Title register and Title plan

Connoisseurus_Rex

Wondering what the consensus was on paying to download the title register and title plan for a property before making an offer? 

My understanding is that the conveyancer would perform those searches anyway but why not have a look just to see if there was anything significant that might affect how you value the property, especially for a few quid. 

Secondly, if you download those documents, would the property owner ever know?

Ksw3

I've done it. Found out that the 'parking space' the estate agent mentioned doesn't belong to the house so I adjusted my offer accordingly. Makes much more sense to look before offering.

I don't think owners are notified but I would expect someone to look it up if I were selling. 

Tiglet2

I wouldn't do it for every property I viewed, but for properties that were serious contenders I think the £6 it costs for both title register and title plan would be worth the expense.

aliby21

I would.  Having only found out about a significant right of way across the property after I was into the purchase process, in future I would look at title document/plan before offering. It would likely have changed my mind about making an offer at all. 

Edit to add, having said that, the plan you get for 6 quid from the land registry wouldn't have shown me the RoW, that only had information on the sale of land to the developer.  The interesting stuff on RoW, covenants etc that came into force with sale of plots to individuals was in an additional document that had to be specifically requested from land registry on a different form.  I know this because I got the neighbour's plans when it got disputatious and it took me three goes.  So you kind of have to know that there is something you are looking for. I imagine solicitors just know how to get everything in one go.

Titus_Wadd

I did it when we were house-hunting for the short-listed houses; it costs far less than waiting for the conveyancer to do it.  I have a look at the planning portal to see what's happening nearby, or might happen, that doesn't cost anything.

The owner will only get a notification if they have signed up to be notified by the Land Reg is someone downloads their title.

user1977

Titus_Wadd said:

The owner will only get a notification if they have signed up to be notified by the Land Reg is someone downloads their title.

No, it doesn't trigger a notification. Not sure why it would matter if it did anyway? They're selling their property, they ought to expect potential buyers to be carrying out due diligence.

canaldumidi

I would never make an offer without first checking this is a property that meets my needs.

That includes obviously viewing, checking out the street/area, googling the street/area to see what pops up and yes, of course, forking out the exhorbitant £6 to the LR to see if the Plan matches what I've viewed and whether there are covenants etc that might put me off.

And no, no one but the LR would know I'd purchased the Title (but even if they did, so what? All it would tell the seller is that I'm a serious potential buyer!)

Titus_Wadd said:

The owner will only get a notification if they have signed up to be notified by the Land Reg is someone downloads their title.

I assume you are referring to the LR Property Alert service? Just downloading the Title would not trigger an alert.

diystarter7

Titus_Wadd said:

The owner will only get a notification if they have signed up to be notified by the Land Reg is someone downloads their title.

I've never ever heard of that it is misinformation.

Perhaps you or someone that told you had misread the following.

If you don't live at the property and or rent it out it is in the owner's interest to be notified when someone pays for enquires about that info and this triggers notifications via email i think to the owner's registered address. This is done to stop fraud or make it harder for fraudsters. 

Tiglet2

No, the owner won't get a notification if someone else downloads the title. 

They might get a notification if someone makes an application to make a "change" to the title.