2017. There are several applications prior to this one plus the current completion time for this type of application is 69 Business days from the time the application was lodged."

Today I got in touch again to confirm what this means - is my application waiting to be processed, is the "69 business days" a maximum or minimum time, etc etc. Their response was:
"The application to transfer to [housing association] lodged 30 Oct is to transfer plots 13 to 19 to them. There are other applications to be completed before this is started, the earliest of which was lodged 11 October. If you are transfering one of these plots into your name this will need to be processed after this application is completed. Currently there appears to be no application lodged for [my house]. Any new applications will take approx 69 days from the day it is received."

So this sounds like the first application (developer to housing association) will take 69 business days from October 30 (February 7), then ANOTHER 69 business days to get my application processed. My mortgage offer expires in February as I had to apply to the housing association with a full mortgage offer in June, 3 months before the development was finished. If I have to get a new mortgage offer I'll be paying the higher interest rate and therefore may not be able to borrow as much as I could have before. This is hopefully not an issue has I have a large deposit and a shared ownership house isn't as expensive as buying outright, but it still may be somewhat of an issue.

I don't know the full extent of the issue and my solicitor doesn't seem to know what kind of time frame we're looking at. I don't understand why Land Registry takes 69 business days to process the application. I have tried Googling any kind of governing body that I could get advice from but I can't find any. Is anyone here aware of any such governing body, or of any steps that could be taken to ensure I can get the house bought before the mortgage offer expires?

Thankyou
Gemma

Land_Registry

Gemma A few things that may help here although you've got all the details we can offer really and it really should be your solicitor who advises you re next steps/options

The timescale we quote is an average so it could take longer or it could be quicker and is intended to be indicative only

The timescale is really 'wait time', namely waiting fir it to be considered. Once considered and all us in order it is completed same day. If it's not in order it's referred to the solicitor for them to put it in order. That can then add to the timescale

For your own purchase to be registered the seller has to own the property/title. At this stage that has yet to be registered but clearly you/your solicitor have no issues with that being completed so you have completed.

The timescale won't be 69 + 69 business days but there is likely to be a gap between the two. Our reply did state 69 days from date of receipt. Not 69 days from date of completion of HA's own registration.

The added complication seems to be that there are 'prior' applications to the HA's own one as well. These will also need to be completed as they also have priority.

We do have a process for expediting applications where there is an urgency/linked transaction. That's not going to work though here whilst you have a number of applications ahead of your own.

In the circumstances I woukd suggest contacting the HA to see what they can do re their own application whilst also identifying what the older applications are and timescales involved. Your solicitor will hopefully be aware as a result if the searches they have already carried out

Sarahtb

Hi Can I ask how you got on with this? We are in a similar position and it’s been referred back to the lender to now see if they want to continue ��

phoenixfeather88

I was so stressed out at the time that I can't remember the specific details, but I did manage to get into the house in January of last year, which means the Land Registry stuff either hadn't been completely sorted and I was allowed to continue anyway, or that it was hurried through. I honestly can't remember, sorry, but I was definitely in the house by the second week in January.