Charge on house

bazantil

We are in the process of selling our house and our buyers solicitor have carried out searches and has identified a charge on our property. We were never notified of this when we purchased it originally.

Our buyers solicitors are now asking that we take out indemnity insurance for this.

Can we now take this up with the solicitors that we bought the property with in 2006 or has there now been too long a period and we will just have to suck it up - so to speak!

Any advice would be great - thanks.

davidmcn

Who are the parties to the charge? When does it date from? What's your solicitor's advice?

bazantil

The charge is a very small yearly payment to local church which was introduced when the house was initially built in 1970s. We were never told of this at the time we bought it and no-one has ever asked for the funds since we have lived here.
Our solicitor has sourced an indemnity insurance quote.
Not sure if we need it or not?

captainzorro

We had some similiar fee to pay "Chancel repair liability" when we bought one of buy-to-let property. The solicitors said it must be paid for the repair of the chancel which is soo many metres away. The fee was very nominal - not sure if yours is the same.

bazantil

Thanks for replies. It says it's for upkeep of graveyard, the church is actually in the next village, appears to be an agreement set up by the landowner when it was sold to the developers.
I'm just trying to find out if the solicitors we used to buy the property are at fault for not picking up during searches when we were buying in the first place and if it's worth pursuing with them?

warby68

When you say charge on house, most people will immediately think charging order or mortgage relating to debt.

This is more like a ground rent or service charge.

What is the amount both of the unpaid fee and the policy? That should tell you whether its worth pursuing the solicitor. If its in the documentation they could easily say it was mentioned and you forgot or clearly there and you didn't read it. I strongly suspect its not worth the bother. Am a little surprised the church hasn't come for their money - they can be keen.

AdrianC

They can ask for an indemnity. You can refuse. The buyer can then decide whether they want it badly enough to pay themselves, or whether to walk from the purchase.

How much is the policy, and how much is the annual fee requested?

If it's for £1/year, and the indemnity is £100, then clearly it would be ludicrously disproportionate to purchase the policy. Remember, debts can only be pursued for six past years.

Or you may just decide it's easiest to roll your eyes, pay the £100, and let the buyer go on with the purchase, happy...

davidmcn

bazantil wrote: »

Thanks for replies. It says it's for upkeep of graveyard, the church is actually in the next village, appears to be an agreement set up by the landowner when it was sold to the developers.
I'm just trying to find out if the solicitors we used to buy the property are at fault for not picking up during searches when we were buying in the first place and if it's worth pursuing with them?

That doesn't sound like what most of us would call a "charge". What have the solicitors actually called it?

Are you sure your solicitors didn't mention it at all when you bought? If it's a trivial amount then I wouldn't expect them to make a song and dance about it.

bazantil

Just to clarify, details from Solicitor lists the details under "Charges register" section on the "Official copy of register of title" It has been called a rent charge payable to the local chapel.

Thank you for all your replies.