Garage not on title plan! Info needed

Chimpy84

I purchased a new build property with detached garage in June 2015 from persimmon homes.

After being in my new home for a few months, I still hadn’t received my land registry documents or anything regarding my title deeds, so I chased this up with the conveyancer I used for the purchase and he assured me there was a delay with land registry at the time.

Around this time my neighbour, who’s garage is attached to my garage at the bottom of our gardens, had just received his land registry documents. On inspecting I quickly realised my garage was on his title plan.

This title plan is different to the original title plan I had to sign and send back to conveyancer when buying the property in 2015. Garage was definitely on that plan. I still have a copy.

At this stage I tried to contact the conveyancer on the phone and via email, but to no avail!

Spoke to land registry and they informed me an application had been rejected to register my property as the title plan conflicted a plan they already had on record!

A few month later my neighbour received a letter from persimmon homes, pretty much stating a mistake had been made and his property had been registered with my garage by mistake. Asking my neighbour to inspect a new title plan, sign it and send it back to them so they can transfer the parcel of land (the garage) to persimmon homes then transfer it to your neighbour (me)

So I thought things would get sorted at this point.

Fast forward to now, my house is sold subject to contract.

Contacted land registry to see if transfer of garage had happened and sure enough it never did!!!

Persimmon legal department and assistant legal manager in particular who were dealing with apparent transfer are completely refusing to answer my calls or emails, conveyancer nowhere to be found!

Where do I stand with this? Where or who do I speak to and get this mess sorted out.?

Apologies for the very long post but trying to give clear picture of situation. Thanks

pinkteapot

You won’t be able to sell until the neighbour agrees to the transfer - unless you sell without the garage included which no buyer will agree to if they’re listening to their solicitor’s advice.

I would pop round for a friendly chat with the neighbour (G_M will suggest tea and cake) and explain that Persimmon messed up and you really need their help or you can’t sell your house.

In the meantime you also have a good case for a formal complaint against your solicitor - look up their complaints process or ask for a copy of it.

Your neighbour must have received the request to transfer away some of ‘their’ land and ignored it. Either they didn’t understand it, or they just didn’t think it was important and kept not getting round to it, or they realised their power over Persimmon/you and tried to get some cash out of Persimmon for the ‘inconvenience’. It’s probably one of the first two options though - most people are decent.

SmashedAvacado

This is for your solicitor to sort out. A deed of rectification will be needed and this will involve the developer and their lawyer. If it’s a mistake of the developer should pay fully for it. It may have been your solicitors error - or even your own - but regardless it will be able to be sorted. It will need to be done formally

Mentioning to your neighbour is probably sensible but I would ask your solicitor first

hazyjo

I was in the same boat and the vendor definitely had to arrange a deed of rectification. Cost them around £1500 in 2011 (although someone on here recently mentioned one costing in the low hundreds I think, so prices obviously vary on what's involved).

G_M

Yes tea and cake with neighbour, but chase your conveyancer. If they are genuinely not responding, then look up their complaints procedure and follow it.


If that also gets nowhere, escalate by
* going to the Legal Ombudsman website or


* referring to CLC (Licenced Conveyancers)