Land not transferred by solicitors

loubel

It's not especially clear from that that there are two titles, just that the seller built on their old property. That might be because you have redacted too much for it to make sense though.

Am I understanding right that they built the house on their existing side plot but bought some of the neighbour's garden to create a garden for the new house and it's this extra plot (shown yellow on your drawing) which wasn't sold to you? Did they actually describe it as plot 1 and plot 2 and was this referenced anywhere else?

Also, who was your seller? The owner of the house next door or the company you say still owns the garden?

jabbabroadley

You understanding is correct, both plots should have come over to us.

they do not describe it as plot 1 or 2 in the documents and that’s the only information provided.

We brought our house through an estate agent, and the seller was officially a company that our neighbour had created.

the company owned the land, however they are now dissolved and that’s were the complication lies, the plot is now owned by the crown and the estimated fees are circa £10k to transfer to us

loubel

It doesn't sound like your solicitor did anything wrong then. If the paperwork wasn't clear that there were two titles and you didn't notice that the garden wasn't included in the title then I don't see how they were meant to have realised. It's an unfortunate lesson in why you should actually look at the paperwork sent by your solicitor.

I hope you can resolve it. 

jabbabroadley

So it’s own fault then? If so, then it’s just the way it is. I find this hard to accept that 1st time buyers with limited experience in buying property would have understood that this information wouldn’t have been processed by our solicitors, we were paying them for a service otherwise we would all do it ourselves. They never even mentioned the plots to us and prompted us to check

loubel

If they genuinely never sent you the title plan and asked you to check it was accurate then you may have grounds for a complaint. That is such standard practice though that I would be very surprised if they didn't do that 

Bendy_House

A good (actually, 'all') conveyancing solicitor should always make it very clear to their client to check that the indicated boundary - usually outlined in red (I think they should refer to the actual colour so you are in no doubt) - is correct. This would be in the covering letter when they send out the SIP, copy of the deeds, etc to the buyer.

How many buyers actually do this - accurately pace out their boundary, check whether fence lines are exactly where they should be? Have to 'fess, I have usually just have the normal walk-around the garden, and nod to myself if the hedge/fence appears to be 'pretty much where I'd expect'.

In your situation, it would appear that you were actually quite content that the garden outlined in red is actually what you always expected to receive? It wasn't a case of you also expecting to have this 'yellow' part and failed to miss its absence for a few years! Had this issue not been brought to your attention, you would have continued to live happily in your new house?

Anyhoo, that's by-the-by.

Is this your fault? No, because you never knew - you were never told by your solicitor or the seller - there was a second plot that should have been included.

Do you still have a copy of the documents from the purchase period? If so, could you have a look through the covering letter from your conveyancer, and see what they say about 'checking boundaries'? I would suggest - but it's just a layman saying this - that unless your conveyancer also brought this additional plot to your attention, and asked you to (for example) 'check the boundary in red and the area in yellow are accurate representations...' (when you now know that the seller's conveyancer HAD provided both sets of deeds to your solicitor) - then they were lax at the very least, remiss to a fair degree, and - very possibly - negligent. Imo.

I mean, if there had been only ONE plot as is usual, outlined in red in the provided copy of the deeds, and your conveyancer FAILED to mention that you NEED to confirm you are happy that this represents the true boundary, would they be negligent? Surely 'yes'. So, by that token, if there are two plots - and there are - and they were made aware of them both - which they were - but failed to mention one of them to you, I cannot see how this isn't also 'negligence' by your solicitor.

user1977

I repeat my suggestion above about checking the planning consent, and whether the solicitors verified that you were getting everything which the planners required the plot to comprise.

jabbabroadley

 Some excellent suggestions thank you!

jabbabroadley

I have check the correspondence with the solicitor and at no point are two plots mentioned.

the point around planning permission I’m not too sure what I am looking for. The property was built and finished, would our solicitor have received the planning permission details?

RAS

Your local council will have the planning permission for the build. Probably on-line. Who is your Planning Authority, search for "planning applications," then check re neighbour's post code.

If not, you may have to visit the department, but ring first.