Can you complete sale with pending Land Registry title registration?

apollovermouth

Hello,

To keep it short, 

I am trying to sell a leasehold shared ownership flat. The title change registration of the freehold is currently being processed by Land Registry to transfer the new building to the housing association, and then there is a queue of leasehold titles which includes my leasehold.

• I've been told both that expediting (which we have done) can move my leasehold to front of queue behind freehold, but I have also been told that no it can't jump the queue and each leasehold will be done in order
• It is also an unknown how long it will take to register this freehold title (new building 2021) and then my leasehold but both my solicitor and buyer solicitor say we can't continue without leasehold being in my name.
• Both Housing Association and Land Registry however said to me they think you can complete the sale with pending title transfers, and I was able to buy it with this freehold not in the Housing Association's name - so how was I able to buy it but can't sell it?
• Is it because it's a new leasehold title?

Ultimately I want a second opinion to know the truth if you can really sell and complete the sale of a house/flat with pending leasehold and freehold registrations at the Land Registry. The buyer will not wait forever for these registrations.

Any help appreciated because the mixed messaging is frustrating to say the least.

user1977

Yes, you can, but lots of solicitors are lazy and can't be bothered dealing with cases where there are ongoing applications for registration.

apollovermouth

But what is it that the solicitors are not doing? Surely it's in their interest to not let it drag on in case it falls through?

I think there is clear documentation of my application for title registration and the housing association for the freehold - both being processed or pending. And then does the buyer's solicitor also put in a title application for the leasehold?

What more is needed?

loubel

Your solicitor can ask the solicitor who acted for you on your purchase to submit an application to expedite. But that won't jump it up the queue if other applications were submitted first so you could still be in for a long wait.

Unfortunately there isn't much else you can do but wait. First registration of a lease in a new development is probably the slowest application you can make at the Land Registry.

There is currently no registered title for your property so nothing for you to sell until your title has been registered. This isn't the same as a pending application for some minor change which can be easily verified. Your buyer's solicitors won't have access to the paperwork submitted for your purchase.

 Are your solicitors the same ones who acted on your purchase?

user1977

loubel said:

Your buyer's solicitors won't have access to the paperwork submitted for your purchase.

But they can be given access, and they can see all the other information which the OP's purchasing solicitor saw (and verify that there are e.g. priority searches in place to protect the application). As I said, this isn't impossible, but residential conveyancers typically can't be bothered.

loubel

It isn't their job to check that a previous application is 100% correct though. Is the OP willing to pay them for their time to do this and to take on the liability for any errors by the previous solicitors? I asked whether it's the same solicitor as they would have full knowledge of the previous transaction and may be able to give an undertaking to the buyer's solicitors on this. The buyer is not obliged to accept this though as an undertaking would allow them to sue but wouldn't actually resolve any issues. 

user1977

loubel said:

It isn't their job to check that a previous application is 100% correct though. Is the OP willing to pay them for their time to do this and to take on the liability for any errors by the previous solicitors?

The new solicitors can check the pending applications for errors. The OP doesn't need to take on liability. This isn't rocket science, it's just something which means more time being spent on it. Which doesn't fit nicely on to the fixed-fee conveyancing factory conveyor belts.

apollovermouth

loubel said:

It isn't their job to check that a previous application is 100% correct though. Is the OP willing to pay them for their time to do this and to take on the liability for any errors by the previous solicitors? I asked whether it's the same solicitor as they would have full knowledge of the previous transaction and may be able to give an undertaking to the buyer's solicitors on this. The buyer is not obliged to accept this though as an undertaking would allow them to sue but wouldn't actually resolve any issues. 

Unfortunately my original solicitor ceased trading. Looking back through original documentation I wonder how I was able to purchase if the freehold wasn't registered. Is there something different in that case, because it was a new building + transfer of freehold to housing association + new leasehold title for new flat?

apollovermouth

user1977 said:

loubel said:

It isn't their job to check that a previous application is 100% correct though. Is the OP willing to pay them for their time to do this and to take on the liability for any errors by the previous solicitors?

The new solicitors can check the pending applications for errors. The OP doesn't need to take on liability. This isn't rocket science, it's just something which means more time being spent on it. Which doesn't fit nicely on to the fixed-fee conveyancing factory conveyor belts.

If this is the case it's very frustrating. I also don't see a way to resolve it quicker. Doesn't seem like I could just change solicitor and then get the new solicitor to prove to the buyer and their solicitor everything is ok.

Choices seem to be wait for registrations and hope buyer sticks around, or purchase falls through and I start again.

Land_Registry

It’s all about risk and how each affected party views that. Sub sales happen all the time but it’s the risk assessment that decides when completion can’t happen 
For example a developer and housing association will often have a trusted relationship in place including their conveyancers. There’s no HA mortgage lender usually so the risks are small. 

The first private buyer will view that trusted arrangement and risk and their mortgage lender won’t see a huge risk as it’s a HA sale and special considerations mean that risk is still small. Sub sale can complete.
Finally you have your sub sale but it’s a private sale, a private mortgage and your mortgage product/lender has a higher risk profile. It’s rare that a conveyancer would say no due to workload/complexity. Far more likely that your lender says no as the mortgage profile won’t say yes until that risk level is also reduced to small - to do that you’d need the prior applications expedited but I imagine you’ve already done that and if you can get the HA registration and/or your seller’s over the line then the No May turn to a Yes re your own completion 

user1977

Land_Registry said:

It’s all about risk and how each affected party views that. Sub sales happen all the time but it’s the risk assessment that decides when completion can’t happen 
For example a developer and housing association will often have a trusted relationship in place including their conveyancers. There’s no HA mortgage lender usually so the risks are small. 

The first private buyer will view that trusted arrangement and risk and their mortgage lender won’t see a huge risk as it’s a HA sale and special considerations mean that risk is still small. Sub sale can complete.
Finally you have your sub sale but it’s a private sale, a private mortgage and your mortgage product/lender has a higher risk profile. It’s rare that a conveyancer would say no due to workload/complexity. Far more likely that your lender says no as the mortgage profile won’t say yes until that risk level is also reduced to small - to do that you’d need the prior applications expedited but I imagine you’ve already done that and if you can get the HA registration and/or your seller’s over the line then the No May turn to a Yes re your own completion 

This scenario isn't what most people would call a "sub-sale" though (i.e. one where the transaction in the middle isn't being submitted to the registers at all), merely one where the registration happens to be still ongoing at the time of the next sale. I'm not aware of any lenders having difficulties with this (assuming we're beyond the six month period since the last sale within which they generally would have an issue).