House Freehold but garden is leasehold

jude_br

I'm trying to buy a house that was leasehold but the current owners bought the freehold a few years back. Unfortunately when the freehold was transferred to them it seems as if the front garden and driveway was missed off the land registry filed plan. The title plan for the leasehold includes them, the title plan for the freehold doesn't.
The vendors were unaware of this until my solicitor spotted it last week, they have never been asked for any ground rent or charges so we think this is just an oversight on the plan.
The vendor's solicitor has written to the company that owned the lease and asked for a transfer but they only have a postal address, no email, no phone.
Does anyone have any idea of how long this might take to resolve or if there are any other ways around this if the leasehold company doesn't respond?

SmashedAvacado

It could take a few weeks to a few years to resolve. If the seller is still in touch with the owner, and it was a mistake, and that mistake is clear then there will be little to get in the way of sorting it out but it will still take some time. If someone wants to be unhelpful (and this usually comes down to who is paying their lawyers to do what) then it can take longer. If it was the seller's lawyers that also did the acquisition, then they will be keen to get this resolved because they have been potentially negligent.

If the situation was not a mistake, can you live with having a leasehold garden?

Tom99

Its down to the seller of the house to get it sorted but even when they contact the freeholder they may see £ signs flashing when they realise the seller needs to resolve this quickly.