Possessory Title + Indemnity Policy - Leasehold flat

jamescool123

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help - In the process of purchasing a leasehold flat when I receive an email from my solicitor stating,

"Land Registry has advised that they cannot update the Lease as the sellers solicitor only hold a copy of the plan (attached).

We therefore need to obtain indemnity insurance which will protect you and your lender, from any losses incurred, should a third party enforce action against you. We attach a copy of this policy and we would refer you to the “cover” section for further information."

My concern / question is - "why" can't the owner update the lease via land registry? I understand in this case it may be due to a loss of documents... although apparently the property was purchased in 2005 - by this time, records should be electronic anyway, so I don't exactly believe the seller has just 'lost' the paperwork. If they've also owned the property since 2005 - they should be able to provide sufficient evidence to the land registry to prove ownership, the fact they can't is worrying to me.

The estate agents informed me this property has on sale for 4+ years - it is currently being rented as they were unable to find a buyer... although now I'm thinking the issue wasn't being able to find a buyer... it was the issue with updating land registry and being able to provide a title absolute.

I keep thinking something dodgy is going on here... He's owned the property for more than 12 years and had it on sale for 4+ years. Just because he doesn't have all the documents, surely he should be able to provide sufficient evidence to land registry in order to obtain the title absolute... right?

SmashedAvacado

how many flats are there in the block?
Do you know who owns the freehold?

jamescool123

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

how many flats are there in the block?
Do you know who owns the freehold?

There's 24 flats in the building. I assume the freehold is owned by management company.

It's quite strange, as the some of the paperwork the solicitors have sent me says,

"The seller xxx who appears to have purchased the property in 2005"

Why would it "appear" as if they purchased the property in 2005? Shouldn't be crystal clear, they either did... or they didn't! Which is it?

Then it says,

"It is registered at the land register with 'title absolute'"

riiiiight... so how can it be registered with title absolute and yet now the solicitors are asking me to take out indemnity insurance with a policy type that's called,

""Policy Type - Missing Information, Lost Title Deeds and Possessory Title Insurance"

G_M

Originally Posted by SmashedAvacado
how many flats are there in the block?
Do you know who owns the freehold?

jamescool123 wrote: »

There's 24 flats in the building. I assume the freehold is owned by management company.Stop 'assuming' things. Pay £3 here and find out!

It's quite strange, as the some of the paperwork the solicitors have sent me says,

"The seller xxx who appears to have purchased the property in 2005"

Why would it "appear" as if they purchased the property in 2005? Shouldn't be crystal clear, they either did... or they didn't! Which is it?
Again - Pay £3 here and find out! (but this time buy the leasehold title, not the freehold.)

Then it says,

"It is registered at the land register with 'title absolute'"

riiiiight... so how can it be registered with title absolute and yet now the solicitors are asking me to take out indemnity insurance with a policy type that's called,


""Policy Type - Missing Information, Lost Title Deeds and Possessory Title Insurance"You are buying a lease with title absolute. But as you do not have a copy of the lease you have no idea what it says or what obligations it contains.

That is what the insurance is for.

Land Registry has advised that they cannot update the Lease

It's unclear why there is a need to 'update' the lease....

bouicca21

If there is no lease then a new one is needed. All the flats in the block should have similar, probably identical, leases, so drawing up a new one should be no big deal.

But it will cost, and no one here can know whether the terms of the lease will be satisfactory, how many years it has to run etc. Nor can we know how happy your mortgage company will be.

And frankly it isn’t your problem, it is the vendor’s and it is the vendor who should pay all charges. At the moment it is probably unmortgageable, so it is the vendor’s interest to sort it out.