Question about land registry and an unregistered house

VelvetKao

Hello all. We are in the process if buying and selling. Everything is ready to go on our end, our buyers end and our sellers end (chain of 3 with us in the middle), except one thing.

We've been told by our solicitor we can't complete until our seller recieves back completed LR paperwork from first registration. It's been 2 months since they submitted the application (26th sept) and we have been told they asked for it to be expedited. We keep nagging but we keep getting told the LR hasn't been in contact yet.

My question is - is this an unnecessary step on our solicitor's part? Can we complete without waiting for this or is it a legal requirement? Many thanks.

babyblade41

your own solicitor can first register on completion but the lender will probably want it registered first.

so long as paperwork is all in order and complete to register

Probably best ask on Land registry here , they normally answer within a couple of hours and are excellent help. Just give them the info they need and they will usually find out for you where the application is up to

davidmcn

VelvetKao wrote: »

Can we complete without waiting for this or is it a legal requirement?

It's not a legal requirement, but it is common practice (in England & Wales at least) on the basis that if the Land Registry has any issues, you'd prefer the sellers to be sorting them out before you hand over your money. In theory you could complete without waiting if you're buying with cash. But if you have a mortgage then you'll need to wait until your solicitor is satisfied enough to sign off to your lender.

AdrianC

It's a legal requirement for the property to be registered on change of ownership, but not as to who does it.

If the vendor has already submitted the application, then it's underway - and trying to get it abandoned will not only cause yet more delay, but may well cause problems.