Selling house but changing garden boundary

subcapsular

Hi we have just had an offer accepted on our property. Some 18 years ago we decided to square of our gardens with our neighbour as both were oddly shaped and it made cosmetic sense.

Both me and my neighbour have great relationship and we built a wall across our new agreed boundary. The exchange of land was minute approximately 1.5 square metre each.

The way the wall was built and squared of meant neither property lost any land as what was lost on one side was gained elsewhere (hope this makes sense)!

Now we have come to sell and looking at the land registry it has the old misshapen line and we would like to get this altered as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We have a property we have found and the buyer is happy to exchange contracts but would like the boundary sorted before hand.

There is no dispute and neighbour has agreed to put in writing etc.

Spoke to solicitor who has said the amendment with land registry can take ages and this will affect both my buyer and my future sale?

What is the quickest way to resolve this? I have a small mortgage on the property due to be clears once property sold. It’s less then 10 percent of property value and the land exchange will have no bearing on value of property?

Thanks and any advice appreciated ideally I would like it sorted in next week or so even if have to get solicitor involved as do not wish to loose my prospective future house

Tiglet2

If your buyer (and most likely their lender) wants this sorted before exchange, then Land Registry will have to change the title plan to reflect the new boundary.

They may want to visit the site to look at the current boundary and possibly contact the other neighbour or anyone who may have an interest.

Generally speaking Land Registry would give 20 days after notice has been served for anyone to register an objection, after which they will go ahead and register the new boundary on your title.

It may be expedited since you are in the process of selling, but sorry to say it won't be in the next week.

G_M

Since you have a mortgage, any change to the Land Registry Title or Plan would need agreement by your (and your neighbour's?) lender(s).

This might add delay.

The LR can be asked to 'expedite' applications where a sale is being held up - your solicitor should be able to request this.


Might your buyer be willing to Complete the sale with the current LR Plans, if the neighbour gave an undertaking to amend the Plans post-sale? Such an undertaking would probably not be legally binding, but perhaps a meeting between you, your buyer, and the neighbour, over tea and cake, would reassure him enough to proceed.....?

AdrianC

Even though you say that the boundary change will have no effect on the value, your lender need to agree it, because they have a registered charge on the Land Registry registration. No changes can be made without their approval. However, given the very low loan-to-value, and the nature of the change, this should be straightforward.


I'm sure the LR Rep will be along during working hours tomorrow to give you an indication of current likely turn-around times, but I suspect you're being VERY optimistic (and that's an understatement) hoping this'll be sorted in a week...

subcapsular

Thanks all if I cleared my nominal mortgage beforehand using savings then would it be more of a straight forward case?

Pardeep

AdrianC

subcapsular wrote: »

Thanks all if I cleared my nominal mortgage beforehand using savings then would it be more of a straight forward case?

You won't need the lender's permission, but they'll need to clear their charge with LR before you can make the change, so it probably won't speed anything up.


Let's put it another way, because I don't think the message is sinking in... The only way on the face of this planet that you're exchanging next week is if you can persuade the buyer to sort it post-purchase.

davidmcn

subcapsular wrote: »

What is the quickest way to resolve this?

Move the wall back to where it was.

subcapsular

Okay so maybe a week is being optimistic does anyone have average figures for how long it can take?

davidmcn

Does your neighbour have a mortgage? If so then their lender would need to be involved - both to remove their legal charge from the bit going to your property, and (probably) to add the new bit to their existing charge. So that will probably take a while. And you'll need to agree who's paying the lender's fees (and your neighbour's legal costs - it may be a mutual change but it's you who wants it sorted out in a hurry).

Has anyone drawn up plans showing the changes?

subcapsular

Yes plans been drawn up to scale and marked as such to reflect the change
I am more then
Happy to pay the legal fees it is such a small slit of land but I was honest and upfront when the survey questionnaire came up weather the boundary on the land registry matches the current physical boundary! If it was a fence it would be simple to move but it is a beautiful wall we had made with hand made bricks at a fair cost!

Tiglet2

Approximate timescale:
Solicitor reports to your lender and seeks permission to alter boundary. Solicitor reports to the Land Registry. LR consider the case and make an appointment to send out a surveyor to make a site visit in approx two/three weeks time. He assesses the situation and reports back to Land Registry, who then send out letters to any potential interested parties, allowing 20 days for any objections to be raised. Meanwhile lender gives their response to the boundary change. Once the 20 days have passed, providing no-one has objected, LR will agree the new boundary. So, minimum of one month, more likely two.

Quickest way of dealing with this is to move the boundary back to its original position (as Davidmcn says above).