Selling property - Easements and Land changes

Matchermike

Good Afternoon,

I am hoping someone can help advise please as i am unsure how to proceed with my unusual circumstances.

I am selling my property (joint ownership with my ex) in the coming weeks. I am at the point of deciding upon estate agent. I have had quotes for conveyancing which vary wildly, but there are a couple of matters i believe need resolving, and i am unsure if i should address these now.

1) The property is having a dedicated water supply pipe installed this week that runs under neighbours land, and a local school. They have all agreed to the work being done, but i wonder if i need an easement to formalise this?
2) The property has a sewage pumping station that is on neighbours land, and that the neighbour also connects to. I wonder if this needs a formal easement, to document ownership, permission on the land, and shared maintenance.
3) The neighbour wants a small parcel of land passing over to them. I wonder if this needs to be done in advance of sale.

Can any or all of the above be handled by the conveyancer, or should they be done by dedicated solicitors in advance of going on the market? I don't want to delay sale, or put off any prospective buyers. Are they all necessary?

Appreciate any advice.

Thanks
Matcher Mike

user1977

Yes, water and sewerage ought to have easements. Are you sure there's nothing already in the titles? If not, wasn't that pointed out previously?

Why does the neighbour want a small parcel of land? Seems a fiddly complication if you're trying to sell the property. Yes, it would be simpler to complete that first anyway, but bear in mind your mortgage lender would need to consent to the disposal.

Matchermike

user1977 said:

Yes, water and sewerage ought to have easements. Are you sure there's nothing already in the titles? If not, wasn't that pointed out previously?

Why does the neighbour want a small parcel of land? Seems a fiddly complication if you're trying to sell the property. Yes, it would be simpler to complete that first anyway, but bear in mind your mortgage lender would need to consent to the disposal.

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.

Yes - there is nothing in the title. We bought what was a barn off the neighbour, and converted it ourselves. I therefore know its not in there, and believed i would need to add it otherwise it would get picked up during sale.

Yes i appreciate its fiddly complication. The small parcel was included in the purchase of the barn, and is of no use to use, but does affect their property, therefore we have agreed to transfer it to them (and it avoids issues regarding the water and sewerage pipes).

If it's simpler to complete now, i will instruct a solicitor to sort out all matters. I just know this will take time. Should i do this before marketing it?

The solicitor has quoted for sorting easement, and for conveyancing, but the fees are high. Much higher than the conveyancing quotes from elsewhere (£2000 conveyancing instead of £500-700). But i guess it is easier for one solicitor to handle all matters?

Appreciate the advice,
Thanks
Mike

user1977

Acquiring new easements, and transferring the bit to your neighbour, in itself probably involves as much (or more) work than a straightforward sale. Would be considerably simpler to get the same conveyancer to do everything, and I would expect a purchaser would much prefer all the other changes to be done, dusted and registered before they start looking at the titles.