Land Registry Error.

longleggedhair

Slightly complicated case, advise would be welcome. My father brought a house in the early 1980s that had the bottom half of the garden sold to the people at the back. It caused a bit of trouble as my father always wanted the land as it was never properly kept, but the owner always refused to sell.

My father died several years ago and I moved into the house, the land at the back is still a mess & the owner (now an old lady) refuses to sell. That was that or so I thought….

Until I’ve recently applied for planning permission for an extension & the architects plans have come through with the land registry showing the land belonging to my house. I’m certain it’s an error on the register as the land was sold legally in the 80s.

Where does this leave me? Do I have a right to simply take the land as according to the land registry it is mine? Or does the fact it appears to be an error mean I couldn’t? From what I’ve read the land registry is all that matters now since paper deeds were made obsolete? Advice much appreciated.

user1977

Not sure what you mean by "the architects plans have come through with the land registry..." - has someone actually downloaded the current title for your house, and are you sure it shows the land as part of your title? And how sure are you that your dad actually sold the land to the neighbours?

longleggedhair

Sorry to be clear, yes the architect sent me a copy of the land registry through. And yes I’m sure it was legally sold as I had the deeds which had a drawing on and clearly showed the bottom of the garden had been sold, however the land registry still has it showing as belonging to my house.

user1977

longleggedhair said:

Sorry to be clear, yes the architect sent me a copy of the land registry through. And yes I’m sure it was legally sold as I had the deeds which had a drawing on and clearly showed the bottom of the garden had been sold, however the land registry still has it showing as belonging to my house.

Ask the neighbour to check what happened about registering their title.

canaldumidi

For £3 + £3 you could double check what the architect sent you here.

When was the property registered? Compulsory electronic registration was phased in over many years between the 1960s up to the 1990s, so depending where you are the sale of the land in 1980 may not have triggered 1st registration with the LR, whereas your inheritance of the property when your father died 'a few years ago' would have required 1st registration.

So it could be that when you registered the property in your name, you failed to properly inform the LR of the exact boundary!

You can check the dates for 1st registration here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/first-registrations/practice-guide-1-first-registrations

longleggedhair

According to the link you sent me compulsory registration here was 1967. I have double checked and according to the land registry the land does in fact belong to this house, but the land was definitely legally sold the the lady at the back in the early 1980s. I want it, she won’t sell it to me but according to the land registry it belongs to me anyway….but according to old paper deeds it doesn’t.

canaldumidi

Well one approach could be to simply install a fence between the land and your neighbour and start using it. If/when the neighbour complains, produce the LR Plan and ask her to prove she owns.....

An alternative approach is to accept it is not your land and contact the LR with a request for the boundary to be amended on both your, and her, Titles.

https://www.gov.uk/your-property-boundaries/correct-boundary-mistake-title-plan

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/altering-the-register-by-removing-land-from-a-title-plan-pg77

theoretica

longleggedhair said:

According to the link you sent me compulsory registration here was 1967. I have double checked and according to the land registry the land does in fact belong to this house, but the land was definitely legally sold the the lady at the back in the early 1980s. I want it, she won’t sell it to me but according to the land registry it belongs to me anyway….but according to old paper deeds it doesn’t.

So if there was compulsory registration since 1967, what exactly are the paper deeds from the 1980s you have that show the land is hers? 

theoretica

As well as looking at your deeds on the land register - is her property registered?  Worth looking at her deeds too. 

user1977

longleggedhair said:

According to the link you sent me compulsory registration here was 1967. I have double checked and according to the land registry the land does in fact belong to this house, but the land was definitely legally sold the the lady at the back in the early 1980s. I want it, she won’t sell it to me but according to the land registry it belongs to me anyway….but according to old paper deeds it doesn’t.

Are you sure the "old paper deeds" actually demonstrate that the sale had completed? If it did in fact complete then the land does belong to the neighbour (at least as between you and her).

Ms_Chocaholic

Presumably the old lady may have the paperwork showing she paid your father for this piece of land so you may be out of luck.