Confused use and ownership of garage

carrieh89

Hi,
Looking for some advice in regards to ownership and use of a garage.

We moved into the property 6 years ago with a garage in what I would call our back garden. We have had and still currently use this garage for storage and have maintained it since moving in, as we were given the keys to it.
It has recently come to light that another neighbour across the street actually owns the garage and when checking the land registry it is actually the neighbours garage plot.

I am wondering if anyone knows where we stand in regards to being mislead into believing we owned the garage.
Upon looking further into paperwork the estate agents advertised the property with a garage and it was agreed on the seller property information form (ta6) that there was a private garage with the property. Also when viewing the house the owners at the time also used the garage themselves for storage. 

Who do we contact to deal with the situation? We were thinking of selling within the next couple of years but can no longer sell with a garage which we thought we had paid for as part of the valuation made in 2014. Are we entitled to make a complaint to the Estate Agent/solicitors in regards to misleading information?

TIA

AskAsk

how did you find out that the other neighbour own the garage?

TBagpuss

The solicitor won’t have been to the property- did they send you a title plan and did you check it and confirm that what it showed was what you thought you were buying?

carrieh89

AskAsk said:

how did you find out that the other neighbour own the garage?

He came to us and told us he is thinking of selling so has been looking into the plans and found out he actually owns it. In all honesty he thought it was the garage next to ours that he owned and has used that one himself until his next door neighbour claimed that one as his. 

Thrugelmir

The solicitor would have asked you to confirm what you were purchasing .
The solicitor never physically visited the property. The EA is reliant on the information supplied by the vendor. 
Onus lies with you unfortunately. 

AskAsk

carrieh89 said:

AskAsk said:

how did you find out that the other neighbour own the garage?

He came to us and told us he is thinking of selling so has been looking into the plans and found out he actually owns it. In all honesty he thought it was the garage next to ours that he owned and has used that one himself until his next door neighbour claimed that one as his. 

sounds like musical chairs with the garages! 
i assume you didn't notice the title plans did not include the garage when you bought the house?
if the garage is in your back garden, then how can the neighbour across the road own it?  how would he access it as he would need to go through your land?

carrieh89

TBagpuss said:

The solicitor won’t have been to the property- did they send you a title plan and did you check it and confirm that what it showed was what you thought you were buying?

Yeah. We had different copies of the title plan, each have a garage plot on but facing in a direction 90 degrees from the actual garage. The solicitors had copies of the like this and also with biro drawing the garage to face the same way it does in accordance to our property as it is currently.

carrieh89

AskAsk said:

sounds like musical chairs with the garages! 
i assume you didn't notice the title plans did not include the garage when you bought the house?
if the garage is in your back garden, then how can the neighbour across the road own it?  how would he access it as he would need to go through your land?

The other neighbour claims he was bullied out of his garage but now wants it back since there is movement on the street.
The title plans show a garage in the same place just in a different position, which appeared rectified on the copies from the solicitor. It was brought up when we went over documents before signing and the position was changed. He hasn't ever needed to access it as he has used the one next to ours but the front door faces outward to a side road.

AskAsk

carrieh89 said:

AskAsk said:

sounds like musical chairs with the garages! 
i assume you didn't notice the title plans did not include the garage when you bought the house?
if the garage is in your back garden, then how can the neighbour across the road own it?  how would he access it as he would need to go through your land?

The other neighbour claims he was bullied out of his garage but now wants it back since there is movement on the street.
The title plans show a garage in the same place just in a different position, which appeared rectified on the copies from the solicitor. It was brought up when we went over documents before signing and the position was changed. He hasn't ever needed to access it as he has used the one next to ours but the front door faces outward to a side road.

i think you will need to get in touch with your solicitor and ask for clarification, as it does sound like your property did have a garage, and now if the neighbour claims the garage, then where is the one on your title plan.

greatcrested

When you purchased, your solicitor will have sent you a copy of the Title Plan, showing the boundary of the registered property and what is included/excluded.

He will have asked you to check that it is accurate and reflects what you believe you are buying.

Presumably you either did not check, or checked but did not notice the garage was not wihin the Title Plan, but nonetheless you told the solicitor everything was fine.

As the solicitor never visited the property, he had no way to compare the actual location of te garage against the Plan. That was your job.

Estate agent marketing material is for guidance only, and is dependant on what the seller tells the agent. The content is all subject to confirmation during conveyancing (see above).

davidmcn

carrieh89 said:

AskAsk said:

sounds like musical chairs with the garages! 
i assume you didn't notice the title plans did not include the garage when you bought the house?
if the garage is in your back garden, then how can the neighbour across the road own it?  how would he access it as he would need to go through your land?

The title plans show a garage in the same place just in a different position

I don't understand what you mean by this. Bear in mind that what you own is the land shown outlined in red (or whatever), along with whatever happens to built on it from time to time.