Land not transferred by solicitors

jabbabroadley

Hi All,

In 2019, my wife and I bought a property, unknown to us at the time the property covered two parcels of land. The builder had purchased additional land next to the plot he owned to get enough land to build our current house.

we found out about this recently. Our solicitors had stated that the sellers solicitors hadn’t provided this information and were therefore negligent. Upon receiving the file we identified they had and it was our solicitors that were negligent. 

To add to our misery, the builders company that owned the land has been dissolved and the land parcel in question has been transfer to the Crown. Our negligent solicitors have stated it will cost circa £10k to get it transferred back and will only cover a small percentage of that (circa 25%).

this is incredibly frustrating as they had the information and didn’t transfer the land properly. They have been negligent and we have paid for their services to purchase the house and now potentially have to pay an extra £7.5k.

I would welcome some advice on this and appreciate if others could share their similar experiences.

Thank You!

Ms_Chocaholic

Have you spoken to the solicitor you instructed when you bought your house and, if so, what do they say?

user1977

jabbabroadley said:

Our negligent solicitors have stated it will cost circa £10k to get it transferred back and will only cover a small percentage of that (circa 25%).

Why not the full amount?

Have you sought advice from solicitors other than the negligent ones?

jabbabroadley

Yes we have, they are not taking responsibility and pushing the blame on us as we approved the land registry boundary when sent in the original pack.

which in itself is utterly ridiculous as we had seen the property twice and are first time buyers. 

user1977

jabbabroadley said:

Yes we have, they are not taking responsibility and pushing the blame on us as we approved the land registry boundary when sent in the original pack.

which in itself is utterly ridiculous as we had seen the property twice and are first time buyers. 

They may have a point then...

HampshireH

jabbabroadley said:

Yes we have, they are not taking responsibility and pushing the blame on us as we approved the land registry boundary when sent in the original pack.

which in itself is utterly ridiculous as we had seen the property twice and are first time buyers. 

But were asked told to check it was correct before signing? 

jabbabroadley

There was a boundary presented that represented the land that we were purchasing, we had viewed the property twice and it looked similar to the floor plan we had. Maybe I am wrong, but how can a solicitor hold a first time buyer accountable for the failing of a whole transaction based on something they have zero expertise in and is subjective? Also, they had the information provided to them that their were two parcels of land and didn’t act

silvercar

If you disagree with your solicitor, which clearly you do, you make a formal complaint. If this doesn’t yield a favourable result you can take your complaint to the ombudsman, who rule on these matters.

74jax

jabbabroadley said:

There was a boundary presented that represented the land that we were purchasing, we had viewed the property twice and it looked similar to the floor plan we had. Maybe I am wrong, but how can a solicitor hold a first time buyer accountable for the failing of a whole transaction based on something they have zero expertise in and is subjective? Also, they had the information provided to them that their were two parcels of land and didn’t act

Why does you bring a ftb mean any different to if you weren't? 

If you were offered a plan, asked if it was correct and you signed it was, I'm not sure how it is anyone else's fault? You could have checked it, got a second opinion etc... 

You say you saw it 'once twise', I'm guessing your solicitor saw it zero times? 

user1977

jabbabroadley said:

how can a solicitor hold a first time buyer accountable for the failing of a whole transaction based on something they have zero expertise in and is subjective? 

It depends on the circumstances really - if it was a newbuild house and if it would have been obvious from the planning consent that it must include the other parcel of land, that's something the solicitors ought to have been able to figure out for themselves. But it's difficult for us to say based on the info you've given us. The solicitor wasn't at either of your viewings with you, so you do need to pay some attention to what it is you saw and that you're expecting to buy.

UnderOffer

Is the additional parcel of land your back garden or are you saying your house structure is built across 2 pieces of land? What did the solicitor present you as the title plan? I’d have expected a red outline with the structure in black positioned within the red outline. 

Your solicitor never visits the property you are buying, they rely on you to confirm that what you have seen is represented in the title plan. If the additional land is your back garden then I can see the mistake, as you probably thought the red outline included this.