Buying a New Build with Area of Unregistered Land

Jackc1494

martindow wrote: »

Someone owns it - are you sure this is what the solicitor said?

It seems as if the developer bought some pieces of land and there now appears to be a small area unaccounted for. Could it be minor errors in the boundaries of bits of land that have created this? It must be very small if it is within the garden of a new-build.

Are you using a solicitor recommended by the developer?

These were my Solicitors exact words:-


"Also please see attached plans 1 and 2, it has come to light that the small parcel of land on plan 2 is not owned by the developer and is currently unregistered and not actually owned by anyone."


Our Solicitor wasn't recommended by the developer but this shouldn't really matter surely? It's very strange for a small area to be unregistered within a whole development site of around 100 houses and we just have to be the unlucky ones! Just want it sorting really but Lovell don't seem to be doing much about it!

SmashedAvacado

It is highly likely your solicitor has got this hopelessly wrong and they need to be called out on it

unregistered land is owned by someone - even if it's the crown

they need to get the seller to give you comfort on this - and you perhaps need to ensure that your solicitor is appropriately qualified to be assisting because they don't seem to understand the fundamentals of property law.

I wouldn't take a view on this. It will be a problem when selling. The seller needs to properly solve this issue - they have the means to do this. They should be the ones sorting insurance - not your solicitor. The fact that insurance is not available is a big problem.

daveyjp

Insurers work on risk - have the developers provided enough info to demonstrate the risk of a claim is within their acceptable levels? Insurers will need comfort that due diligence has been undertaken.

OP - while it isn't your job have a look on some old maps and see if there is any indication as to who may have owned the land.

https://maps.nls.uk/

Davesnave

Jackc1494 wrote: »

These were my Solicitors exact words:-


"Also please see attached plans 1 and 2, it has come to light that the small parcel of land on plan 2 is not owned by the developer and is currently unregistered and not actually owned by anyone."

So they did say what no solicitor worthy of the name should have said.


I will alter my previous post. You might need to alter their attitude.

Davesnave

If it adjoins the pavement, could it have been reserved for a service of some kind, like Openreach boxes?


BT Openreach now prefer these to be in communal areas, like the footway, rather than in private gardens, so is it possible they did the installation elsewhere and 'forgot' this plot.

Jackc1494

Our Solicitors are definitely appropriately qualified to undertake the work they have been commissioned to complete and I will be very surprised if they've got it entirely wrong.


That being said I don't think the developer's are giving the full story or enough comfort to us or our Solicitor so I wouldn't be surprised if our Solicitor is trying to get indemnity insurance by just using the land registry plans which show the "unregistered land" along with the plot title boundary, which could be the reason they are rejecting an insurance policy.


I have told Lovell that they should be the ones sorting it out so I'll see what happens from now, very frustrating as we should have been moving in within the next two weeks but that seems unlikely now!!


The area of land is within the garden area and stops at the back of footway so I'm not sure this section of land would have been kept for utility services however I could check with Lovell.

davidmcn

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

It is highly likely your solicitor has got this hopelessly wrong and they need to be called out on it

unregistered land is owned by someone - even if it's the crown

they need to get the seller to give you comfort on this - and you perhaps need to ensure that your solicitor is appropriately qualified to be assisting because they don't seem to understand the fundamentals of property law.

To be fair, I think it's a reasonably dumbed-down-for-client-purposes version of "land the ownership of which cannot be readily identified", not an indication that the solicitor doesn't understand the principles of land ownership.

But I'm still intrigued to know why they apparently can't sort out insurance.

Jackc1494

davidmcn wrote: »

To be fair, I think it's a reasonably dumbed-down-for-client-purposes version of "land the ownership of which cannot be readily identified", not an indication that the solicitor doesn't understand the principles of land ownership.

But I'm still intrigued to know why they apparently can't sort out insurance.

The fact that they can't sort out insurance is what is worrying me!!

Davesnave

Jackc1494 wrote: »

The fact that they can't sort out insurance is what is worrying me!!

I cannot think of anything that might be a huge risk on a plot like that. I suppose someone could pitch a 2 person tent on it and camp for 28 days a year without breaking any laws!

Jackc1494

I've just had a message from my Solicitor confirming that she has still had no luck with finding an indemnity policy and she has discussed the area of land with the sellers Solicitor. I am told it is not a normal standard area of unregistered land and it is currently going through the process to be reverted back to Lovell's ownership.


My Solicitor has therefore advised that the best way to proceed is to contact our mortgage lender to advise of the land situation and make sure that they agree that the small area of land won't effect the house value what so ever, subject to the mortgage lender confirming this/agreeing we can proceed with the exchange as normal and then the land will be transferred to us as and when, as claused in the contract documents.


My question now is, how likely is it that my mortgage lender will confirm/agree that this small area of land will not affect the house value? I know this is a difficult question to answer without seeing the land etc but just wondering if anyone has had any experience of this....


Thanks.