Garage not on Title Plan

Vaish2020

Hi 

Sorry for the long post! I hope that someone can offer some advice on matter concerning a house that I’m purchasing. Yesterday I went to sign contracts and my husband realised that the garage which can be accessed via the garden and a separate access way is not on the title plan. I discussed this with the current owner and he confirmed that the garage came with the property and he’s had it for the last 37 years. The garage is huge, almost the same size as the whole of the ground floor, it’s not easily missed and I would imagine that if it didn’t belong to him it would be disputed a long time ago. 

I did a bit of research and can see that there was a planning application for the garage in 1980 which was granted. To my knowledge there was some land which consisted of allotments which was purchased and the garage was built. However I cannot see the plans as this was so far in the past and can not determine which part of the land it was intended for.

The current owners have always had the garage, with no dispute. They pay the county council a fee for the use of the access way which has its own license. Under the title plan of the license I can see that the block where the garage sits on is empty which indicates that this belongs to the property but I really cannot be sure! 

My question: can the title plan be incorrect? I see that the title plan is from 1974 and the garage built in 1981, 2 years later our current owners moved in. If this is incorrect how can it be amended and what timeframe could it take? We are part of a chain and it could hold matters up.

I hope someone can help

Thank you!
V

loubel

Do you mean that the garage isn't drawn on the title plan but the land is included? If so, that's fine, it just means the plans haven't been updated for a long time. If the area where the garage is isn't included then you need to tell your solicitor this.

davidmcn

It might simply be owned by the vendors, but registered under a separate title. Have you checked the Land Registry to see if the garage is on a registered title? Your solicitor should be sorting this out anyway.

kinger101

I wouldn't exchange contracts until this is sorted out.  Your solicitor should be able to get to the bottom of it, or advise against the potential consequences if not.

Vaish2020

Thanks, I have the results from land registry and the red boundary doesn’t include the garage at all! The back wall off the garage is on the boundary line, with the outside shutter on the other side where the licence agreement comes in place 

sgun

Vaish2020 said:

Thanks, I have the results from land registry and the red boundary doesn’t include the garage at all! The back wall off the garage is on the boundary line, with the outside shutter on the other side where the licence agreement comes in place 

As davidmcn says - it will be under a separate title, that's why it isn't showing on the house title. Search here https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/FindAProperty/view/MapEnquiryRadiusSearch.do 

loubel

Ok, so you need to explain to your solicitor that you are meant to be buying a garage as well and it isn't within the boundaries of the title you have been sent. Hopefully as davidmcn says it is owned by the seller under a different title number and has just been missed. If he bought 37  yearsago he probably doesn't remember the title details!

Vaish2020

Thanks, but wouldn’t the solicitors have already checked this when they carried out their enquires? It hasn’t come up so far, they’ve been pretty thorough with all the enquires so far. I’m worried that there is no audit trail for this matter as it goes back nearly 39 years.

I raised this with the solicitors and they’ve contacted the sellers solicitors to confirm all details. 

As they have occupied the space for 37 years are they able to legally claim it? (Worst case scenario)

Slithery

Vaish2020 said:

Thanks, but wouldn’t the solicitors have already checked this when they carried out their enquires?

Nope.

Your solicitor has never visited the property. It's your responsibility to check that the title represents what you think you are purchasing. Now that you've brought this to their attention they can look into it.

Vaish2020

Ok great, the solicitors were a little baffled, I had to bring it up on google earth cos I couldn’t figure it out and memory wouldn’t serve me correctly! They urged me to lay off of exchanging until the matter has more clarity which I’m perfectly fine with. 

I’ve spoken to the vendors and told them of the title plan, hopefully the matter is simple to resolve. Again my only main concern is the audit trail for the land that the garage now sits on. In the event that this has been a complete ballsup, I did a bit of research (not sure how accurate the info is exactly) but seeing as they have occupied the space for over 37 years they can stake some form of legal hold? Hopefully it doesn’t come to this and I’m stressing out and taking the situation to the extreme.... so far nothing has gone smoothly! 

Vaish2020

davidmcn said:

It might simply be owned by the vendors, but registered under a separate title. Have you checked the Land Registry to see if the garage is on a registered title? Your solicitor should be sorting this out anyway.

Hi 
So it turns out it was under a separate title.. panic over! 
The only stumbling block here is that the title was under the first owners name and should've been transferred over to our vendors. I have spoke to our solicitors and they advised that the title now needs to be changed to the current vendors and all is well to proceed. 
Question: How long would it take to do this via Land Registry?
Thanks