Premier Property Lawyers maintaining their usual high standards (is there an irony emoticon?)

Puflet

Not really seeking advice, just a bit of a rant really.

Along with my house and garden, I own a patch of land over the other side of next door. There's a pumping station on it, which used to be managed by myself and neighbours, and we'd created a management company to oversee it (everyone contributed a small amount each month towards cost of servicing, maintenance etc).

Private sewers and pumping stations nationwide were all taken over by local water companies between 2011 and 2016, whereupon Severn Trent took over ours. No problem, they keep the land nice and tidy, keep the pumping station serviced and repaired, all that, at no cost to us.

We dissolved the management company as it was redundant at this point.

However, I forgot that there was a lease agreement between myself as the landowner, and the management company. There is in fact a clause in the agreement which means that the lease was terminated when the company was dissolved... but I hadn't applied to the Land Registry to have it cancelled, and it therefore appeared on the Title.

And this is where PPL enter the story. My house was on the market, and when their enquiries came through I was asked to vary the terms of the lease. My first thought was "What lease?", but then I dug through my paperwork, found the agreement ("Ah! THAT lease!") that said the lease was terminated, along with the entry at Companies House which showed that the company was dissolved, and passed it on to them via my solicitor. There was no response to this, other than to say that they believed the client's lender would not be happy to proceed. This would be understandable if it was an active lease, but it wasn't!!!

Then they asked if Severn Trent would buy the freehold of the patch of land, which ST were prepared to do - but the process was proving so long winded that I explored the possibility of selling the house and garden separately, with a separate TP1. I was advised by my own solicitor that it would be so much against my own interests to do so that they were not prepared to proceed - partly because of the cost to me, and partly because there was no valid reason why a lender would object. Apparently when they asked for evidence of the lender's objection there was no reply from PPL.

So negotiations with ST drag on and on, my purchaser's panicking because her mortgage offer's going to expire at the end of November... and then yesterday I had a chat with the estate agent. Apparently PPL had informed my purchaser that there were three possible scenarios:

- I initiated a Transfer of Part consisting of the house and garden (see my solicitor's comments above)

- My purchaser took on responsibility for all the maintenance, insurance etc for the pumping station (heck, even in the days before Severn Trent entered the picture the costs were shared between four households!) which she was loath to do

- She pulled out

They also said that the lender's solicitors had not yet been made aware of all the above shenanigans. This, frankly, came as no surprise.

I protested in vain. I explained that I'd been advised not to proceed with a separate sale of house and garden, and why, and that the assertions that she would have to foot the bills for the pumping station were totally unfounded... anyway, to cut a long story short, my purchaser's pulled out.

And I have to say, it's a relief after months of trying to explain, again and again, to my purchaser and the estate agent what the deal actually is.

I've taken my house off the market now, until the deal with Severn Trent is completed. Not going through this nightmare again!

GDB2222

It's up to you to get your property into a saleable condition. The buyer’s solicitor pointed out the defect, then sat back and waited for you to sort it out. I don’t think they could do anything else.

I’m surprised that the lease is such a problem to get removed from the LR, if you can show it expired. Your problem seems to be that you instead involved the water company, who are apparently working to an entirely different timescale than you would like.

The real losers in all this are your buyers. I’m not surprised they have dropped out.

AdrianC

Puflet wrote: »

Along with my house and garden, I own a patch of land over the other side of next door. There's a pumping station on it, which used to be managed by myself and neighbours, and we'd created a management company to oversee it (everyone contributed a small amount each month towards cost of servicing, maintenance etc).

Private sewers and pumping stations nationwide were all taken over by local water companies between 2011 and 2016, whereupon Severn Trent took over ours. No problem, they keep the land nice and tidy, keep the pumping station serviced and repaired, all that, at no cost to us.

We dissolved the management company as it was redundant at this point.

However, I forgot that there was a lease agreement between myself as the landowner, and the management company. There is in fact a clause in the agreement which means that the lease was terminated when the company was dissolved... but I hadn't applied to the Land Registry to have it cancelled, and it therefore appeared on the Title.

So you "broke" your title.

And this is where PPL enter the story. My house was on the market, and when their enquiries came through I was asked to vary the terms of the lease.

PPL being your buyer's solicitors, right?

They've said to you "Our buyer doesn't want to buy a broken title. Please fix it before the sale can continue." Ball in your court.

My first thought was "What lease?", but then I dug through my paperwork, found the agreement ("Ah! THAT lease!") that said the lease was terminated, along with the entry at Companies House which showed that the company was dissolved, and passed it on to them via my solicitor. There was no response to this, other than to say that they believed the client's lender would not be happy to proceed. This would be understandable if it was an active lease, but it wasn't!!!

Not up to you to decide. It's up to the buyers and their solicitors (and their lender) to decide if they're prepared to continue with the title in its current state or not. They don't need any reason - and it's not up to you to decide on the validity of any reasons they give.

The title is broken, and they want you to fix it. Ball still in your court.

Then they asked if Severn Trent would buy the freehold of the patch of land

So they've given you a lifeline...

which ST were prepared to do - but the process was proving so long winded that

...which you didn't like.

I explored the possibility of selling the house and garden separately, with a separate TP1.

So you decided to try a different route...

I was advised by my own solicitor that it would be so much against my own interests to do so that they were not prepared to proceed

...but your solicitor thought that was a bad route.

- partly because of the cost to me, and partly because there was no valid reason why a lender would object. Apparently when they asked for evidence of the lender's objection there was no reply from PPL.

Nor does there need to be. "We don't want to buy your broken title, please fix it" is all they need to say.

So negotiations with ST drag on and on, my purchaser's panicking because her mortgage offer's going to expire at the end of November... and then yesterday I had a chat with the estate agent. Apparently PPL had informed my purchaser that there were three possible scenarios:

OK...

- I initiated a Transfer of Part consisting of the house and garden (see my solicitor's comments above)

Your solicitor says no.

- My purchaser took on responsibility for all the maintenance, insurance etc for the pumping station (heck, even in the days before Severn Trent entered the picture the costs were shared between four households!) which she was loath to do

They say no.

- She pulled out

That seems like the obvious solution, short of waiting indefinitely.

They also said that the lender's solicitors had not yet been made aware of all the above shenanigans. This, frankly, came as no surprise.

Still doesn't matter.

I protested in vain. I explained that I'd been advised not to proceed with a separate sale of house and garden, and why, and that the assertions that she would have to foot the bills for the pumping station were totally unfounded... anyway, to cut a long story short, my purchaser's pulled out.

And who can blame them?

And I have to say, it's a relief after months of trying to explain, again and again, to my purchaser and the estate agent what the deal actually is.

I've taken my house off the market now, until the deal with Severn Trent is completed. Not going through this nightmare again!

Which is the correct answer. Fix your broken title, then try to sell without the time pressure.