Buying a house seized by the crown

MatthewGaskin

I'm several months into the housebuying process. I was recently told by the estate agent that the delays were because the house was listed as owned by a business: this needed to be updated to the current owner's name. 
I look into this and can see that the business which is listed on the Land Registry as owning the house was compulsorily wound up a few years ago. And the documentation on Companies House says that when this happens to a company all of its assets go to the crown.

So the first question is: how long does this take to unpick? Will I still be able to beat the September stamp duty deadline?

And the followup question: I thought an estate agent is legally bound to verify the details of the seller. But it clearly hasn't happened here. The alleged seller is one of the former directors of this dead company. Since the 'real' owner seems to be the Crown, shouldn't the estate agent have been asking the Queen to show them her passport and gas bill?

This is so demoralising as I've put in so much effort to find a house I want, struggled through the mortgage application process, and started paying for the legal work on this place. I can't bear the idea of having to start the whole searching process from scratch.

user1977

Never mind how long it takes to do the transfer to the "real" vendor, you've then got the issue of lenders generally not accepting properties where the vendor has been the owner for less than six months - so potentially another delay (or a hunt for a less fussy lender).

What does your solicitor think about all this?

MatthewGaskin

user1977 said:

Never mind how long it takes to do the transfer to the "real" vendor, you've then got the issue of lenders generally not accepting properties where the vendor has been the owner for less than six months - so potentially another delay (or a hunt for a less fussy lender).

What does your solicitor think about all this?

Yikes, I  hadn't even thought about that. As I only found out about this yesterday afternoon I've not heard from my solicitor yet. But I shall definitely ask that. Thanks!

sheramber

When was the company wound up?

 Could the director have bought the house from the administrator?

MatthewGaskin

sheramber said:

When was the company wound up?

 Could the director have bought the house from the administrator?

About three years ago. They presumably had the opportunity to buy it but didn't. Land Registry info says the company is still the owner. And Companies House say there is no company.